Throughout the ages, many have obtained guidance helpful to resolve challenges in their lives by following the example of respected individuals who resolved similar problems. Today, world conditions change so rapidly that such a course of action is often not available to us.
Personally, I rejoice in that reality because it creates a condition where we, of necessity, are more dependent upon the Spirit to guide us through the vicissitudes of life. Therefore, we are led to seek personal inspiration in life’s important decisions.
I loved this thought! It has been so frustrating to deal with my current issues without specific guidance. I guess we all want someone to tell us the answer, to all of our problems. But in this day and age God is asking more of us, he is asking that we develop a relationship with him and receive personal answers. This method really is better for us, it imparts greater blessings than if we were just given the answer and followed blindly.
What can you do to enhance your capacity to be led to correct decisions in your life? What are the principles upon which spiritual communication depends? What are the potential barriers to such communication that you need to avoid?
President John Taylor wrote: “Joseph Smith, upwards of forty years ago, said to me: ‘Brother Taylor, you have received the Holy Ghost. Now follow the influence of that Spirit, and it will lead you into all truth, until by and by, it will become in you a principle of revelation.’ Then he told me never to arise in the morning without bowing before the Lord, and dedicating myself to him during that day.”1
This reminds me of a scripture about being anxiously engaged. Sometimes as people of faith we wait to be given an assignment, to be called to perform a specific duty. When in reality we should have a relationship with God in which we get his direction daily. It reminds me of Elder Bednar's talk about prayer too.
Father in Heaven knew that you would face challenges and be required to make some decisions that would be beyond your own ability to decide correctly. Hearing Elder Scott say this I felt so loved. It made me feel that I wasn't lacking because I couldn't find an answer to my problems. In His plan of happiness, He included a provision for you to receive help with such challenges and decisions during your mortal life. That assistance will come to you through the Holy Ghost as spiritual guidance. It is a power, beyond your own capability, that a loving Heavenly Father wants you to use consistently for your peace and happiness.
The word "consistently" struck me here. All too often I feel that I should be a big girl and deal with things on my own. This is pride and keeps me from the full amount of aid available to me. It isn't weakness to involve God in our lives consistently.
I am convinced that there is no simple formula or technique that would immediately allow you to master the ability to be guided by the voice of the Spirit. Our Father expects you to learn how to obtain that divine help by exercising faith in Him and His Holy Son, Jesus Christ. Were you to receive inspired guidance just for the asking, you would become weak and ever more dependent on Them. They know that essential personal growth will come as you struggle to learn how to be led by the Spirit.
What may appear initially to be a daunting task will be much easier to manage over time as you consistently strive to recognize and follow feelings prompted by the Spirit. Your confidence in the direction you receive from the Holy Ghost will also become stronger. I witness that as you gain experience and success in being guided by the Spirit, your confidence in the impressions you feel can become more certain than your dependence on what you see or hear.
I know from personal experience that this a true principle. It is scary to act at first, but as you do act on promptings the spirit confirms that you have done the right thing by giving us feelings of peace and joy..
Spirituality yields two fruits. The first is inspiration to know what to do. The second is power, or the capacity to do it. These two capacities come together. That’s why Nephi could say, “I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded.”2 He knew the spiritual laws upon which inspiration and power are based. Yes, God answers prayer and gives us spiritual direction when we live obediently and exercise the required faith in Him.
This reminded me of something I have learned - when we ask for an answer from God we must be prepared to act on that knowledge. Every time God increases our knowledge he expects action. Sometimes the action is to be obedient to the new information and sometimes it is a specific action. For example if I pray for a neighbor I may get a prompting to help them in a specific way. This is God's way of answering my prayer. If I truly want to help that neighbor I must be prepared to act, not just to pray.
Now I share an experience that taught me a way to gain spiritual guidance. One Sunday I attended the priesthood meeting of a Spanish branch in Mexico City. I vividly recall how a humble Mexican priesthood leader struggled to communicate the truths of the gospel in his lesson material. I noted the intense desire he had to share those principles he strongly valued with his quorum members. He recognized that they were of great worth to the brethren present. In his manner, there was an evidence of a pure love of the Savior and love of those he taught.
This is a great story about receiving revelation but it is also an example of great teaching that we could emulate to be more effective teachers.
His sincerity, purity of intent, and love permitted a spiritual strength to envelop the room. I was deeply touched. Then I began to receive personal impressions as an extension of the principles taught by that humble instructor. They were personal and related to my assignments in the area. They came in answer to my prolonged, prayerful efforts to learn.
As each impression came, I carefully wrote it down. In the process, I was given precious truths that I greatly needed in order to be a more effective servant of the Lord. The details of the communication are sacred and, like a patriarchal blessing, were for my individual benefit. I was given specific directions, instructions, and conditioned promises that have beneficially altered the course of my life.
This last sentence made me think about the promptings I had received just that week but hadn't followed through on. What blessings could I be missing from neglecting these promptings?
Subsequently, I visited the Sunday School class in our ward, where a very well-educated teacher presented his lesson. That experience was in striking contrast to the one enjoyed in the priesthood meeting. It seemed to me that the instructor had purposely chosen obscure references and unusual examples to illustrate the principles of the lesson. I had the distinct impression that this instructor was using the teaching opportunity to impress the class with his vast store of knowledge. At any rate, he certainly did not seem as intent on communicating principles as had the humble priesthood leader.
Again, teaching us about how to be a great teacher with a negative example. Also Elder Scott is a great example of using a less than ideal situation for good. Despite the lacking in the class he was able to use the experience for his benefit.
In that environment, strong impressions began to flow to me again. I wrote them down. The message included specific counsel on how to become more effective as an instrument in the hands of the Lord. I received such an outpouring of impressions that were so personal that I felt it was not appropriate to record them in the midst of a Sunday School class. I sought a more private location, where I continued to write the feelings that flooded into my mind and heart as faithfully as possible. After each powerful impression was recorded, I pondered the feelings I had received to determine if I had accurately expressed them in writing. As a result, I made a few minor changes to what had been written. Then I studied their meaning and application in my own life.
Subsequently I prayed, reviewing with the Lord what I thought I had been taught by the Spirit. When a feeling of peace came, I thanked Him for the guidance given. I was then impressed to ask, “Was there yet more to be given?” I received further impressions, and the process of writing down the impressions, pondering, and praying for confirmation was repeated. Again I was prompted to ask, “Is there more I should know?” And there was. When that last, most sacred experience was concluded, I had received some of the most precious, specific, personal direction one could hope to obtain in this life. Had I not responded to the first impressions and recorded them, I would not have received the last, most precious guidance.
I added the bold. We should give thanks for the spiritual impressions we receive. I know I take them for granted, even when I earnestly seek them out. Like I am doing God a favor by following the promptings that I asked for.
These things made me realize that I need to write in my journal more often! When I write as I receive promptings I remember them better and they serve as a later witness to the truthfulness of the prompting. Sometimes I feel that my journal entries are written conversations with God, like a prayer. Sometimes in my prayers I loose my train of thought or find myself using vain repetitions. Writing down my prayerful thoughts keeps me on task and tuned into the prayer.
What I have described is not an isolated experience. It embodies several true principles regarding communication from the Lord to His children here on earth. I believe that you can leave the most precious, personal direction of the Spirit unheard because you do not respond to, record, and apply the first promptings that come to you.
HUGE! Respond, Record and APPLY!
Impressions of the Spirit can come in response to urgent prayer or unsolicited when needed. Sometimes the Lord reveals truth to you when you are not actively seeking it, such as when you are in danger and do not know it. However, the Lord will not force you to learn. You must exercise your agency to authorize the Spirit to teach you. As you make this a practice in your life, you will be more perceptive to the feelings that come with spiritual guidance. Then, when that guidance comes, sometimes when you least expect it, you will recognize it more easily.
I added the bold here. I believe this concept of exercising our agency to authorize the Spirit to take part in our lives is a huge part of prayer. God won't interfere in our lives without our consent, he is that mindful of our agency. We must pray and ask for his influence and hand in our life.
The inspiring influence of the Holy Spirit can be overcome or masked by strong emotions, such as anger, hate, passion, fear, or pride. When such influences are present, it is like trying to savor the delicate flavor of a grape while eating a jalapeño pepper. Both flavors are present, but one completely overpowers the other. In like manner, strong emotions overcome the delicate promptings of the Holy Spirit.
Love this analogy. It makes me more aware of what I surround myself with and how my negative emotions can block out the positive and good all around me.
Sin is addictive; self-degenerating; conducive to other strains of corruption; deadening to spirituality, conscience, and reason; blinding to reality; contagious; destructive to mind, body, and spirit. Sin is spiritually corrosive. Unrestrained it becomes all-consuming. It is overcome by repentance and righteousness.
I share a warning. Satan is extremely good at blocking spiritual communication by inducing individuals, through temptation, to violate the laws upon which spiritual communication is founded. With some, he is able to convince them that they are not able to receive such guidance from the Lord.
Satan has become a master at using the addictive power of pornography to limit individual capacity to be led by the Spirit. The onslaught of pornography in all of its vicious, corroding, destructive forms has caused great grief, suffering, heartache, and destroyed marriages. It is one of the most damning influences on earth. Whether it be through the printed page, movies, television, obscene lyrics, vulgarities on the telephone, or flickering personal computer screen, pornography is overpoweringly addictive and severely damaging. This potent tool of Lucifer degrades the mind and the heart and the soul of any who use it. All who are caught in its seductive, tantalizing web and remain so will become addicted to its immoral, destructive influence. For many, that addiction cannot be overcome without help. The tragic pattern is so familiar. It begins with curiosity that is fueled by its stimulation and is justified by the false premise that when done privately, it does no harm to anyone else. For those lulled by this lie, the experimentation goes deeper, with more powerful stimulations, until the trap closes and a terribly immoral, addictive habit exercises its vicious control.
Participation in pornography in any of its lurid forms is a manifestation of unbridled selfishness. How can a man, particularly a priesthood bearer, not think of the emotional and spiritual damage caused to women, especially his wife, by such abhorrent activity?
Well did inspired Nephi declare, “And [the devil] will . . . pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, . . . and thus [he] cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.”3
If you are ensnarled in pornography, make a total commitment to overcome it now. Find a quiet place; pray urgently for help and support. Be patient and obedient. Don’t give up.
Parents, be aware that the addiction of pornography can begin with youth at a very early age. Take preventative action to avoid that tragedy. Stake presidents and bishops, warn of this evil. Invite anyone you consider captured by it to come to you for help.
It speaks to the overwhelming nature of this particular evil that Elder Scott singles it out in his talk. This is an issue on which the world at large feels very differently than the LDS church. I once heard a woman say that her son had become well acquainted with pornography at a friends house where she thought he was safe. This woman felt she needed to warn the parents about pornography being in their home. It was a sad experience for her when she talked to the parents and found out that they were OK with having pornography in their home and that their son, and his friends, had access to it. It took her son a long time to recover, with his bishop's help, from the addiction to pornography that was initiated at his friend's home.
An individual with foundation standards and an enduring commitment to obey them is not easily led astray. Someone who is increasingly repulsed by grievous sin and who exercises self-restraint outside human influence has character. Repentance will be more efficacious for such an individual. A feeling of remorse after a mistake is a fertile soil wherein repentance can flower.
This paragraph tells me about concepts that I can instill in my children to help them later in life when they will need to repent, as we all do. It also tells me that spiritual preparation is key to resisting temptation and overcoming sin.
Have patience as you are perfecting your ability to be led by the Spirit. By careful practice, through the application of correct principles, and by being sensitive to the feelings that come, you will gain spiritual guidance. I bear witness that the Lord, through the Holy Ghost, can speak to your mind and heart. Sometimes the impressions are just general feelings. Sometimes the direction comes so clearly and so unmistakably that it can be written down like spiritual dictation.4
I bear solemn witness that as you pray with all the fervor of your soul with humility and gratitude, you can learn to be consistently guided by the Holy Spirit in all aspects of your life. I have confirmed the truthfulness of that principle in the crucible of my own life. I testify that you can personally learn to master the principles of being guided by the Spirit. That way, the Savior can guide you to resolve challenges of life and enjoy great peace and happiness. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
I think Elder Scott would agree that he isn't promising a trouble-free or perfect life, he's promising help for problems and enjoying great peace and happiness while dealing with troubles. It is possible.
This talk continues to inspire me. It helped me at a crucial time of sickness. I have no doubt that my being ill during General Conference made me more humble and teachable. Because of that lowliness of heart, I learned and internalized the words of Elder Scott. Then,I was subsequently able to respond to promptings and take faithful steps to follow the Lord. It was a pivot point in my life, one of many, that brought about great changes, opportunities, and blessings. .
God very much wants to help us but we must show our sincerity by being faithful to the knowledge he gives us. His plan is amazing. It helps us in the moment but it also builds our soul for eternity. I never want to loose my sense of awe over the workings of God in my life and in the world at large.
NOTES
1. John Taylor, The Gospel Kingdom, ed. G. Homer Durham (1943), 43–44.
2. 1 Nephi 3:7.
3. 2 Nephi 28:21.
4. See D&C 8:2.
