Step 2 - Raise the Sails

The 2nd step to finding treasure in the scriptures is to raise the sails.  You do this by raising your voice to God and saying a prayer or even writing out a prayer in your scripture journal.  Raise up to God the issues you are dealing with and what you would like help with in your life right now.   Doing Step 1 and 2 signals the Holy Ghost that you are ready to learn and that you desire the help (the treasure) God is wanting you to know or feel. 

                 

When using these steps to outline a lesson, raise the sails means raising the interest of your students.  You do this by bringing up a relevant temptation or issue that the students are or will be dealing with that the scripture block can help with.  It is helpful to have students at the beginning of the semester come up with a class list of temptations or issues they face or will be facing.  Students pay attention and are more excited to set sail in the scriptures when they see that the lesson is going to be relevant to their lives.

To learn more about preparing a class to jump into the scriptures and how to ask good questions to get students interested click here to go to the "Teaching Methods, Skill and Apporch" section in the Gospel Teaching and Learning Handbook.