The Infinite Power of God in Our Covenants
Open talk in Gospel LibraryContents
Before Reading
Before reading or listening to the talk, consider the following questions:
- How does consistent study of the Book of Mormon bless individuals and families, even when its effects are not immediately apparent?
- How can the covenants of parents and ancestors influence their descendants?
- What distinction does Elder Morgan make between covenant influence and individual agency?
- What does the talk teach about the duration and reach of God’s covenant promises?
- What hope does Jesus Christ offer when you or someone you love struggles or wanders?
- How can you remain faithful while waiting for answers to prayers?
Topics
Read the Book of Mormon with Consistent Faith
Elder Morgan describes his mother’s daily reading of the Book of Mormon as an enduring influence on his testimony. Although he remembers few words from those readings, he recognizes the importance of the book to her and her conviction that it is true. He teaches that no time or effort spent reading the Book of Mormon is wasted.
But more than any words that I heard or did not hear, I knew the Book of Mormon was important to my mother. And I knew she knew it was true.
Remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon.
No time or effort is ever wasted in reading the Book of Mormon. Not for you, not for your children, not for your family, not for anyone.
- What does Elder Morgan recognize about his mother’s testimony, even though he remembers little of what she reads?
- What does he teach about the value of reading the Book of Mormon when the results are not immediately visible?
- How does my approach to the Book of Mormon communicate its importance to those around me?
- What practical change can help me read the Book of Mormon more consistently?
- What experiences help me recognize the value of scripture study, even when understanding or spiritual growth comes gradually?
Seek Truth and Honor Your Testimony
Elder Morgan expresses gratitude for the religious heritage that gives him a testimony of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. As he sincerely seeks truth, he comes to know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s Church. His account illustrates how a testimony sustains conviction amid uncertainty and family disappointment.
All of this led me to sincerely seek the truth.
I can’t fully express the gratitude I have for my upbringing and the knowledge I had received; even so, I came to know that this is the Lord’s Church.
I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it.
- How does Elder Morgan distinguish between his existing testimony and his uncertainty about where the Lord’s Church is?
- How does the statement from Joseph Smith illustrate Elder Morgan’s conviction?
- What gospel truths do I know, and what questions do I still need to sincerely explore?
- How can I honor the good influences in my upbringing while continuing to seek truth?
- What experiences strengthen my testimony, and how can recording them help me remain faithful during opposition?
Recognize How Covenants Bless Future Generations
Elder Morgan recognizes the temple covenants of his ancestors as a source of divine influence in his life. He teaches that faithful parents’ and grandparents’ covenants bless their posterity while preserving each person’s agency. These covenant promises offer hope that God continues reaching out to those who wander.
Though the covenant faithfulness of parents and grandparents does not alter the agency of children or grandchildren, there is a discernible impact of those covenants on all our posterity.
The power of God in those covenants reached out after me.
And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers.
- What influence does Elder Morgan attribute to the temple covenants of his ancestors?
- Why is the distinction between covenant influence and individual agency important?
- How does the promise about turning children’s hearts to their fathers relate to Elder Morgan’s experience?
- Where do I recognize the influence of faithful family members or ancestors in my spiritual life?
- How can I strengthen my covenant faithfulness while respecting the agency of those I love?
- What can I learn about my family’s spiritual heritage that helps me appreciate the blessings available through covenants?
Trust God’s Promises Across Time
Elder Morgan uses the Lord’s covenant with Enos to illustrate that divine promises can extend across thousands of years. He teaches that covenants bless more than the individuals who make them and reach across time and space. The Lord’s timetable does not diminish the power of His promises.
So, no, there is no limit to the power of God in our covenants.
Covenants with God are filled with incalculable power. They do not bless just the maker of the covenant but are generational in their impact.
Like the great binding power of gravity that stretches across the universe, covenants with God stretch over all time and all space.
- What does the Lord’s covenant with Enos teach about the timing of covenant fulfillment?
- How does Elder Morgan’s comparison to gravity illustrate the reach of covenants?
- Who benefits from covenants, according to the talk?
- Which promised blessings do I find difficult to wait for, and how does this teaching affect my perspective?
- What examples help me recognize that God’s work extends beyond my immediate circumstances?
- How can I make faithful choices today with future generations in mind?
Find Hope in Christ’s Infinite Atonement
Elder Morgan assures listeners that neither they nor their loved ones are beyond the reach of divine love and covenantal power. He identifies the Atonement of Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of God’s greatest promise: that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. Its infinite and eternal reach provides hope for those who feel distant from God.
If you are wondering whether you or a loved one has wandered so far away that the love of God and His covenantal power cannot reach you—I say to you, you have not.
You have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love. It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines.
The Atonement of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the greatest promise God made—that Jesus Christ would be our Savior and Redeemer. The power and reach of that covenant is infinite and eternal.
- What assurance does Elder Morgan give to those who worry that someone is beyond God’s reach?
- How does he connect the Atonement of Jesus Christ with God’s promises?
- What do the words "infinite and eternal" teach about the reach of Christ’s Atonement?
- When do I feel tempted to believe that I or someone I love is beyond divine help?
- How can the assurance of Christ’s infinite Atonement shape the way I speak to myself and others?
- What step can I take today to turn toward Jesus Christ with greater hope?
Keep Covenants While Trusting God’s Timing
Elder Morgan encourages those who plead for struggling loved ones to trust that God hears and answers prayers in His own time and way. He counsels listeners to keep their covenants, strive for faithfulness, and cheerfully do what lies within their power. His closing testimony invites perseverance and confidence that God continues working in individual and family stories.
Take comfort; God hears you and will answer your prayers in His own time and in His own way.
Keep your covenants, strive to be faithful, and “cheerfully do all things that lie in [your] power; and then may [you] stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.”
Don’t ever give up. Your story, your family’s story, is not all written. God is the author and the finisher of it.
- What does Elder Morgan counsel listeners to do while they await answers to prayers?
- How does the counsel to act cheerfully complement the invitation to stand still with assurance?
- What hope does the statement that a family’s story is not all written offer?
- What lies within my power in a situation that concerns me, and what do I need to entrust to God?
- How can I keep my covenants faithfully without making my faithfulness depend on immediate results?
- What experiences remind me that God hears my prayers, even when His answers differ from my expectations?
- What specific act of faith, service, or love can I choose this week instead of giving up?
