Elder David A. Bednar (Oct. '19): "Watchful Unto Prayer Continuously"

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The invitation at the end of the talk to consider other lessons from the cheetah story could make for an interesting activity/discussion (par. 33-34 "I invite and . . . able to stand.'").

The Activity:

  1. Prior to the lesson make sure you have several pieces of chalk (or markers for a white board).
  2. On the board draw two vertical lines that divide the board into three roughly equal areas.  
  3. Label the areas as follows:
    1. Disguise evil as good
    2. Complacency
    3. Misuse of our Bodies
  4. Explain that Elder Bednar lists these three broad tactics of Satan.
  5. Read par. 29 "Understanding the intent . . . for possible attacks."
  6. Explain that you are going to take some time as a class to consider specific ways you see these 3 attacks being carried out.
  7. Point out the three areas on the board and explain that everyone will have the chance to contribute to the board as follows: 
    1. Explain that the activity will take place in silence.
    2. Ask everyone to stand up and come up near the board.
    3. Distribute the chalk among the group so that people can take a piece when they need it.  
    4. Explain that during the time, anyone can take a piece of chalk and go to the board and list an tactic of Satan under the appropriate heading.
    5. Class members can put check marks by things that they also feel strongly about. 
    6. Class members can draw arrows or make other signs to connect similar ideas or to show that an item may belong under multiple headings. 
    7. As items are recorded, everyone should pay attention and consider any ideas that come to them.
  8. Give the class 5 or so minutes to create these lists.  If there is a lull, it might be helpful to quietly explain that there is still time.  
  9. At the end, come back together as a class and discuss what stood out to the class members as they considered the lists.
Using the Activity:

First, this activity can be a bit awkward at times because most of us do not like silence.  However, the silence (and letting people sit in it) is important.  The power of this activity is the time to ponder how Satan is at work in our individual lives and in society at large.  While we could all list many things that are obvious, there are many more subtle things that may not be as obvious.  By spending time pondering, we open ourselves up to greater inspiration and revelation.  Also, this pondering is kind of a communal pondering since the exact contents of what is being pondered is evolving over time as people list new items.  

Logistically, this set up (with the class members around the board) may not work in every class room.  One option to this arrangement is to create posters that are hung up around the room and to allow class members to move around to the various posters either as small groups or individually as they want.  There are probably other ways to arrange this as well.

As always, I look forward to hearing how these activities work for you.  Thank you for visiting.  God bless.

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