Highlights for Doctrine and Covenants 20-22
Moroni repeated instructions to Joseph Smith four times in one day; was it to help him retain important information and understanding? For example, repetition helps me a lot, especially when learning a new language. And you may have noticed, the scriptures can feel like a foreign language sometimes. So, it caught my attention when two verses in section 20 were identical, word for word.
Here’s verse 47:
47 And visit the house of each member, and exhort them to pray vocally and in secret and attend to all family duties.
And again:
51 And visit the house of each member, exhorting them to pray vocally and in secret and attend to all family duties.
Prayer
So, assuming there’s an important reason these verses appear twice – here’s a question: how were your prayers today and yesterday? Could your prayers use an upgrade in either quality or quantity? I know mine have room for improvement.
Could we maybe, encourage others’ prayers more? What if prayers were a significant aspect of how we inspired and fellowshipped each other in gospel living? I honestly don’t ever remember asking friends about how their prayers were going when visiting or teaching. But it makes so much sense and I’m going to watch for opportunities to bravely speak up about prayer.
Prayer changes things.
We have direct access to the Ultimate Supreme Being and he loves us enough to count the hairs on our head.
Shawnie Cannon ~ Divine Code
If you would like to read more about prayers and hear some new ideas to make them better – here is one reference:
Family Duties
While nothing is spelled out in regards to family duties right in section 20 – here is a quote from the prophet John Taylor:
“Then we come to our Priests, and what are they to do? I do not think I need tell you, for I have heard brother Richards tell you. They should visit from house to house and see that there are no hard feelings existing in those households, or between the inhabitants of different households.” (JD 19:237)
The apostle George Q. Cannon expressed similar sentiments:
[It] is a matter of great importance to us that we should be attentive to our duties; that every man in this Church who has a family should put his family into such a condition, as far as he can, that God will approve of them…see that there is no difficulty existing, no dissensions, no quarrelling.” (JD 25:238)
Besides prayer, harmony is of primary importance in the home!
Takeaway
Isn’t it interesting that the two essential, core gospel values we encourage and visit each other over – are prayer and harmony? What excellent topics to be reminding each other about? I believe that these two gospel concepts are plenty for most families to think about and work on. It certainly is for ours.