BYU-Idaho’s last devotional speaker for the Spring semester, Brett Cook, auxiliary services managing director at BYU-Idaho, spoke to the students on the topic, angels among us.
He shared different scriptural accounts where prophets were visited by angels such as, Adam when he was in the Garden of Eden, Daniel when he was in the lion’s den, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego when they were thrown into a furnace and Joseph Smith during the days of the restoration of the gospel.
While many people associate angels with heavenly angels, there are many angels who assist us on Earth. Cook wanted to focus his talk on the angels we have in our midst.
“I’m not talking about heavenly angels, but mortal angels,” he said in an interview with BYU-Idaho Radio.
He had the students ponder about how they can be angels to other people.
In his devotional talk he asked the students to raise their hands if they had ever been helped by someone in a time of need or had acted on a prompting to help someone. Many people raised their hands. He then extended three challenges to the students.
- Will you commit to live your life so you can have the Holy Ghost as your constant companion?
- Will you commit to listen to the promptings of the spirit?
- As you listen to the spirit will you commit to act upon those promptings?
“You can accomplish these three challenges; we each have what it takes,” he said.
Cook shared an experience he and his wife had when they were expecting one of their children. There were complications that arose during the pregnancy and when the time came for the baby to arrive, his wife and daughter’s lives were in jeopardy. He knows God was watching out for his family and they all saw the miracles and manifestation of Heavenly Father’s love through the ministering angels among them that evening.
He played a video by Elder Jeffery R. Holland who talked about having faith that angels are there and help will come if we ask God. His talk can be found at https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2008/10/the-ministry-of-angels?lang=eng.
“God never leaves us alone, never leaves us unaided in the challenges that we face,” Holland said.
We can be an answer to other’s prayers by attending to the promptings of the Spirit. Learning to put away distractions is an important aspect to recognizing the spirit so we can be on the Lord’s errand when He calls.
“The more you create opportunities to listen, you’ll learn how to hear it better and better as you go on,” he said. “As you get kind of tuned in, you’ll feel and you’ll hear those impressions in your mind more often.”
Cook feels his message is relevant to everyone and hopes they can learn from the Spirit.