Monday, May 7, 2012

FHE: "Doing Our Dailies" Teaching the effects of daily scripture study & prayers


This lesson popped into my head a few Sunday's ago. I was sitting next to my husband in church thinking about the way I feel in my Sunday School class. We have an incredibly wise and amazing Sunday school teacher. I told my husband that I feel like a dried out, thirsty sponge, in his class. I feel myself trying to take in every little bit of information, like it is water filling me up. Then I started to think about sponges a little more and this lesson came together. Please feel free to adapt it, along with any other FHE lesson on this blog, to fit the needs of your family!

I placed an old dried out sponge on a plate and had everyone feel it. It was not pliable. It was hard and rigid. 

We talked about and compared this to the scripture stories that talk about people being hard-hearted, or stiff-necked, and discussed how this happens when we aren't living our lives close to the spirit, following the prophet & keeping the commandments. 

We talked about how "doing our dailies" (Daily scripture study, serve others & prayer, etc), is what keeps us from becoming hard like this sponge. 

I also told them about how sometimes a sponge can become so hard that it requires a lot of wringing over and over to get it to let the water in, and sometimes that can be like trials that happen in our lives that can be used to remind us to turn to the Lord in all things. 



We poured water on the sponge little by little. Explaining that it was like each time we say our prayers, read scriptures or do an act of kindness. Those actions change us. 


They make us softer and more teachable. 


And when we continue to do these things each day, like a sponge that has pressure applied, we "ooze" those things that we have filled our selves with. We talked about the prodding being like missionary work or being asked questions by others about our faith. When our sponge was moist, but not full, nothing came out. We lacked the conviction in our testimony, or the knowledge, to teach. However, when we have "done our dailies" consistently, our testimony flows easily. 


Then we talked about how adding things to our dailies like going to the temple frequently, serving and looking for more opportunities to serve, being quick to forgive and kind to everyone, paying our tithing and fast offerings, etc, what we have put in cannot be contained. Everything we do or say is a reflection of our beliefs and conviction of the reality of our Savior Jesus Christ. It "oozes" from us, in our actions and words. 
  


THIS is the best place to be!



We brought another hard sponge into the mix and talked about how it could represent our friends, or people we meet or associate with. 


When we consistently, everyday, participate in scripture study and be sure to say prayers, serve, etc. In other words, when we fill our lives with the things of the Lord, our testimony cannot help but affect the people around us! 



As our testimony "oozes" the people around us begin to feel of the Lords love for them, through us, if we listen to the spirit! 


When we do everything that we can, each day, to fill our lives and minds with the spirit, the Lord can use us as instruments to reach out to our brothers and sisters around us and we can help bring them back to Him! 

25 comments:

Brian and Kayla said...

You just think of everything don't you? Great lesson Amy!

JaNae said...

I found this on pinterest, what a great lesson!
thanks for sharing with us :)

Kristin said...

What an amazing object lesson! Love it!! Thanks for sharing...found you on Pinterest. We are totally doing this next week.

Nicole Wilkinson said...

Found you on Pinterest and absolutely love this! Thanks for sharing!

Bea said...

oh my gosh!! this is just what I need for my parent/student Seminary Meeting, thank you so so so so very much!! it is an awesome lesson, I am going to use for FHE with my little girls as well, thank you so much!!

Audrey said...

Awesome idea! I love it, thanks for sharing!

Those People With The Crazy Kids said...

hmmmm.......not sure what there is to be sick about anonymous. did I miss something? this is a wonderful fhe idea. definitely going to use - thx for sharing! :o)

WalkConkies said...

Great idea. Thanks for sharing. I also found you on pinterest - and it was actually an idea I will use for sure, and soon!

Rach said...

I did this for FHE it worked so good. I did add some bad dailies and the water was brown we talked about repentance for one of our good dailies. loves it. Thank you thank you!!!

Lombardo Family said...

Do you know what is so funny. I was just on pinterest looking for an idea for fhe tonight and saw this, so I clicked on it. Read all the way to the bottom and only then realized it was you! Ha!!! Inspiriational woman you!

Sherree said...

What a great idea. Thank you for sharing. I also had been looking for a FHE idea on Pinterest when I came across this today. I think tonight it will work perfectly.

Unknown said...

Thank you! My Beehives loved this!

Lorie said...

Living water!! wonderful insights--I love it.

Unknown said...

Excited for this lesson tonight! We are featuring it on our FB page LDStrong. thanks

Unknown said...

Do go along with the "hard heart" thing, it might be neat to cut the sponge in the shape of a heart.

Buttons said...

Found this on pinterest and im really excited to do this for FHE tomorrow. This is great. Thanks for posting.

Stevens said...

Gran idea, lo voy a utilizar en la próxima reunión de mejoramiento de maestros. Es muy especial. Gracias por comparitrlo

Preston and Angie said...

This is a great idea. I wonder if another cool part would be using a dropper because it's one drop at a time. This is why CONSISTENT daily prayer and scripture study, etc. is important OVER TIME.
Just a thought for a scripture to go with it as just one example...Malachi 3:10, "Prove me now herewith...if I will not open up the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."

Holly Baker said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Holly Baker said...

Excellent object lesson! My daughter struggles with the "dailies." Maybe this will help her a little more! We are going to use this lesson as a connection to the story of Noah. By doing our dailies, we can avoid the wickedness the people in the the time of Noah basked in. I love the connection with the second sponge! I just happen to have 2 dried up sponges, too! thanks for sharing!

Wee Loco Yeti said...

This was great! Thanks for sharing!

SR said...

This a beautiful lesson that I am going to adapt for a Primary Activity days to help the girls remember to work on their daily requirements such as scripture reading etc. Thank you for sharing your inspiration!

Unknown said...

I am very grateful for this lesson, you saved me in my sharing time today! Thank you, thank you for posting it!

Duckie said...

I'm planning on using this with my family. Thanks for putting all the details down to make it easy for me to follow!

Annette said...

I am going to use your example this Sunday, however I am adding a twist to it. We are doing a 7 week study on treasure hunting in the bible, so we are making geodes this sunday. I am going to explain how when we study God's word we soak it up and they become gems for our life.

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