Meridian Magazine--Come Follow Me Latter-day Saint Podcast

How can we become better at praying? It is a question that most of us ask ourselves as serious disciples of Jesus Christ. In these chapters from the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord Himself teaches us how to pray. If the Lord says this is how we should pray, then, there is something deep to learn.

The Sermon on the Mount was called by President Joseph Fielding Smith, “The greatest sermon that was ever preached, so far as we know,” and President Harold B. Lee called it “the constitution for a perfect life”. It tells us not just what to do but gives us the much more exacting standard and describes how we should be.

John’s gospel is so beautifully structured to reveal eternal truths to his audience who are Church members. One story reinforces and points back or forward to the next. For instance, both the wedding at Cana and the visit to Nicodemus at night are teaching the same thing—an idea the casual reader might miss.

Jesus goes into the wilderness, fasting for 40 days, to commune with his Father, and then when he is famished, Satan comes upon him with temptation. As the arch liar who has eons of practice, he uses types of temptations on the Savior, which he also uses on all of us. What these are and how the Savior resists him is a profound teaching for us all.

There is a stir in the Judean wilderness, a voice of authority and vibrancy that hasn’t been heard amongst the Jews for at least four hundred years. John the Baptist is preaching his hopeful and important message. He is a voice in the wilderness, which has come to mean in our English language, someone who is expressing an idea that is not popular. Yet, it is the message that Israel has anticipated for its entire history, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord.” The Messiah is here.

Joseph Smith calls this book The Testimony of John. Think of this as his testimony to us as an eyewitness of the life of the Savior. The scenes from Jesus’ life that [John] describes are carefully selected and arranged with this object in view...He clearly affirms that Jesus is the Son of God, attested to by miracles, by witnesses, by the prophets, and by Christ’s own voice. John the Baptist is a voice crying in the wilderness. Come and listen!

The chapters in this week’s podcast are familiar to us because we have recited them so many times at Christmas. The surprise is that there are hidden gems and ideas in these chapters we might not have seen before. The Joseph Smith Translation (JST) also adds new dimensions to the old story we love so well.  Come and join us again this week.

This is the second week's lesson in the new Come Follow Me curriculum. We are Scot & Maurine Proctor, publishers and editors of Meridian Magazine. The podcast gives you 25-30 minutes of lively discussion on the week's lesson. The topic this week is: "Be It unto Me according to Thy Word" where we focus on Matthew Chapter 1 and Luke Chapter 1. Come and study with us as we give you insights and ideas about this week's lesson.

Beginning today, December 28, 2018, each week Meridian Magazine’s founders, Scot and Maurine Proctor, will be giving a 30-minute podcast on the “Come, Follow Me” curriculum for the week. This is so you can listen with your scriptures in hand, or while you are about life’s many other duties. If you want some thoughts about teaching your family or in Church lessons, this can be a place to turn. If you live alone, let us study with you. This week's lesson:  "We are responsible for our own learning."