How to Study the Scriptures

"If we are to be effective in our study of the scriptures, we must prepare for it to be a special spiritual experience. The following suggestions may be helpful.

1. Schedule

"Schedule a time to search the scriptures daily. Scripture study is such an essential part of our spiritual development that we must take time and make it a priority in our daily schedule. Our spirits should never be deprived of the much-needed spiritual nourishment which comes from scripture study. Without this spiritual food our spirits become starved and weakened to temptation.

"President Kimball taught the principle that “no father, no son, no mother, no daughter should get so busy that he or she does not have time to study the scriptures and the words of modern prophets.” (Ensign, May 1976, p. 47.)

2. Pray

"We should begin and end each study session with prayer. We must invite the Spirit to teach us. Nephi taught that: “the mysteries of God shall be unfolded … by the power of the Holy Ghost.” (1 Ne. 10:19.)

3. Search

"To search is to seek, to explore, to examine carefully. As we study we should do so with purpose, searching for specifics and an expansion of our vision of eternal truth. We must search for principles, doctrines, answers to questions, and solutions to problems. We should look for doctrinal relationships and for possible hidden meanings of that which has been recorded.

4. Ponder

"To ponder is to meditate, to think, to feast, and to treasure. It is more than a mental method, it is a spiritual striving to obtain and to understand truth. We should follow the process taught by the Savior to the Nephites as he taught them sacred principles. He then instructed them to “Go ye unto your homes, and ponder upon the things which I have said, and ask of the Father, in my name, that ye may understand, and prepare your minds for the morrow.” (3 Ne. 17:3.)

"We should ponder the meanings of the things we learn from our search of the scriptures. The Apostle Paul instructed the Philippian Saints to “think on these things.” (Philip. 4:8.) To think involves forming mental images in the mind and focusing intently upon that which has been discovered. Nephi counseled to “feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.” (2 Ne. 32:3.) To feast is to consume, to digest, to absorb.

"As we ponder, we should follow the counsel of the Savior when he said, “Treasure up in your minds continually the words of life.” (D&C 84:85). This implies that we should repeat in our minds the principles we have learned and draw upon them in each of our decisions.

5. Relate

"Nephi has counseled to “liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning.” (1 Ne. 19:23.) We must read as if the Lord were speaking directly to us in a personal manner.

6. Apply

"President Marion G. Romney counseled: “Learning the gospel from the written word … is not enough. It must also be lived. … One cannot fully learn the gospel without living it.” (Ensign, Sept. 1980, p. 4.) As we learn a principle, we must make a real effort to apply and to live it in our life."

--L. Lionel Kendrick, “Search the Scriptures,” Ensign, May 1993, 13