Nephi explained: “After I had desired to know the things that my father had seen, and believing that the Lord was able to make them known unto me, as I sat pondering in mine heart I was caught away in the Spirit” (emphasis added). Then follows the grand panoramic vision the Lord gave to Nephi, chapter after chapter, of many centuries of what we call “history” but he would have called “prophetic preview.” All this was opened up to him because he desired it, was believing, and took time to ponder upon the things of the Lord.
As a boy, Joseph Smith enjoyed studying the Bible. One day he was reading the letter of James, where the ancient Church leader encouraged anyone who lacked wisdom to ask of God, and God would respond (James 1:5). Young Joseph wrote what happened to him after he read those words: “Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again” (Joseph Smith–History 1:12). Notice that the Prophet’s history does not say that he read that powerful verse, closed his Bible, and dashed across the road to enter a grove of trees and immediately kneel to pray. It was some time later that he went to pray, because he said that he “reflected on it again and again”; the words just kept working their way into his consciousness, and he could not get them out of his mind. The Spirit of the Lord carried those words deep into young Joseph’s heart and influenced him to act on them. The great Visitation occurred, followed by many other visits and revelations from the heavenly world, along with conferral of power (the priesthood), the translation and publication of more of the Savior’s words, and the beginning of the restoration of all things. All of that happened because of the boy’s initial desire, his believing heart, and his ponderings over a single verse of scripture.
On 16 February 1832, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon were working on the Prophet’s inspired revision of the biblical text, specifically in the Gospel of John. As they came to a particular verse (John 5:29), they stopped to ponder the meaning of the Lord’s teaching. “And while we meditated upon these things, the Lord touched the eyes of our understandings and they were opened, and the glory of the Lord shone round about” (D&C 76:19). Then opened up to them the grand vision of the degrees of glory, one of the greatest of all the revelations that have come in our day. All this happened because they desired it, were believing, and paused to meditate upon the words of scripture.
There have been several men by the name of Joseph Smith in our dispensation. One of them, a nephew of the Prophet Joseph Smith, was Church president Joseph F. Smith. He was sitting in his home in Salt Lake City on 3 October 1918, pondering over the scriptures and reflecting particularly on the words of Peter about Christ’s visit to the spirit world between his death and resurrection (1 Peter 3:18–20; 4:6). President Smith recorded: “As I pondered over these things which are written, the eyes of my understanding were opened, and the Spirit of the Lord rested upon me, and I saw the hosts of the dead” (D&C 138:11). He described in greater detail than anyone has in all of scripture the world of spirits, who is there, and what they are doing. He specifically noted what the Savior did in organizing the hosts of the righteous to carry on the teaching of the gospel and the preparing of the dead to receive their saving ordinances. All of that was opened up to him because he desired it, was believing, and had paid the price to stop and ponder the teachings of the scriptures.
The Lord seldom encourages or commands us to merely read the scriptures. He and his prophets use such terms as “search” (John 5:39; 3 Nephi 23:1, 5; D&C 1:37); “meditate” (Joshua 1:8; 1 Timothy 4:15; D&C 76:19); “study” (D&C 11:22; 26:1; 88:118); “ponder” (2 Nephi 4:15; 3 Nephi 17:3; D&C 88:62, 71; 138:1, 11); “reflect upon” (D&C 138:2; Joseph Smith–History 1:12); “feast upon” (2 Nephi 31:20; 32:3; Alma 32:42); and “treasure up” (D&C 84:85; Joseph Smith–Matthew 1:37). The Lord will indeed show unto us great things, as we do our part: praying over and studying and reflecting upon the words of scripture, and taking the time to be “in the Spirit.”