An ancient priest named Jacob reported the following description:
Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea. (Jacob 4:6)
Jacob described how reading the scriptures yielded many personal communications of information from God and had inspired him and his people to accurately predict the future.
Each time they tested a putative relationship of cause and effect listed in the scriptures, they saw it fulfilled and gained the attendant knowledge. This cycle reached the point where they could read and believe the causes given for such great miracles as commanding trees, mountains, and the sea to the point where their practice of such was as efficacious as it was for those they read about.