More Motivation to Hear Him

In his first conference talk as President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Nelson emphasized the importance of personal revelation by saying:

... in coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.

Recently, I began to wonder what scriptures teach a similar principle, of needing revelation in order to survive. I thought about the Savior's words:

24 For there shall arise ^afalse ^bChrists, and ^cfalse prophets, and shall shew great ^dsigns and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall ^edeceive the very ^felect.

Certainly, there is a lot of noise in the world today. There are many different ways to spend your time and attention; and there's a constant pressure to watch this video, read that article, and so on. It can be hard to make time to listen for the impressions of the Holy Ghost, but we must do so in order to stay close to the Lord.

Just as this verse warns, the world is filled with false Christs and false prophets. Many take forms that are not what one might expect: many false prophets and false Christs don't even address salvation. Many simply preach worldly success, fame, or popularity, while others preach fitness and personal fulfillment. While some of these ideas are important and worth some of our time, none of them will ultimately save us. This is why many of these false Christs forgo religion entirely: dedicating our lives to any of these other things can stop us from hearing God's word and sever or diminish our connection to Him. Some of these surrogate prophets attempt to create a false dichotomy between attempting to live the Gospel and sufficiently loving and serving your neighbor, adequately caring for yourself, or other values which do not truly compete with being a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. No matter the method, the effort is to undermine or remove completely our ability to commune with the Father.

One who seeks and follows personal revelation will not be deceived by false prophets, even the most persuasive and apparently virtuous of them; such a person will not be lead away by logical fallacies. There is no anchor so secure as faith to go to our Father in prayer and then follow the answers He gives. There are a million reasons that it can be hard to receive revelation, but I testify that the Lord will speak to us in a way we can understand, and that He will guide us as we attempt to follow Him. I am so grateful for the many people around me who have been examples of righteously seeking the Lord's will, and for a loving Father in Heaven that wants to speak to all of us, including me.

Recognizing the Lord's Voice: Hearing Him Part 5

Part of getting answers to our prayers, inspiration throughout life, and otherwise hearing the Lord is being able to recognize when he's speaking to us. Moroni 7:15-17 contains an overarching principle that helps me know that I am hearing Him:

15 For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to ^ajudge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night.

16 For behold, the ^aSpirit of Christ is given to every ^bman, that he may ^cknow good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.

17 But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do ^aevil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him.

If we examine what we are feeling, or what we perceive to be communication from the Almighty, and it brings us closer to Christ, then it is "sent forth by the power and gift of Christ." If not, then it is not. Sometimes we have experiences where we aren't 100% sure whether it is from the Lord or not, but this is a bright and clear standard we can use to rule some things out. If an experience is not uplifting, or if it causes us to distance ourselves from the Gospel, our covenants, or Christ Himself, then it is not from God.

The feelings of the Spirit are often emotional, so if we are already emotional it can cloud our judgment about a matter and make it more difficult to know that we've received direction from on high. It is helpful to step back and examine things from this guideline: is it bringing us closer to Christ? Some more specific ways of asking ourselves this question might be: is this bringing out my inner virtue? Am I truly willing to give this up if its the Lord's will? Do I feel selfish and prideful when I consider this question? Does this bring me closer to my family and loved ones? Will this help me keep my covenants? Is this in agreement with things I know are true according to the testimony I have received? Does this help me feel the Lord's love?

I know that God speaks to us; He wants us all to hear Him and listen to His voice. I know that efforts we spend towards doing so will bring us closer to Him and help us feel His peace in spite of the world.