The process of gaining spiritual strength began with searching the scriptures, “but this is not all.” The sons of Mosiah had also pursued greater faith and knowledge through prayer and fasting; “therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation.”
Just reading the scriptures does not ensure that they will have a transforming power. It is possible to read the scriptures for literature alone, or history alone, and miss the spiritual insights they contain. These “dangers” of scripture reading may be overcome by adding prayer and fasting. Fasting intensifies our prayers; thus, prayer becomes our most important conduit for learning, with fasting a means of improving the “connection” of the prayer with the Spirit.
When the Spirit is applied to our reading, its ability to teach us “all things” (John 14:26, D&C 75:10) can springboard from the historical issues of the scriptural text into the living reality of our contemporary circumstances. It is this application of the Spirit to the scriptures that opens up our learning to true spiritual wisdom. Through our increasing sensitivity to the Spirit, we may become more open to personal revelation, to personal prophecy.
Variant:In the printer’s manuscript and the first edition of the Book of Mormon, the ending of this verse read: “they taught with power and authority even as with the power and authority of God.” The bolded phrase was removed in 1837.