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The Power of Pondering, 1 Nephi 11:1

1 Nephi 11:1

I suppose that I had always assumed that Nephi was praying when he has his vision of the tree of life when in fact he was pondering.

How to define pondering? The footnote is a cross reference to the topic of meditation and to a verse of scripture where Joseph Smith describes a similar process before he received the vision of the degrees of glory (see D&C 76:19).

Pondering is a thought process where I dedicate my entire mental capacity to the topic at hand. Doing so successfully allows for spiritual promptings, and, as in the case of Nephi and Joseph Smith, prepared them for heavenly visions.

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