As I speak to you today, I invite the Holy Ghost to be with us, that I might appropriately share those thoughts and feelings that have come to my mind and heart, and that you will have eyes to see and ears to hear what the Lord would have you take away from this message. I know we do not walk alone.
As I went through the process of searching, pondering, and praying about what I should share with you today, I found some peace through the thoughts that came to me. One of the thoughts was to “be still.”
During his message in the October 2018 general women’s session, one of the challenges President Russell M. Nelson invited us to do was to read the Book of Mormon before the end of the year. Let’s listen to this portion of his message.
As impossible as that may seem with all you are trying to manage in your life, if you will accept this invitation with full purpose of heart, the Lord will help you find a way to achieve it. And, as you prayerfully study, I promise that the heavens will be open for you. The Lord will bless you with increased inspiration and revelation.
As you read, I would encourage you to mark each verse that speaks of or refers to the Savior. Then, be intentional about talking of Christ, rejoicing in Christ, and preaching of Christ with your families and friends. You and they will be drawn closer to the Savior through this process. And changes, even miracles, will begin to happen.[1]
Hopefully, all who received this challenge from President Nelson followed the admonition to not only mark the Book of Mormon in this way but also to intentionally talk of, rejoice in, and preach of Christ with families and friends. Why was this so important? I found that by sharing what I learned and felt, the Holy Ghost had the opportunity to reaffirm to me and bear witness to those with whom it was shared. We had the opportunity to then learn and grow together.
A few years ago, my niece asked me to write about times I had felt the Spirit. Knowing this would take time from a busy schedule, I was only partially thrilled about the assignment, but I knew it would be a good exercise for me to review and have these experiences documented. Unfortunately, I lost the file due to a phone failure before I was able to send it to her. I have since tried to recreate that file. I find as I have reviewed the times and experiences when I have felt the Spirit, I have felt my testimony strengthened.
At an early age, my mother taught me how to understand that the feelings I was receiving were from the Holy Ghost, so I would be able to recognize His influence and be wiser in the decisions I made. As a pre-teen, I participated in a service project. We ended up serving coffee and tea to those that were eating at a reunion. Partaking of these drinks is contrary to what I believed, but I wasn’t partaking.
I felt sorrow, guilt, and I most definitely did not have a positive feeling in my heart. As I discussed my experiences and feelings with my mother, she pointed out to me that this was the Holy Ghost trying to help me know that it was not what Heavenly Father would have me do.
I remembered this experience as I taught my own daughter when she was very young. She regularly spoke to me about her day just before going to sleep. During this time, I helped her to understand that some of the feelings she was sharing with me were from the Holy Ghost guiding her in her life. I was grateful to know that she was already feeling the influence of the Holy Ghost and for the opportunity to help her understand that gift.
In a BYU Education Week devotional, Elder Richard G. Scott stated that many individuals limit their learning to what they hear or read. He counseled that we should be wise and develop the skill of also learning by what we see and particularly by what the Holy Ghost prompts us to feel. He stated that a lot of faith and effort are required, and we need to live worthy to be guided by the Spirit.
Elder Scott said:
Write down in a secure place the important things you learn from the Spirit. You will find that as you record a precious impression, often others will come that you would not have otherwise received. Also, the spiritual knowledge you gain will be available throughout your life. Always, day or night, wherever you are, whatever you are doing, seek to recognize and respond to the direction of the Spirit. Have available a piece of paper or a card to record such guidance.
Express gratitude to the Lord for the spiritual guidance you receive and obey it. This practice will reinforce your capacity to learn by the Spirit.[2]
One fast and testimony meeting a few years ago, one of my ward members shared that she not only prayed for the Spirit to be with her, but that she would be able to recognize the promptings she was receiving. Of course! What good is it to have the Holy Ghost with us if we miss the messages we should have received?
Don’t be frustrated if you are struggling to recognize promptings from the Holy Ghost. It is a learning process. Remember that we learn line upon line.
In my life, as I have prayed while making decisions, I am grateful for a husband who has guided me through times of struggle and confusion while I have tried to listen for answers. Sometimes I have missed the answer, and my husband has gently nudged me by saying, “You know what you are supposed to do, so do it.” He had recognized I had received an answer by my approach and what I said, even though I thought I was still waiting for an answer.
What do we need to do to prepare ourselves to recognize the promptings from the Holy Ghost?
Elder Boyd K. Packer has recommendations for us:
It is about reverence and how it relates to revelation that I wish to speak. Inspiration comes more easily in peaceful settings. Such words as quiet, still, peaceable, Comforter abound in the scriptures. “Be still and know that I am God.” And the promise, “You shall receive my Spirit, the Holy Ghost, even the Comforter, which will teach you the peaceable things of the Kingdom.[3]
Did you hear him? He said, “Be still.” We need to be still without distractions so we will be able to hear, feel, and recognize the promptings we are receiving.
Elder Packer said:
The Holy Ghost speaks with a voice that you feel more than you hear. It is described as a “still small voice.” And while we speak of “listening” to the whisperings of the Spirit, most often one describes a spiritual prompting by saying, “I had a feeling. . . .”[4]
Let’s listen to Elder Packer as he speaks about receiving revelation.
No message is repeated more times in scripture than the simple thought: “Ask and ye shall receive.” . . . We teach you often about prayer, about the asking part. Perhaps we have not taught you enough about the receiving part. This is a very private, a very individual thing, one you must learn for yourself. Begin now, and as the years unfold before you, you who are very young, you will be led. That still small voice will come to you, and then you can come to know as many, many of us have come to know, and as I bear witness, that the Lord lives. I know His voice when He speaks.[5]
I have come to know that inspiration comes more as a feeling than as a sound. Young people, stay in condition to respond to inspiration. . . . Some answers will come from reading the scriptures, some from hearing speakers. And, occasionally, when it is important, some will come by very direct and powerful inspiration. The promptings will be clear and unmistakable. You can learn now, in your youth, to be led by the Holy Ghost. As an apostle, I listen now to the same inspiration, coming from the same source, in the same way. that I listened to as a little boy. The signal is much clearer now.[6]
Being still is not the only way to prepare for inspiration of the Holy Ghost.
Let’s review what was on the discussion board this week. I asked, “What are some ways you can invite the Holy Ghost to be more active in your life? Some of your responses included:
- “Being kind to those with whom I come in contact,”
- “Studying the scriptures,”
- “Acting on promptings I receive from the Holy Ghost,”
- “Having a continual prayer in my heart,” and
- “And standing in holy places.”
In Doctrine and Covenants 9:8–9 the process of receiving revelation is given to guide Oliver Cowdery. The process of receiving revelation includes studying it out in your mind, asking, and listening.
It reads:
But, Behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right.
But if it be not right you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor of thought that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong.[7]
In a message from Elder David A. Bednar about receiving revelation, he said:
When sons and daughters of God communicate with Him, we call it prayer. When he communicates with us, it comes in a variety of methods, means, or channels. We’re talking about the patterns whereby God communicates with His children here upon the earth.[8]
In Moroni 10:5 we read, “And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.”[9]
Let’s listen as Elder Bednar gives a description of how truth or revelation is received.
Revelation is communication from God to His children here upon the earth. Sometimes those messages come quickly and rather dramatically. I’ve compared that to a light being turned on in a dark room where very suddenly the darkness is expelled and you can see everything in the room quite clearly and brilliantly. I would suggest that that pattern of receiving messages from God is more rare than common. A second pattern is when the light comes gradually much like the rising of the sun. You can discern the increase of light on the horizon, but never all at once. This pattern of revelation I would suggest is more common than rare.
Sometimes receiving inspiration is like a foggy day. There’s enough light that you can tell it’s not darkness anymore, it’s not night. But it’s not brilliantly illuminated. You can see just enough to take a few steps ahead into the cloudiness. I don’t know about other people, but it occurs that way for me all the time. There’s enough to just take a few steps, and then the light continues to help me see just far enough ahead that I can continue to press forward.
I know when there is a power beyond my own that comes from God to me and through me, which is the spirit of revelation.[10]
While he was president of Ricks College, during a devotional address given on August 31, 1999, Elder Bednar taught that our invitation for the companionship of the Holy Ghost can occur in many ways.
We invite the Holy Ghost into our lives through:
- Making and keeping sacred covenants
- Meaningful personal prayer every morning and every night
- Searching the scriptures daily and diligently
- Sincere worship in our homes and at church
- Appropriateness in our relationships with family members and friends
- Virtuous thoughts and actions and language and dress[11]
Elder Bednar continued by saying, “Conversely, casualness about or the breaking of covenants and commitments, failing to pray and study the scriptures, and inappropriate thoughts and actions and language and dress cause the Holy Ghost to withdraw or to avoid us altogether. Can you begin to understand why abiding by the Honor and Dress Codes is so important to your success at Ricks College?”—I just wanted to add here: also BYU-Idaho. Now to continue: “These Codes are not about curfew and clothing; rather, they are about commitments and obedience. Most importantly, the Honor and Dress Codes are about inviting the presence of the Holy Ghost into our lives, into our classrooms, and to this special campus.”[12]
In devotional last week, Brother Willy Twitchell said, “The best counsel comes from the Holy Ghost speaking directly to our hearts.”[13] So, we have the opportunity to receive the best counsel spoken directly to our hearts if we follow the counsel we received today.
Elder Packer encouraged us to be still, to ask, and to listen, and also to stay in condition to respond to inspiration.
Elder Scott encouraged us to write down the impressions we receive and keep them in a secure place so that the spiritual knowledge we gain will be available throughout our lives. He also said to seek, to recognize, and respond to the direction of the Spirit and express gratitude to the Lord for the spiritual guidance we receive and encouraged us to obey the promptings we receive. This practice will reinforce our capacity to learn by the Spirit.
Elder Bednar taught different ways inspiration is received and gave us guidelines on how to invite the Holy Ghost into our lives. He also said, “I know when there is a power beyond my own that comes from God to me and through me, which is the spirit of revelation.”[14]
I invite you do what it takes to have the Holy Ghost active in your life. Be still. Ask to be able to recognize promptings you receive from the Holy Ghost. Ask, then listen, feel, and act upon the promptings you receive. And thank Heavenly Father for those special messages.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
[1] Russell M. Nelson, “Sisters’ Participation in the Gathering of Israel,” Ensign, Nov. 2018.
[2] Richard G. Scott, “To Learn and to Teach More Effectively,” BYU devotional, Aug. 21, 2007.
[3] Boyd K. Packer, “Reverence Invites Revelation,” Ensign, Nov. 1991.
[4] Boyd K. Packer, “Personal Revelation: The Gift, the Test, and the Promise,” Ensign, Nov. 1994.
[5] Boyd K. Packer, “Prayers and Answers,” Ensign, Nov. 1979.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Doctrine and Covenants 9:8–9.
[8] David A. Bednar, “Patterns of Light: Spirit of Revelation”; churchofjesuschrist.org/media/video/2012-01-0012-patterns-of-light-spirit-of-revelation?lang=eng.
[9] Moroni 10:5.
[10] David A. Bednar, “Patterns of Light: Spirit of Revelation”; churchofjesuschrist.org/media/video/2012-01-0012-patterns-of-light-spirit-of-revelation?lang=eng.
[11] David A. Bednar, “Receiving, Recognizing, and Responding to the Promptings of the Holy Ghost,” Ricks College devotional, Aug. 31, 1999.
[12] David A. Bednar, “Receiving, Recognizing, and Responding to the Promptings of the Holy Ghost,” Ricks College devotional, Aug. 31, 1999.
[13] Willy Twitchell, “Check Your Heart,” BYUI devotional, Jul. 28, 2020.
[14] David A. Bednar, “Patterns of Light: Spirit of Revelation”; churchofjesuschrist.org/media/video/2012-01-0012-patterns-of-light-spirit-of-revelation?lang=eng.