Some in Corinth were following teachers who bragged about their own greatness. Paul answered by “boasting” in a surprising way: he listed his sufferings. He had been beaten with rods, stoned once, shipwrecked three times, and had faced perils of waters, robbers, hunger, cold and weariness. He had also been “caught up to the third heaven” and heard things too sacred to speak.
Then Paul shared something very personal. “There was given to me a thorn in the flesh … lest I should be exalted above measure.” Three times he begged the Lord to take it away. The Lord did not. Instead He said, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Paul’s whole view changed: “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me … for when I am weak, then am I strong.”
Who’s who
Paul: an Apostle with a painful, unnamed affliction
The Corinthian Saints: some drawn to boastful teachers
Jesus Christ: whose grace is sufficient
Where and when
Paul’s travels by land and sea, and his letter to Corinth.
Watch for the Savior
Watch how the Lord answers Paul’s prayer with grace instead of removal.
Eight stops from Paul’s perils to the flowers among the thorns. Scroll, or tap a number on the map.
Part 2 of 7
The story, plainly
Four scenes: the perils, the prayers, the answer and the strength. Look for the Savior in each one.
Read it plainly
The words that trip people up
Tap any dotted word for its meaning. The scripture stays exactly as written.1
2 Corinthians 12:7 “the messenger of Satan to Meaning: strike, beat. me”
2 Corinthians 12:7 “Meaning: too proud.”
2 Corinthians 12:8 “I Meaning: begged. the Lord thrice”
2 Corinthians 12:9 “glory in my Meaning: weaknesses.”
2 Corinthians 12:10 “in Meaning: insults., in necessities”
Part 3 of 7
Look closer
Small details tell the story. Some cards are details in the text; others share insights from prophets, Church resources or a labeled outside lexicon. Each card says which.
0 of 9 turned
All nine. The thorn, the clouds, the three prayers, the light, the reed, the sapling, the tent, the rock and the flower. 2 Corinthians 12:1–10
Part 4 of 7
Where are you?
Praying for it to go away, worn down, comparing my weakness, or strong in Him. Which feels most like you right now?
A next step for you
Your choice is saved only on this device.
Try it
Weak and strong
Paul asked the Lord three times to take his thorn away. Tap each card to see what happened next, and how weakness became strength.
“For when I am weak, then am I strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:10
Part 5 of 7
Their world, their words
A little background helps us see what Paul was facing. Outside sources are labeled.
Church resource · Student manual
What was the thorn?
The student manual: commentators have proposed “epilepsy, a serious visual impairment … or malaria.”6
Paul never says.
Church resource · Student manual
A protection from pride
“One of the positive results of this affliction was that it helped Paul avoid becoming proud.”6
Weakness can lead to humility.
First Presidency · Student manual
Healing and God’s will
President Oaks: priesthood blessings “are limited by the will of Him whose priesthood it is.”6
Faith trusts His answer.
Scripture
A long list of perils
Beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, “in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.”2
The story does not say Paul’s thorn came because he lacked faith. He was an Apostle who had seen the third heaven. The Lord’s answer was grace, not blame.1
Part 6 of 7
Look to Him
His grace is sufficient. His strength is made perfect in our weakness.
The Lord’s answer: “My grace is sufficient for thee.”
“He wants you to learn how to be cured when that is His will and how to obtain strength to live with your challenge when He intends it to be an instrument for growth.”
Elder Richard G. Scott, quoted in the student manual6
“The grace of God is our great and everlasting hope.”
Everything on this page as a 11-page letter-size PDF: the map, scenes, cards, activity, word studies, tracker, Go deeper and sources. For home, class or a quiet Sunday.
Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh is part of the Scripture Story Sketch Notes for the New Testament, set alongside Come, Follow Me for September 13–19, 2027 (2 Corinthians 8–13).
Independent study notes from Weak Things, not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Scripture quotations are from the King James Version. The story is told in 2 Corinthians 11 and 12; the insights in “Look closer” are labeled by source.
