The Lord often uses "formulas" to show how to obtain certain blessings or outcomes. Mark these with an equal signs. They signal a plain truth of the gospel.
Look For: Look for places where the Lord defines something or ties two or more things together. Words like "is," "like," or "in other words"
Example: D&C 93:24 Def. of Truth
3 Nephi 11:29 Contention is of the devil. (therefore what does that mean to me? When is contention in my life? Then the devil is there.) It is not enough just to find them. Since they are plain statements of the gospel we must search their implications.
(Adapted from Panning for Gold: Various Methods to Understand and Apply the Scriptures to Ourselves by Eric Bacon, Northwest Area Seminaries)
