“Take time to ponder and reflect. Get away from the bustle of life. Find a quiet place and take time to simply sit and think, to listen to your thoughts and feelings, to open yourself to the promptings of the Spirit. Note what the following prophets said they were doing prior to receiving important revelations. Nephi: ‘I sat pondering in my heart’ (1 Nephi 11:1). Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon: ‘While we meditated upon these things’ (D&C 76:19). Joseph F. Smith: ‘I sat in my room pondering over the scriptures; and reflecting’ (D&C 138:1–2). Joseph Smith: ‘My mind was called up to serious reflection. … I reflected … again and again [upon the words of James]’ (JS—H 1:8, 12).
“Sometimes we must deliberately put aside the cares of the world, put aside the rush of our daily lives, and find a quiet place and a quiet time where we can sit and ponder and reflect and meditate—and listen for that still small voice that whispers” (Gerald N. Lund, “The Voice of the Lord” [Brigham Young University devotional, Dec. 2, 1997], 9–10, speeches.byu.edu).
“The condescension of God lies in the fact that he, an exalted Being, steps down from his eternal throne to become the Father of a mortal Son” (Bruce R. McConkie, The Mortal Messiah [1979], 1:314).
“Here was Jesus—a member of the Godhead, the Firstborn of the Father, the Creator, Jehovah of the Old Testament—now leaving His divine and holy station; divesting Himself of all that glory and majesty and entering the body of a tiny infant; helpless, completely dependent on His mother and earthly father. That He should not come to the finest of earthly palaces and be … showered with jewels but should come to a lowly stable is astonishing. Little wonder that the angel should say to Nephi, ‘Behold the condescension of God!’ (1 Ne. 11:26.)” (Gerald N. Lund, Jesus Christ, Key to the Plan of Salvation[1991], 16).