Teaching No Greater Call Part B: Lesson 9

Recognizing and Following the Spirit in Your Teaching

It's been a while since my last blog post!  I was out of town for three Sundays in a row so I got a little break from teaching.  I'm back now and should be teaching every other week now that summer is almost over.

This week I loved the topic for the lesson - recognizing and following the spirit while teaching.  This has been a concept I have been working on as I teach - letting the spirit guide me and the discussion in class.  I really loved the prep for this lesson because the manual had a lot of great insight and resources and I didn't really have to go find other resources really to supplement.  We didn't even get through the whole lesson because of a great discussion on following the spirit and recognizing spiritual promptings. HERE is the link to this lesson in the manual.

Intro

• Have any of you ever taught a lesson that went poorly or just not great?  What happened? Sometimes, a lesson in church can go poorly if we fail to recognize and follow the spirit in our teaching. 

Recognizing the Spirit 

• Terms “still small voice” or “whisperings of the spirit” or “burning in bosom” - these are different  manifestation of the spirit
• 1 Kings 19:12; 1 Nephi 17:45; D&C 85:6 - what do we learn from these scriptures about how the Lord communicates?
• D&C 9:8 and D&C 6:22-23 - what is the Lord referring when he tells Oliver of the burning in his bosom? What is the relation of this burning to the peace discussed earlier, a peace that came in answer to his prayers? (resource for these questions here)
• How has the Lord communicated in these methods to you?  Important to share how we each individual recognize the spirit and what that looks like for each of us. 

The Spirit Can Guide You as You Prepare to Teach 

• In what ways can the spirit guide you as you prepare to teach lessons?  Have any of these experiences ever happened to you while preparing lessons?  What was the outcome?

The Spirit Can Guide You While You Teach 

• Read D&C 100:5-6
• How can we fulfill this promise and teach by the spirit during our lessons?

You Can Help Others Recognize the Spirit 

• What are some ways that we can teach those that don’t yet know how to recognize the spirit?