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But If Not

Two water bottles under pressure, a furnace with four people in it, and deciding before the music starts

  • 🔥 Youth 14–15
  • Week 46
  • 📅 Sunday, November 15, 2026
🤔 Forehead Guess🏆 Showdown
💡 The big idea

Like Daniel and his friends, I can decide ahead of time who I am and what I’ll do, and stay true to the Lord even when it costs me and even when things don’t turn out the way I hoped.

I can purpose in my heart now what I will and won’t do, so pressure doesn’t get to decide for me.

Study it yourself firstRead Daniel 1–7 in Gospel LibraryCome, Follow Me manualOpen this week (Daniel 1–7)
Know the chapters

Daniel and his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were teenagers, or close to it, when Babylon carried them off from Jerusalem. That’s Daniel 1:1–6. The king’s officials gave them new Babylonian names: Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. They got a Babylonian education and food from the king’s table, in 1:5–7. It was a full makeover of their identity. The one thing Babylon couldn’t rename was what they’d decided in their hearts.

Daniel 1:8 says Daniel “purposed in his heart” not to defile himself with the king’s food. He decided before the plate arrived. Then he handled it wisely and respectfully. He asked for a ten-day test of pulse and water. God blessed the four with health, knowledge and wisdom “ten times better” than the king’s advisers, in 1:12–20. That’s a great pattern for youth. Decide early, speak respectfully and trust the Lord with the results. Latter-day Saints hear an echo of the Word of Wisdom promises, in Doctrine and Covenants 89:18–21.

In Daniel 2, the king demands that his wise men tell him his dream and what it means. Daniel doesn’t panic. He asks for time and gathers his friends to pray. The Lord reveals it, in 2:16–19. His earlier faithfulness had prepared him to receive revelation, in 1:17. In the dream, a stone “cut out without hands” fills the earth. It’s God’s latter-day kingdom, which will “never be destroyed,” in 2:44. The Church teaches this is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as Doctrine and Covenants 65:2 shows.

In Daniel 3 the three friends refuse to bow to the golden image. Their answer is the heart of this lesson. God is able to deliver us, “but if not,” we still won’t bow. That’s 3:17–18. Their faith wasn’t a deal. Then the king sees a fourth person in the fire “like the Son of God,” in 3:25. In Daniel 6, Daniel keeps praying with his windows open, as always, even when it’s against the law, in 6:10. And in Daniel 7:13–14 he sees “one like the Son of man” receive an everlasting kingdom. Jesus later used that title for Himself. With fourteen- to sixteen-year-olds, focus on pressure they really face. Group chats, parties, media, dating, Sunday sports. Be honest about “but if not.” Sometimes we choose right and it still hurts. The Lord doesn’t always remove the fire, but He comes into it.

Only have 5 minutes?

Read Daniel 1:8 and Daniel 3. Grab two water bottles and a phone flashlight. One bottle is full and capped, the other empty and open. Run What’s Your Price? with the walls. Do the Pressure Test from Teach Mode. Say Daniel 3:17–18 with a real pause at “But if not.” Work through Decide Ahead with the Name Spinner. Close with a decision made ahead. Brought nothing? The Arm Test works just as well.

What to bring4 items

Tick what you have. Forgot something? Every step that needs a supply has a no-supplies version in the plan below.

Before class

  1. Try the bottle squeeze once at home so you know how it feels.
  2. Read Daniel 1 and 3. Pick the Decide Ahead questions that fit your class best.
  3. Optional: text a youth to lead the key verse, Daniel 3:17–18, with the motions.

If your class is wild

  • Pick your strongest-looking volunteer for the full bottle. When they can’t crush it, the room gets the point before you say a word.
  • Decide Ahead works best when youth say the exact words. Send vague answers like “I’d just leave” back for a rewrite.
  • Don’t pretend standing alone is easy or always rewarded. Teens trust you more when you admit it can cost friends.
  • If someone shares a real situation, protect them. No teasing afterward. Thank them for trusting the class.
  • If the room is sluggish, run the Stand or Sit Speed Round first and come back to the hook.

The 25-minute plan24 min + bonus

Bonus steps are for when you have extra time. Steps that mention Teach Mode, the Sound Board or other class games refer to the Gospel Sparks app; on the web you can play Forehead Guess and Scripture Showdown from this page.

1. Hook

What’s Your Price?

3 min

Showing how rewards change our answers sets up Daniel, who chose with no reward in sight.

  1. SAY“The window wall means I’m in. The door wall means no way. Walk to your answer.”
  2. Read each one. “Beans and water for ten days, for twenty dollars?” “For five hundred dollars?” “For front-row concert tickets?” “Because God asked, and you get nothing you can see?”
  3. Ask someone who moved what changed their answer. Usually it’s the reward.
  4. SAY“Daniel was about your age. He was captured and renamed. He turned down the king’s food, and no reward was promised. Let me show you why he didn’t crumple.”

Class screen: 💰 What’s your price? · I’M IN · NO WAY

2. Story

Demonstration: The Pressure Test

7 min

Two water bottles under pressure show what deciding ahead does, and walk the class through Daniel 1 and 3 to the fourth person in the fire.

  1. SAY“Two bottles. One volunteer. Let’s see what pressure does.”
  2. Follow the scenes on the screen. At scenes 2 and 3, the volunteer squeezes the empty open bottle, then the full capped one. Let them really try.
  3. At scenes 4 and 5, tell the furnace story briefly. At scene 5, turn on the flashlight.
  4. SAY“Nobody plays the fourth one. We just notice Him.”
  5. Ask: “Babylon changed their names, their school and their menu. What couldn’t it change?” Listen for what they’d already decided in their hearts.
🌪️ Squeeze only. No stomping on bottles. Let a strong volunteer try the full bottle. The harder they try, the better the point.

Class screen: 🧴 The Pressure Test: why doesn’t the full one crumple? · Daniel 1:8 · Daniel 3

No supplies? Do this instead

Instead of: Two plastic water bottles: one full with the cap on tight, one empty with the cap off, A flashlight (a phone flashlight works)

Demonstration: The Arm Test

  1. SAY“One volunteer. Hold your arm out, totally relaxed.”
  2. Press down gently on their arm. It drops.
  3. SAY“That’s no decision. Pressure wins. Now brace it. Decide it won’t move.”
  4. Press gently again. This time it holds. Read Daniel 1:8. Tell the furnace story from scenes 4 to 6, pausing at scene 5 to read Daniel 3:24–25.
  5. Ask: “Babylon changed their names, their school and their menu. What couldn’t it change?”

Class screen: 💪 Relaxed or braced? Decide before the pressure hits.

3. Scripture

But If Not

4 min

The key verse shows faith that isn’t a deal: God is able, and we are His either way.

  1. SAY“Here’s what they told the king.”
  2. Show Daniel 3:17–18 and read it once. Teach the motions. Say it together with a real two-second pause at “But if not.”
  3. Ask how “I’ll obey if God gives me what I want” is different from “but if not.” Take two answers.
  4. SAY“Sometimes we pray, and we still don’t make the team. Or we still lose the friend. They didn’t know how it would end. But they knew who they were.”

Class screen: ✋ “But if not…” · Daniel 3:17–18

4. Talk it over

Decide Ahead

7 min

Writing exact words for real pressure turns “purposed in his heart” into something youth can actually say.

  1. SAY“Daniel decided before the plate came. So let’s decide some things before they happen. For each one, give me the exact words you’d say. And your exit plan.”
  2. Tap the Name Spinner to pick who answers first. Then open it up.
  3. Rate answers with thumbs. Up means “I could actually say that.” Sideways means too preachy. Down means nobody talks like that. Send vague answers back.
  4. SAY“For the Strength of Youth doesn’t list a rule for every situation. It gives you principles. And it trusts you to make inspired choices.”
💬 Ask the class
  • The group chat starts sharing a mean edited photo of someone in your grade. What exactly do you say or do?
  • At a friend’s house, the parents are gone and someone pulls out a vape. What words do you use to get out of there?
  • Your club team schedules a tournament on Sunday. How would you bring it up with your coach?
  • A friend says church is fake and asks why you still go. What’s your honest answer?
  • What’s one thing you want to decide today, so you never have to decide it again?
🎡 Name Spinner (a class game in the Gospel Sparks app)

Class screen: 📝 Decide ahead: what exactly would you say?

5. Testimony

Purposed in My Heart

3 min

A private decision and a short testimony send youth out with something already decided.

  1. SAY“Daniel purposed in his heart. Write down one thing you’re deciding today, ahead of time. It’s private. Keep it in your phone case or your scriptures.”
  2. Hand out the cards.
  3. Share a short testimony. The Lord doesn’t always stop the fire, but He walks in it with us. Choosing Him is worth it.
  4. Give the challenge and invite a youth to pray.

Class screen: 🪟 Decide it once. · Daniel 1:8

No supplies? Do this instead

Instead of: Index cards or scrap paper and pens, one per person

  1. SAY“Daniel purposed in his heart. Decide one thing right now, ahead of time. Type it in your phone’s notes, or just tell the Lord in your mind.”
  2. Share a short testimony. The Lord doesn’t always stop the fire, but He walks in it with us. Choosing Him is worth it.
  3. Give the challenge and invite a youth to pray.
6. Wiggle break

Stand or Sit Speed Round

3 minBONUS

A quick round shows everyone they aren’t the only one facing pressure.

  1. SAY“Everyone up. If this has happened to you, stay standing. If not, sit down. Then pop back up for the next one. Fast!”
  2. Read each one. “A group-chat joke you shouldn’t laugh at.” “A game on Sunday.” “Someone asked why you don’t drink coffee or vape.” “You felt like the only one.”
  3. Finish with everyone standing.
  4. SAY“Look around. You’re not the only one. Babylon is loud for all of us.”

Class screen: 🧍 Stand if it’s happened to you

7. Game

Scripture Showdown: Daniel

4 minBONUS

A quick team quiz reviews Daniel 1–7.

  1. SAY“Two teams. This Scripture Showdown is all Daniel.”
  2. Tap Scripture Showdown. Teams confer ten seconds, then answer. The losing team picks the stakes for the last question.
▶ Play Scripture Showdown on the web

Class screen: 🏆 Scripture Showdown: Daniel

Object lesson

Demonstration: The Pressure Test

Daniel 1:6–8; 3:13–27 ↗

Scenes

  1. 🧴🧴 Two bottles. Same outside.

    Hold up both bottles. Same size. Same label. Babylon took four young men from Jerusalem. It made them look like everyone else. New names. A new school. Food from the king’s table.

    🙌 A youth reads Daniel 1:6–7. Ask: “What does the world try to rename or relabel at our age?”

  2. 🫳💥 Squeeze the empty one

    A volunteer squeezes the empty bottle with the cap off. It crumples right away. Nothing inside pushes back.

    🙌 Ask: “What makes someone cave the second the pressure hits?”

  3. 💪🧴 Now squeeze the full one

    Now the full bottle with the cap on tight. Squeeze as hard as you want. It barely gives. What’s inside pushes back. Daniel “purposed in his heart” before the king’s food ever reached the table.

    🙌 A youth reads Daniel 1:8. Ask: “When did Daniel decide? At the table, or before?”

  4. 🎺🙇 The music plays. Three stay standing.

    Years later, the king builds a golden image. When the music plays, everyone must bow. Or be thrown into a fiery furnace. Everyone bows. Except three. The king gives them one more chance.

    🙌 A youth reads Daniel 3:13–15. Ask: “Why didn’t they need a meeting to decide?”

  5. 🔥🔦 Four people walking in the fire

    The furnace is heated seven times hotter. The three are thrown in. Then the king jumps up. Didn’t we throw in three? He sees four. Loose. Unhurt. And the fourth looks like the Son of God.

    🙌 Turn on the flashlight and hold it still. Read Daniel 3:24–25. Let it sit.

  6. 👃✨ Not even the smell of smoke

    The three walk out. Their hair isn’t singed. They don’t even smell like smoke. The Lord didn’t keep them out of the fire. He came into it with them.

    🙌 Ask: “What’s the full bottle for you? What’s inside that pushes back?”

Key verse

Daniel 3:17–18 ↗
“our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace … But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image”
In plain words: God can rescue us, and often He does. But our loyalty to Him isn’t a deal that depends on getting rescued. We’re His either way.
🙌 “Our God… is able”: point up, then flex. “Burning fiery furnace”: wiggle fingers like flames. “But if not”: hold up one hand like a stop sign and pause. “We will not serve thy gods”: shake your head and cross your arms, standing tall.

More verses

Daniel 1:8 ↗
“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat”
In plain words: Daniel made the decision before the plate showed up. Deciding early is what made the hard moment easy.
Daniel 6:10 ↗
“his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime”
In plain words: Daniel didn’t make a show of it or hide it. He just kept doing what he’d always done, because it was who he was.
Daniel 2:44 ↗
“the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed”
In plain words: The Lord’s kingdom on earth today, His Church, can’t be stopped. We get to help it grow.

Forehead Guess words18 words

  • 🧔 Daniel
  • 🏛️ Babylon
  • 👑 Nebuchadnezzar
  • 🧍 Shadrach, Meshach & Abed-nego
  • 🫘 Pulse
  • 🔟 Ten Days
  • 🗿 Golden Image
  • 🔥 Fiery Furnace
  • ✋ But If Not
  • ✨ Fourth Man
  • 💭 Dream
  • 🪨 Stone
  • 🦁 Lions’ Den
  • 🪟 Open Window
  • 👼 Angel
  • 🤴 King Darius
  • ☁️ Son of Man
  • 👥 Peer Pressure
Clues for each word
  • Daniel: Kept praying with his windows open
  • Babylon: Empire that captured Jerusalem
  • Nebuchadnezzar: King with the golden image and the strange dream
  • Shadrach, Meshach & Abed-nego: Three who wouldn’t bow
  • Pulse: Beans and vegetables for a ten-day test
  • Ten Days: How long Daniel’s food test lasted
  • Golden Image: About ninety feet tall on the plain of Dura
  • Fiery Furnace: Heated seven times hotter
  • But If Not: Three words of total loyalty
  • Fourth Man: Looked like the Son of God in the fire
  • Dream: The king forgot it, Daniel revealed it
  • Stone: Cut out without hands, filled the earth
  • Lions’ Den: Where Daniel spent the night unhurt
  • Open Window: Daniel prayed toward Jerusalem
  • Angel: Shut the lions’ mouths
  • King Darius: Tricked into signing a no-prayer law
  • Son of Man: Title from Daniel 7 that Jesus used
  • Peer Pressure: Everyone bowed when the music played
▶ Play Forehead GuessFull screen, 60-second timer, works on any phone.

Scripture Showdown9 questions

  1. What did Daniel and his friends ask to eat for their ten-day test?
    • A. The king’s meat
    • B. Pulse and water
    • C. Bread and honey
    Show answer

    ✅ B. Pulse and water Daniel 1:12. At the end they looked healthier than everyone else.

  2. What phrase shows Daniel decided ahead of time?
    • A. “Purposed in his heart”
    • B. “Waited to see”
    • C. “Asked the king”
    Show answer

    ✅ A. “Purposed in his heart” Daniel 1:8. He made the decision before the food arrived.

  3. What did Daniel do first when the king demanded his dream be revealed?
    • A. Ran away
    • B. Guessed
    • C. Asked for time and prayed with his friends
    Show answer

    ✅ C. Asked for time and prayed with his friends Daniel 2:16–19. The Lord revealed the dream in a night vision.

  4. What became a great mountain and filled the whole earth?
    • A. The golden image
    • B. The stone cut out without hands
    • C. Babylon’s wall
    Show answer

    ✅ B. The stone cut out without hands Daniel 2:35, 44. God’s kingdom will never be destroyed.

  5. What did the three say God would do “but if not”?
    • A. They’d bow after all
    • B. They’d escape
    • C. They still wouldn’t serve the king’s gods
    Show answer

    ✅ C. They still wouldn’t serve the king’s gods Daniel 3:18. Their loyalty didn’t depend on being rescued.

  6. How many people did the king see walking in the fire?
    • A. Four
    • B. Three
    • C. Seven
    Show answer

    ✅ A. Four Daniel 3:25. The fourth looked “like the Son of God.”

  7. What did the three NOT smell like when they came out?
    • A. Smoke
    • B. Beans
    • C. Perfume
    Show answer

    ✅ A. Smoke Daniel 3:27. Not a hair singed, no smell of fire.

  8. Why was Daniel thrown into the lions’ den?
    • A. He stole from the king
    • B. He kept praying to God
    • C. He refused to eat
    Show answer

    ✅ B. He kept praying to God Daniel 6:10. He prayed three times a day, just as he always had.

  9. What title from Daniel 7 did Jesus later use for Himself?
    • A. The Stone
    • B. The Watchman
    • C. The Son of man
    Show answer

    ✅ C. The Son of man Daniel 7:13. Jesus called Himself the Son of Man many times in the Gospels.

▶ Play Scripture ShowdownTeams take turns on one screen.

Songs

  • Choose the Right Hymns, no. 239

    The anthem of deciding ahead: sing it after Decide Ahead. Find it ↗

  • How Firm a Foundation Hymns, no. 85

    One of its verses promises the Lord’s help through fiery trials, a perfect match for Daniel 3. Find it ↗

This week’s challenge

Decide It Once

Keep the card or note with today’s decision where you’ll see it every day. Then, like Daniel, pick a set time to pray every day this week. Keep it even when you’re busy or no one else is.

Text the parents

This week in class we squeezed two water bottles to see why an empty one crumples and a full one holds. We followed Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego into the fiery furnace. Then we practiced real pressure, like group chats, parties and Sunday sports, by saying the exact words we’d use. The big idea is to decide ahead, like Daniel, who “purposed in his heart.” Ask your teen: what’s one thing you’ve decided ahead so you never have to decide it again?

📝 After class

What worked? Who needs a check-in this week? Jot it here on a printed copy, or in the app’s private class notes.

Got extra time?

💭 Revelation Takes Preparation · 5 min

  1. Read Daniel 1:17 and 2:16–19. Ask what Daniel had been doing for years that made him ready for revelation in a crisis.
  2. List ideas on the board or a phone. Keeping commandments, praying with friends, not panicking, asking for time, giving God the credit in 2:28.
  3. Ask what question they have right now where they want the Lord’s help. Then ask what preparing for His answer would look like.

☁️ The Son of Man · 5 min

  1. Read Daniel 7:13–14 about “one like the Son of man” receiving an everlasting kingdom.
  2. Pairs look up Mark 10:45 and Mark 14:61–62. Ask how Jesus used this title, and why it made some leaders so angry.
  3. Ask: “What does it mean to you that Jesus is the One Daniel saw?”

🥦 The Ten-Day Test · 4 min

  1. Read Daniel 1:12–15. Then read the Word of Wisdom promises in Doctrine and Covenants 89:18–21 and put them in your own words.
  2. Each youth picks a personal ten-day test. Less screen time before bed, no energy drinks, a daily walk, or scriptures before their phone.
  3. Have them report back in class in two weeks.

Sources

Scripture quotations are from the King James Version, the Bible used by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Tap or click a reference to open it in Gospel Library. Start with the official Come, Follow Me manual; these ideas are here to help it come alive.

All Youth 14–15 lessons