Prayer & Medication MEDITATION

...though medication just about perfectly illustrates life on the Ranch the past 2 months!
(However, I can attest to the fact that MEDITATION has greater longevity & yields greater blessings of healing than temporary medications.)

So its that time of the week again.
Time to fine-tune + tweak my Young Women's lesson for tomorrow.  This week's lesson is on Prayer & Meditation.  (Hopefully each of my girls will value daily prayer & meditation with her Heavenly Father more in her life after we're done in class.)

So, today's prep has included a handout, which essentially is the ENTIRE lesson!

Those are my fave handouts; when they prove more useful than something small, handed out at the end of class, that just gets jammed into their scriptures to only fall out over time, or be cleaned out just before they graduate from Seminary.

Instead they'll be using them all throughout the lesson.  So hopefully the message will be more permanent than usual.

You'll be as stoked as I was to realize that I didn't have to re-invent the wheel this week to make this handout happen.  (Which is ALWAYS exciting!)  Instead, the root idea is actually in the manual for lesson #24.

The lesson calls for an invitation to be printed out for each girl.  Even though I'm not THE biggest one for over-the-top embellishments, the one in the manual IS kinda plain.  See for yourself:

Well-intended, but more than likely to lose the YW's interest.  So, I did punch it up a little.  Now of course I'm biased, but if I were handed both invitations, I, myself, would be more inclined to accept this rather appealing version:

Please know that I'm not tooting my own horn over here, I'm just pleased with the end results.  Hopefully the girls will appreciate it... and even if it goes missing, perhaps it'll leave a cute & indelible enough impression that they remember the lesson when they need it most.  ::fingers crossed::

“As you feel the need to confide in the Lord or to improve the quality of your visits with him—to pray, if you please—may I suggest a process to follow: go where you can be alone, go where you can think, go where you can kneel, go where you can speak out loud to him. The bedroom, the bathroom, or the closet will do. Now, picture him in your mind’s eye. Think to whom you are speaking, control your thoughts—don’t let them wander, address him as your Father and your friend. Now tell him things you really feel to tell him—not trite phrases that have little meaning, but have a sincere, heartfelt conversation with him. Confide in him, ask him for forgiveness, plead with him, enjoy him, thank him, express your love to him, and then listen for his answers. … Answers from the Lord come quietly—ever so quietly. In fact, few hear his answers audibly with their ears. We must be listening so carefully or we will never recognize them. Most answers from the Lord are felt in our heart as a warm comfortable expression, or they may come as thoughts to our mind. They come to those who are prepared and who are patient”  -H. Burke Peterson

(source: Simon Dewey)

“I think we pay too little attention to the value of meditation, a principle of devotion. … Meditation is the language of the soul. It is defined as ‘a form of private devotion or spiritual exercise, consisting in deep, continued reflection on some religious theme.’ Meditation is a form of prayer. …

“Meditation is one of the most secret, most sacred doors through which we pass into the presence of the Lord”  -David O. McKay

Also, was thinking I could share this with any readers who perhaps cannot handle another item on their plate this week, or next week, or whenever this lesson's to be taught.  So, you're welcome to download & use the printable at the bottom.

Happy weekend! 
Meditation and Prayer You'Re Invited 4perPG FRONT

Oh, and P.S. you can double-side your handout if you'd like, too! Meditation and Prayer Will Help in 3pt5x5in 4perPG BACK