Pres. Russell M. Nelson, Hear Him, April 2020 Conference
The increasing darkness that accompanies tribulation makes
the light of Jesus Christ shine ever brighter. The Book of Mormon chronicles
the classic rise and fall of two major civilizations. Their history
demonstrates how easy it is for a majority of the people to forget God, reject
warnings of the Lord’s prophets, and seek power, popularity, and pleasures of the
flesh.
Messages from our Heavenly Father are strikingly different.
He communicates simply, quietly, and with such stunning plainness that we
cannot misunderstand Him.8
For example, whenever He has introduced His Only Begotten
Son to mortals upon the earth, He has done so with remarkably few words. On the
Mount of Transfiguration to Peter, James, and John, God said, “This is my
beloved Son: hear him.”9 His words to the Nephites in ancient Bountiful were
“Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my
name—hear ye him.”10 And to Joseph Smith, in that profound declaration that
opened this dispensation, God simply said, “This is My Beloved Son. Hear
Him!”11
Now, my dear brothers and sisters, consider the fact that in
these three instances just mentioned, just before the Father introduced the
Son, the people involved were in a state of fear and, to some degree,
desperation.
The Apostles were afraid when they saw Jesus Christ
encircled by a cloud on the Mount of Transfiguration. The Nephites were afraid because they had been through
destruction and darkness for several days. Joseph Smith was in the grips of a force of darkness just
before the heavens opened.
Our Father knows that when we are surrounded by uncertainty
and fear, what will help us the very most is to hear His Son. Because when we seek to hear—truly hear—His Son, we will be
guided to know what to do in any circumstance.
The very first word in the Doctrine and Covenants is
hearken.12 It means “to listen with the intent to obey.”13 To hearken means to
“hear Him”—to hear what the Savior says and then to heed His counsel. In those
two words—“Hear Him”—God gives us the pattern for success, happiness, and joy
in this life. We are to hear the words of the Lord, hearken to them, and heed
what He has told us!
As we seek to be disciples of Jesus Christ, our efforts to
hear Him need to be ever more intentional. It takes conscious and consistent
effort to fill our daily lives with His words, His teachings, His truths.
We simply cannot rely upon information we bump into on
social media. With billions of words online and in a marketing-saturated world
constantly infiltrated by noisy, nefarious efforts of the adversary, where can
we go to hear Him?
We can go to the scriptures. They teach us about Jesus
Christ and His gospel, the magnitude of His Atonement, and our Father’s great
plan of happiness and redemption. Daily immersion in the word of God is crucial
for spiritual survival, especially in these days of increasing upheaval. As we
feast on the words of Christ daily, the words of Christ will tell us how to
respond to difficulties we never thought we would face.
We can also hear Him in the temple. The house of the Lord is
a house of learning. There the Lord teaches in His own way. There each
ordinance teaches about the Savior. There we learn how to part the veil and
communicate more clearly with heaven. There we learn how to rebuke the
adversary and draw upon the Lord’s priesthood power to strengthen us and those
we love. How eager each of us should be to seek refuge there.
When these temporary COVID-19 restrictions are lifted,
please schedule regular time to worship and serve in the temple. Every minute
of that time will bless you and your family in ways nothing else can. Take time
to ponder what you hear and feel when you are there. Ask the Lord to teach you
how to open the heavens to bless your life and the lives of those you love and
serve.
While worshipping in the temple is presently not possible, I
invite you to increase your participation in family history, including family
history research and indexing. I promise that as you increase your time in
temple and family history work, you will increase and improve your ability to
hear Him.
We also hear Him more clearly as we refine our ability to
recognize the whisperings of the Holy Ghost. It has never been more imperative
to know how the Spirit speaks to you than right now. In the Godhead, the Holy
Ghost is the messenger. He will bring thoughts to your mind which the Father
and Son want you to receive. He is the Comforter. He will bring a feeling of
peace to your heart. He testifies of truth and will confirm what is true as you
hear and read the word of the Lord.
I renew my plea for you to do whatever it takes to increase
your spiritual capacity to receive personal revelation.
Doing so will help you know how to move ahead with your
life, what to do during times of crisis, and how to discern and avoid the
temptations and the deceptions of the adversary.
And, finally, we hear Him as we heed the words of prophets,
seers, and revelators. Ordained Apostles of Jesus Christ always testify of Him.
They point the way as we make our way through the heart-wrenching maze of our
mortal experiences.
What will happen as you more intentionally hear, hearken,
and heed what the Savior has said and what He is saying now through His
prophets? I promise that you will be blessed with additional power to deal with
temptation, struggles, and weakness. I promise miracles in your marriage, family
relationships, and daily work. And I promise that your capacity to feel joy
will increase even if turbulence increases in your life.
Pres.
Oaks, Hear Him to Bring Others Closer to Him
I Hear Him through Thoughts and Feelings
“Hear Him” are the two words used by God the Father in
introducing His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to Joseph Smith to usher in
the glorious Restoration of the gospel (Joseph Smith—History 1:17). These two
words resonate persuasively with me as I reflect on experiences during my life.
I have given many talks, and in my experience inspiration for those talks comes
as thoughts to the mind. Sometimes it is an impression to look at something I
read earlier. But most often, it is a succession of ideas that I would describe
by saying they are written on the blackboard of my mind. I do not hear a voice,
but sometimes I see and feel words.
I Hear Him through Strong Impressions
I often reflect on an experience I had over 50 years ago
while serving as a counselor in the Chicago Illinois South Stake presidency. I
had received an invitation to be the sacrament speaker in the evening at our
far west unit near Aurora, Illinois. This was about a one-hour drive from my
home. Whenever I received an invitation to speak without an assignment of
subject, I usually received an impression about what I should say, but on this
particular occasion, I did not receive any impression.
As the Sabbath day wore on without an impression, I pondered
as I drove. I thought, “What will I say for the 45 minutes that I have been
invited to speak?” I was halfway to Aurora before I got an impression. I
remember it was strong, and it came to me with such force that I knew it was
the answer to my prayers. The impression was “Speak about your experiences in
the criminal courts in Chicago.” At the time, I was working over the summer as
a prosecutor in the Cook County Criminal Court to gain additional experience to
help me in my teaching responsibilities. I had never spoken about my
experiences in the criminal courts. I rarely spoke about any personal
experiences in my talks, so the impression was a great surprise.
I spoke about the various kinds of thievery that youth
offenders were being prosecuted for, including shoplifting. I stressed how
serious this kind of crime was and what happened to these youth when they were
found guilty of such offenses. After I concluded my talk, a mother came up to
me, thanking me for my talk. She told me she had a young son who had been
involved in shoplifting. She and her husband tried to impress upon him the
seriousness of that activity, but they had not been able to make any headway.
This mother said, “When I learned that you were going to speak this evening,
knowing about your background, I prayed to the Lord that you would say
something that would help our son. You did,” she said. “He listened to you in a
way he has never listened to us, and I thank you for hearing the Spirit of the
Lord and following it, and I thank you for what you have said.”
I Hear Him through Following the Guidance of the Spirit
As I pondered that experience in the Aurora Branch so many
years ago, I have related it to the many talks I have to give. I am rarely
assigned a particular subject, but the Lord has been good to me in impressions
on subjects I should speak about. For reasons I cannot explain, my pattern in
preparing and giving talks has been to focus on gospel doctrine and not my own
personal experiences. So, when I receive a strong impression to speak about a
personal experience, I listen to that impression and try to hear Him and follow
it.
There are times when one or two people in a congregation
really need to hear a particular subject. That was my experience in Aurora,
Illinois, that evening, and it has been my experience often since that time.
Hear Him—listen to the promptings of His Spirit—and instead of just giving a
talk that will be generally helpful to a large group, you may be prompted to
answer the prayers of someone for specific inspiration and instruction on a
particular subject. When something like that happens to me, I am filled with
gratitude. My pattern is to thank the Lord and to pray that the desired effect
will take place in the hearts and minds of those who needed to hear that
message.
I Hear Him through the Actions and Ministrations of
Others
Most of the time when we ask the Lord for help, it does not
come by a visitation such as Joseph Smith had or as the Apostle Paul had on the
road to Damascus. Most of the answers we receive are through the actions of
others. The Lord might impress someone to minister, to send a letter, to make a
phone call, or to offer a suggestion here and there. That is the typical way
the Lord helps us. Every person in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints who has the gift of the Holy Ghost has the right to be prompted of the
Lord, regardless of status or circumstance.
Our hands are His hands when we hear Him and feel impressed
to help one of His children.
We Hear Him in Our Own Circumstances
When the Lord invited us to “hear Him,” He was appealing to
each of us in our own individual circumstance, with our own cultural awareness
and our own abilities to understand a message. In a worldwide Church such as we
have, there are so many different cultures, languages, symbols, and other methods
of communication that surely the Lord speaks to us through the languages, the
symbols, and the circumstances we individually can understand and hear.
When you receive an impression, act upon it, however unusual
it seems or however inadequate you feel in following it. Act upon it. There is
a reason for it. You may not know the reason, but blessings will come to you
and to others if you hear Him and follow His direction.
Pres.
Ballard, How I hear Him in Still and Quiet Moments
Receiving revelation only comes, at least in my case, when I
have those still and quiet moments. I have found I cannot connect with heaven
in a mass of clutter.
Since the early days of my life, I have sought to hear the
voice of the Lord and understand His guiding hand in my life. A defining moment
in my journey to understand His voice came while I served as a young missionary
in England. This experience has shaped the rest of my life. I think of this
moment as one of the first times that I have felt very, very close to heaven.
I remember walking down the side of the River Trent in
Nottingham, England. I had been made the district president over 30
missionaries, and we were responsible for ministering to nine branches. We
didn’t have the correct number of missionaries serving in our mission, so I
didn’t have a companion at that time (sometimes that happened in those early
days of missionary work).
As I was walking along that river, all alone, I said a
prayer in my heart. I desired to feel some guidance from the Lord. I pled that
He would be pleased with what I was trying to do. I asked, “Am I doing what you
want?”
I did not hear a voice. I did not see any angels. But I had
an impact within my bosom—within my heart—that has never left me. That moment
was when I first learned what it feels like to be very, very close to heaven.
As a 20-year-old missionary, I learned a lesson from that
experience: most things we hear from heaven are ultimately felt in our hearts.
And then hopefully that feeling trickles up into our minds, where it helps
guide us to follow what we hear. From this experience, and countless others, I
have learned that we must be still to hear the Lord’s voice. The Lord made it
pretty clear when He said, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).
Be Still
While technology has often been a blessing in my life, it
can also be a distraction that places a barrier between us and our ability to
hear the Lord’s voice. I tell my grandchildren that they should set aside quiet
time each day to think about their lives and ponder what the Lord wants them to
do.
Receiving revelation only comes, at least in my case, when I
have those still and quiet moments. I have found I cannot connect with heaven
in a mass of clutter. You have to find those quiet moments in your life when
you can contemplate the things of the Spirit. In my experience, when I am in
that mode and striving to be still, that’s when I get impressions. That’s when
I get a thought that I know is from heaven.
For example, I give a lot of talks in my calling. I don’t
usually write them out, except when I have to because of time limits. So, I
usually think, “Well, what should I say?” Sometimes the answer comes in the
middle of the night—a very quiet part of my day. And I won’t hear a voice but
rather an impression of what the Lord is prompting me to do and to say.
Hear, Feel, Learn, and Know
I have also found that profound spiritual insight can come
from reading and listening to the gospel being taught by those who are
witnesses of the Lord, Jesus Christ. As I have heard their words, I’ve felt
things that have made all the difference in my spiritual conversion.
I encourage missionaries wherever I go to recognize that
conversion, reactivation, and even staying active in The Church of Jesus Christ
always begins with what people feel more than what they know. One of the great
blessings of hearing the Lord and feeling the power of the Lord is that the
Holy Ghost can cause us to listen, feel, learn, and know.
I am eternally thankful for the shaping experience I had as
a young missionary in England, because it taught me what it feels like to
experience the Lord’s guiding hand in my life. Today, 71 years later, I can
boldly testify that it is a privilege for us to be able to “Hear Him” in our
modern world. May we each strive for quiet moments, free from distraction, to
feel the presence of the Lord in our lives.
Elder Holland on how to Hear Him
I Hear Him through
Determined Prayer.
There is a great lesson in
[Joseph’s prayer] about muscular, urgent, determined prayer to fight through,
whether it is the adversary’s opposition, the cares of the day, or the
distractions of our mind. We have many things that can keep us from having that
divine experience. And we, like
Joseph, will have to exert all our power to have the magnificent experience
that God wants us to have.
I Hear Him by Making
Quality Time to Pray Vocally.
I believe it is important for
us to pray out loud. It is basic to what God intends for us in our
communication with Him. We should make every effort to let Him hear
us—literally. But it is always a penetrating voice. For me, to say out loud
the words of my prayer is to make it crisp and almost visible. Prayer takes on
a meaning and a life that is not quite the same when I am just thinking words
or mumbling a bit. When we communicate clearly to Him, we can expect to
“hear Him” more clearly in return.
If you wait until midnight,
when you are exhausted, and then say your prayers, it might be only a
half-hearted effort before you tumble into bed. Consider moving that prayer
up to earlier in the evening, when you are alert and attentive and can make it
more powerful. Prayer time ought to be quality time, not just time that
happens to be left over when everything else is done.
I Hear Him through Reading
the Scriptures
For me, the most obvious
and most immediate way that God has spoken to me, day in and day out, has been
through the scriptures. The 18th
section of the Doctrine and Covenants teaches that if you have read the words,
you have heard the voice of God (see D&C 18:36). It is literal to me that
those words on that page are His words. They are canonized and carry a
spiritual impact. If I am in tune, I hear His voice.
I Hear Him by Trusting My
Feelings
Another way I “hear Him”
is to trust what I feel. I often get
asked, “How do I know that what I am feeling is coming from the Lord?” If
your searching is honorable and true and clean and noble, trust the feelings
that come. I encourage people to act on those feelings and to believe that
their instincts can be founded on truth. At that point you do not have to ask,
“Did it come from Him?” He will make sure that it doesn’t come from an evil
source.
God wants us to be like Him.
We mature, and with effort we become more like God. We think more of His
thoughts and feel more of His feelings. We are one with Him, and our
impressions ought to be indistinguishable from His promptings. That unity
is one of the things the Savior prayed for. By striving to live as one with
Him, you will be more like God and you will “hear Him” and trust Him, even as
you trust your own feelings when praying to Him.
Elder Soares, I "Hear Him" by Aligning My
Mind with His Will
I am trying to reflect my
faith in the Savior Jesus Christ and His gospel, which is always nourished by
hearing the word of God from the holy scriptures and from the teachings of the
prophets. This spiritual effort has opened my ears and my mind and has helped
improve my ability to listen to the Lord more intensely in my life.
I Hear Him by Aligning My
Mind with Him
I have been making a daily
effort to align my mind with things that are good, praiseworthy, and virtuous.
At the same time, I have made an extra effort to eliminate everything that is
not good from my mind and my heart. When an impure thought penetrates my mind,
I work hard for it not to remain in there because I know this can lead me to
make inappropriate choices and bring undesirable consequences to my life. I
always try to substitute it for something good because I am sure that light and
darkness cannot occupy the same space at the same time.
I Hear Him through the Book
of Mormon
Another way I have tried to
fill my soul with light is through the Book of Mormon. The introduction of the
Book of Mormon reads: “We invite all men [and women] everywhere to read the
Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to
ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those
who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and
divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost.”
When I accepted this invitation
to read and ponder the Book of Mormon, I also accepted an invitation to know
the Lord. When I follow this pattern, I feel confident that this promise will
be kept and that I will hear the Lord’s voice confirming the truth of what I
have studied and read. This has happened step by step as I have continued to
study the Book Mormon.
The combination of reading,
pondering, and prayer was part of my preparation to hear the Lord, as the Book
of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ and His divine mission. When we
place our faith on the Lord’s promises, we are also preparing to hear His
voice, which is soft, sweet, clear, and unmistakable.
I Hear Him by Making
Commitments to the Lord
In putting my faith in the
Lord’s promises and His gospel, I have made commitments to love Jesus Christ
above anything else, to forego the things that were not good in my life, and to
respect God’s commandments. Fulfilling those commitments requires constant
dedication, and I have learned that I can become more like Christ, walk in His
light, and reduce the influence of evil over my life. This has helped to
increase my spiritual sensibility, and my willingness to hear Him and
understand His voice has been expanded. By accepting the Savior’s invitation to
follow Him, I am submitting to the will of the Lord. I can say with certainty
that this has helped me to develop a greater ability to listen to the Lord and
to follow Him.
I Hear Him by Teaching the
Gospel and Following the Spirit
I remember an experience when
I served as mission president. I had prepared a speech for the missionaries in
a zone conference that I thought was very good. I was completely prepared, and
in the morning, I started to have a doubtful feeling—as if I heard the Lord’s
voice saying, “This is not what your missionaries need.”
I knelt and prayed, and then
the Lord directed me to section 33 of the Doctrine and Covenants, which is a
revelation given to the Prophet Joseph Smith for two men who were called to
preach the gospel. I changed the speech completely, and it met the exact needs
the missionaries had on that occasion. I remember that the feeling of peace
that came to my heart was so strong, confirming in my mind and my heart that
this was what the missionaries needed to learn on that day. That decision to
listen to the Lord changed the direction of our mission, changed the
missionaries’ vision, and changed the way we carried out the work.
The Lord gives me a warm,
unmistakable feeling in my whole body when something is correct. The process
with me is step by step. First, I must do my part. When I’m going in the wrong
direction, I feel confused and lost. But when I allow my mind to reflect, the
Lord starts to enlighten my mind, and the ideas start to come with more
clarity.
This process has helped me to
center my life more on the Savior and has helped me to hear Him more intensely
and continuously.
Elder Gary E. Stevenson, How I #Hear Him
Each of us can hear Him by
listening to and heeding the promptings of the Holy Ghost.
As I’ve traveled around the
world, the Holy Ghost has also testified to me that God is mindful of all of
His children. He wants each of us to hear the voice of His Son, Jesus Christ,
through the Holy Ghost.
Our beloved prophet has
recently invited us to “think deeply and often about this key question: How do
you hear Him?”’
Throughout my life, I have
most consistently heard the voice of the Lord through the Holy Ghost. Following
baptism, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints receive the
gift of the Holy Ghost. It is a unique privilege and blessing to have the
constant companionship of a third member of the Godhead.
The scriptures teach us that
“the Comforter knoweth all things, and beareth record of the Father and of the
Son” (Doctrine and Covenants 42:17). I have learned that when the promptings of
the Holy Ghost come to us, we are literally hearing what the Lord desires us to
hear.
I testify of four special
roles of the Holy Ghost that help us in our daily lives: He will teach us, He
will testify to us, He will warn us, and He will comfort us.
During challenging times, the
Holy Ghost has brought comfort to my heart. We are taught in John 14:26–27,
“The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name,
he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance,
whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto
you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid.”
As I’ve traveled around the
world, the Holy Ghost has also testified to me that God is mindful of all of
His children. He wants each of us to hear the voice of His Son, Jesus Christ,
through the Holy Ghost. This applies to everyone, wherever they may be—the taxi
driver in Calcutta, the engineer in London, the elementary school child in
Ghana, and the farmer in Chile.
I am grateful for these
eternal truths which the Spirit testifies to our mind and heart:
Each of us can know that we
have loving Heavenly Parents.Each of us can feel the
redeeming and sanctifying power of our Savior, Jesus Christ. And each of us can hear Him
by listening to and heeding the promptings of the Holy Ghost.
Elder Gong, How We Can “Hear Him” during Times of
Loneliness
While we may be physically
distant from each other, we do not have to be spiritually distant from Jesus
Christ. You and I can use this unique time as an opportunity to “hear Him.”
All of us have experienced
times of loneliness and isolation. This era of social distancing has brought a
new sense of isolation that many of us never experienced before. I have grown
to understand that while we may be physically distant from each other, we do
not have to be spiritually distant from Jesus Christ. You and I can use this
unique time as an opportunity to “hear Him.”
In the past few weeks, one of
the things that I’ve felt very deeply, and in a new way, is the Lord’s voice
through the scriptures. I have studied stories and parables of those who feel
lost from the Lord. I have learned about the Savior’s individual love for each
of us through the parables of the lost coin, the prodigal son, and the lost sheep
(Luke 15). I feel particularly drawn to a verse in the parable of the prodigal
son where the Lord expresses His love for those of us who feel lost. The Lord
says, “For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found”
(Luke 15:24).
What I’ve come to feel in a
deep, deep way is that the first part of the verse refers to our Savior: “For
this my son was dead, and is alive again.” Our Savior lives! And because He
lives, we are never lost. The second part of the verse states, “He was lost,
and is found.” This part reminds me that because of our Savior’s sacrifice, we
can always be found.
The scriptures have taught me
that I am never truly lost, because the Father’s Son was dead and is alive
again. I find great hope in the assurance that no one is ever lost to the
Lord—no matter our circumstances, no matter how alone we may feel, no matter
how much we may sense that we cannot connect with the world around us.
This understanding brings
enhanced meaning to the new Church symbol President Nelson announced at general
conference. We have the restored name of His Church—The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints—in a cornerstone. Of course, our cornerstone is the living
Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ reaches out to
each of us. The living Christ, asking, inviting, calling to us in His own name
and in His own voice, knowing that we’re never lost. We’re never alone. There
are challenges, to be sure. But He’s always there because He lives and because
He loves us. These are some of the most precious and sacred moments we have
when we feel the Lord encircling us in His arms of love.
The new Church symbol reminds
me that you and I are never truly isolated or alone, because we have access to
the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. Because He lived and died, we will never
be alone. When we come to Him, His arms encircle us, His love encircles us, and
we are more able to “hear Him” in our lives.
During this period of social
distancing and COVID-19, I have felt the Savior beckon, “I see you. I know you.
I love you.” When you truly know that He sees you, He knows you, and He loves
you, you can understand that you are not isolated. You could never be isolated,
because you have a knowledge of and a relationship with the living Son of God.
Elder Renlund, How I Hear Him through Personal Study
and Prayer
Through the difficult
challenges in my life, I have learned an important lesson about myself: my
initial impulse sometimes has been to back away from personal, private acts of
devotion that keep me connected to heaven. And yet I have learned this is the
time when, instead of leaning back, I should lean in and do my utmost to
continue seeking the Lord’s guidance. I’d like to share some life-altering
experiences from my early family life that helped teach me this lesson.
A Prayer of Gratitude for
Priesthood Power
Early in our marriage, my
wife, Ruth, became ill with cancer. Our lives were shattered. For me, it was a
time when it seemed as though the heavens were closed. I didn’t know how to
take care of our 14-month-old baby girl, Ashley. I didn’t know how to get her
to eat. Sometimes I fed her ice cream and soda. I had a hard time praying,
because so many of our dreams were dashed and I was so worried about Ruth.
When Ruth came home from the
hospital after her first treatment, she was so weak that she just lay on the
bed. We had a pattern of saying evening prayer together. I was a coward and I
called on her to pray that night. I’ll never forget the words that she said:
“Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for priesthood power that makes it possible
that no matter what happens, we can be together forever.”
It felt like the ceiling had
cracked. The Spirit filled the room. I went from feeling like the heavens were
closed to feeling like they were wide open, filling us with peace, joy, and
comfort.
Feeding Ourselves Spiritually
That experience, and many
others, taught me about the importance of feeding myself spiritually. When I am
struggling or busy, I need to lean in and do my best to engage in personal
revelation. Those are the times when I need heaven’s help most in determining
my priorities.
I had an experience with this
during my medical residency. My internship was overwhelmingly busy and exhausting.
One Sunday, I knew that if I hurried home from work, I could go with Ruth and
Ashley to church. They left at about 2:00 in the afternoon to go to our ward
that met at 2:30. But, instead, I decided to stall on my way home from work.
That way, I would just walk home and lie down for a nap. And I did that.
But when I got home and I lay
down, I couldn’t sleep. I realized that the testimony and the zeal that had
always been part of me weren’t there anymore. I remember getting off the couch,
kneeling down, pleading for forgiveness, and pledging that I would change.
The next day, I took a
paperback copy of the Book of Mormon to the hospital so I could read in the
scriptures every day, no matter what. And some days it was not very much—but
every day I read something. I made a list of things I would do, including
praying at least twice a day and going to church if my schedule allowed. And
then within just a couple of weeks, that zeal and warmth of my testimony were
back. I shudder to think what would have happened if I’d continued down that
course—if I had fallen asleep and found joy in skipping church. I believe our
lives would have been very different.
How I Hear Him on a Daily
Basis
In my daily life, I have
found that I hear Him best when I have formulated a question. And I hear more
clearly if that question is a yes-or-no question and I’m leaning one way more
than the other. Often I hear Him most clearly when the answer is no—when it’s
“Don’t do that” or “No, that’s not the right direction.”
The answers I receive are
always in short, clipped statements, as opposed to something with a long
explanation. I rarely, if ever, get a long explanation to any of the things
where I hear the Holy Ghost whispering to me. It’s usually just short, clipped,
terse—it’s an impression or thought. It’s occasionally a voice, but it is one
that is always peaceful, calming, and reassuring.
The other thing that helps me
hear Him is when I’m focused on someone else—when I have a question that
relates to how I can help someone else. I’ve also learned that you should never
suppress a generous thought. Often when a generous thought comes about doing
something kind, I have learned to just do it. And it turns out that it was an
inspired thought.
A Crucial Lesson for All of
Us
When I first heard that the
overarching theme of the Church in 2020 would be “Hear Him,” I immediately had
the thought that the most crucial thing all of us can learn how to do is to
hear our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ speaking to us through the Holy Ghost.
I believe that James 1:5 is
more important now than ever. It reads “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask
of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be
given him.”
In the age of COVID-19, we
are in a unique situation. There is no rule book for navigating these
challenging times. Each of us needs to plead for personal revelation and then
act on it. And once we have received that revelation, then we will know what to
do. The revelation we receive will always be framed and supported by
scriptures, by the words of living prophets, and by the direction we receive
from our local leaders. But within that context, there is so much variation
that God will inspire us as to how we should live our lives.
I believe that personal revelation
has never been more crucial for our lives than in 2020. I hope that each of us
can have personal revelatory experiences this year that teach us how to hear
Him.
Elder Uchtdorf, I “Hear Him” by Feeling His Love for
Me
As a young child living in
East Germany, I had the great privilege of being assigned to pump air into our
organ during our Church meetings. Back then, organs were not electric and
required air to be manually pumped into the pipes. I remember being about 10
years old and intently watching the conductor for signals about whether I
should pump faster or slower. While the congregation sang our beloved hymns of
the Restoration, I pumped with all my strength so the organ would not run out
of wind.
There was an additional benefit
that came from this assignment: I sat in a seat that offered a great view of a
stained-glass window that beautified the front part of the chapel. The stained
glass portrayed the First Vision, with Joseph Smith kneeling in the Sacred
Grove, looking up toward heaven and into a pillar of light. Seeing this window
with our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, gave me a glimpse of what
it feels like to hear Him. Here I was, a little boy in post–World War II
Germany, and yet I felt very close to our Savior, Jesus Christ.
I Hear Him by Feeling the
Savior’s Love for Me
As I think back on that
experience and countless other experiences in my life, I realize that my most
personal experiences with hearing the Lord’s voice have come when I think about
how much I love the Savior and, in turn, feel His love for me.
This love creates a
connection—it opens a door—that allows me to feel the power of the Holy Ghost.
All of a sudden, then I hear His voice because I’m on that bridge that was
opened by the Savior’s love for me and my love for Him. Often, things will come
to my mind that I have heard or felt before. Over time, I have learned that if
I’m not feeling grateful, then I struggle to hear His voice. But when I am able
to recognize all that the Lord has given me, I hear His voice more clearly.
I’ve seen this in my
professional life as well as my family life. There were times as a child, as a
teenager, and as an adult when I faced moments when I didn’t know what to do.
So I would find a quiet spot to connect with Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus
Christ, by the gift of the Holy Ghost. Then, all of a sudden, a stream of
answers would come to me that helped me face the situation I was in.
I have the same experience
today as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. Some have asked me, “Does the
Lord speak to you all the time?” I answer that He speaks to me in the same way
He’s spoken to me all my life—by the gift of the Holy Ghost. And I have learned
that it is when I am focusing on the love He has for me and my love for Him
that I hear Him. This process carries me to answers and responses from Him,
which I’ve needed all my life.
I “Hear Him” in All Languages
As many of you know, German
is my native language. As a boy, I also learned Russian, which was my first
foreign language. Later, when I became a pilot, I found out that I had to learn
English. At home, Harriet and I speak German. Our prayers are in German. Many
of our grandchildren speak German as well. But with our great-grandchildren and
the wives of our grandchildren, we have to speak English. And, of course, my
Church assignments require me to speak English.
What I have learned is that I
feel and hear the voice of the Lord in any language. The voice of the Lord
transcends the language we speak. Even though I often pray in German, I don’t
know whether the answers come in German, but they do come to me. And when I
pray in English, the answers come too.
I Hear Him by Partaking of
the Sacrament
During the COVID-19 pandemic,
I have had the unique opportunity of blessing the sacrament in my own home,
like many of you have. This experience brings a huge, wonderful, and warm
feeling of gratitude that completely overcomes me. This gratitude opens the
door to a space where I can hear Him more clearly.
As I sit there, blessing and
partaking of the sacrament, I feel drawn to the Savior and I ponder what He
means to me. I realize that through Him, through His gracious and wonderful
gift, I can experience a remission of all my shortcomings. I have learned that these
are moments when I really hear Him. The Spirit teaches me what I need to do and
what I need to change in my life. These moments have become very sacred for
Harriet and me.
A Lifelong Blessing
In my life, I have lived
through World War II. I lived through divided Germany. I was a refugee twice.
But throughout all of that, I have relied on my firm belief that there is a God
in heaven, there is a Jesus Christ, there is a Holy Ghost, and there is a
restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
When we follow the invitation
to hear the Savior’s voice in our lives, there is no reason to fear the future.
There is always hope because of Jesus Christ. He will be with us and guide us
through our most difficult times as we seek to hear Him.
Elder Bednar, “Hear Him” in Your Heart and in Your
Mind
When I yearn for the
companionship of the Holy Ghost by turning off distractions and making time for
precious moments of spiritual subtleness, I see with new eyes and hear with new
ears.
I find the word “Hear”
fascinating.
This word is used many times
in the scriptures, and I do not believe it refers solely to physiological
hearing with natural ears. Rather, it is hearing with the mind and hearing with
the heart. How do I hear the voice of Jesus Christ, not necessarily by words or
sounds alone, but “Hear Him” in my mind and in my heart? (See Doctrine and
Covenants 8: 1-4)
I would like to describe
several important lessons that I have learned about appropriately striving to
“Hear Him.”
I Hear Him in Many Different
Ways
As I reflect on patterns that
help me to “Hear Him, I remember that revelations are conveyed through the Holy
Ghost in a variety of ways, including dreams, visions, inspiration, and
conversations with heavenly messengers (e.g., Joseph Smith’s First Vision).
Some revelations are received immediately and intensely, some are recognized
gradually and subtly.
I Hear Him by Pressing
Forward in Service
Hearing Him and receiving
inspiration typically occur when I am following Him and acting in accordance
with what He has instructed me to do. For example, I find that as I am
ministering to an individual, I more readily recognize inspired thoughts and
feelings about the needs of that particular person. Acting in accordance with
the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ is an expression of our faith in Him,
and pressing forward in service is an invitation to receive inspiration.
I Hear Him through Righteous
Music
I love to sing the hymn, “How
Firm a Foundation.” Nobody on the planet sings more terribly than I do. But the
combination of the stirring music and the words to the hymn help me to learn
about grace and the strengthening power of the Savior’s Atonement in a powerful
way. The hymns that I love the most focus on the restoration and teach powerful
doctrinal lessons. And in those messages, in both the music and the lyrics, you
can “Hear Him.” For me, music often is a channel for the voice of the Lord.
I Hear Him through the
Scriptures and Sincere Prayer
I cannot think of anything
more important in this day than having the promise that I can hear Him, that I
can receive His guidance, His reassurance, and His protection in my life.
Hearing Him is not complicated but is spiritually demanding and takes time. One
of the ways that I can hear Him is in the scriptures. The scriptures are the
pre-recorded voice of the Lord. It is not hearing an audible voice per se,
although that can happen. It is hearing the scriptures in a feeling—a feeling
in my mind, a feeling in my heart. For me, the scriptures are key in receiving
and recognizing those thoughts and feelings.
Even in a busy, fast-paced
world, where many voices beckon for our attention, I can “be still,” and “Hear
Him.” As I strive to hear His voice in the scriptures, as I pray sincerely—not
just saying prayers, but praying with a sincere heart and real intent—then
according to the Lord’s will and timing I can be blessed in marvelous ways.
I Hear Him Through the Holy
Ghost
I have learned over time that
one of the great blessings of striving to have the companionship of the Holy
Ghost is that I can see myself as I really am. Such experiences are both
painful and joyful. By the power of the Holy Ghost, thoughts come to my mind
and feelings to my heart that can help me to see things that are going well and
the things that I need to improve and do better. The Holy Ghost enables me to
see the good, the bad, and the opportunities to improve that I otherwise would
never see.
I Hear Him by Recording
Spiritual Impressions
Elder Richard G. Scott once
taught me that spiritual knowledge, properly recorded, is available in times of
need. As I record what I feel in my heart and the thoughts that come to my mind
by the power of the Holy Ghost, it is like writing on “small plates” – my
personal sacred writings. It is a pattern of hearing Him and recording the
things that will help me to always remember what He said.
Perfection is Not Required to
Hear Him
I think sometimes
expectations get in the way. Pressing forward and doing my best does not
require immediate perfection. Sometimes, I may think that a very dramatic
spiritual impression is going to come. But most often His messages to me are
quiet, subtle, and small. If I expect a big answer and I receive a series of
small answers, I may not recognize them. And if I expect a loud answer and I
receive many soft ones, I may not recognize them.
We also sometimes might feel
unworthy or wonder, “was that just me or was that the spirit of the Lord?” “Was
that an impression from the Holy Ghost?” The Spirit of the Lord always invites
and entices God’s children to do good, to be good, and to become better. As we
consistently do our best to remember and honor our covenants and keep the
commandments, things work out. I do not have to be perfect; rather, I simply
need to do my best and press forward on the covenant path.
As my desire to “Hear Him”
increases, as I strive to live the restored gospel and work to overcome worldly
distractions, and as I make time for simple moments of pondering and prayer, I
am blessed by the power of the Holy Ghost to see with new eyes and “Hear Him”
with new ears.
I Hear Him by Approaching Him with Prayer and Faith
Henry B. Eyring, Second
Counselor
Receiving guidance from the
Holy Ghost will take more than casual listening and reading. You will need to
pray and work in faith to put the words of truth down into your heart. You must
pray that God will bless you with His Spirit, that He will lead you into all
truth and show you the right way.
I Hear Him through the
Power of the Restoration
I have found in my life that
human judgment and logical thinking will not be enough to get answers to the
questions that matter most. I need revelation from God. And we need not just
one revelation in a time of stress, but a constantly renewed stream. We need
not just one flash of light and comfort, but the continuing blessing of
communication with God.
I Hear Him by Following
the Pattern of the First Vision
The First Vision also offered
a pattern I use to hear the voice of the Lord. Joseph Smith began and continued
his ministry with the realization that his own wisdom was not sufficient to
know what course he should pursue. He followed a pattern we can all follow to
qualify for continuing personal revelation:
•
He studied the
words God had already revealed in the scriptures.
•
He pondered what
he had read and felt.
•
He returned to
the scriptures often and carefully.
•
Out of the faith
he gained by studying and pondering, he resolved to pray.
•
When revelation
came, he received truth and light, lived the truth he had been given, and
sought more truth.
•
He returned to
the scriptures again and received further revelation from God, which he wrote
down.
•
He continued to
pray and obey, thus receiving even further light and instructions.
My challenge is to act so
that I can receive the messages of truth Heavenly Father is ready to send to me
as revelation and to recognize what He has already sent. Pondering the
scriptures leads me to ask the right questions in prayer. And just as surely as
the heavens were opened to Joseph Smith after he pondered the scriptures in
faith, God will answer your prayers and He will lead you by the hand.
Anyone Can Hear Him
through the Promise of the Holy Ghost
In the same way that making
wise choices takes an “uphill” effort, in order to know God’s will I must be
committed to do it. The words “Thy will be done” (Matthew 6:10), written in the
heart, are the window to revelation. The answer comes by the Holy Spirit, and I
need that guidance often. To have the Holy Ghost as my companion, I must be
worthy, cleansed by the Atonement of Jesus Christ. So my obedience to the
commandments, my desire to do His will, and my asking in faith will determine
how clearly the Master can guide me by answers to my prayers.
Hear Him by Eliminating
Distraction
There will be noise and
people around you most of your waking day. God hears your silent prayers, but
you may have to learn to shut out the distractions, because the moment you need
the connection with God may not come in quiet times. You will not survive
spiritually without the protection of the companionship of the Holy Ghost in
your daily life. You must pray for it and work to have it. Only with that guide
will you be able to find your way along the strait and narrow path through the
mists of evil.
Receiving guidance from the
Holy Ghost will take more than casual listening and reading. You will need to
pray and work in faith to put the words of truth down into your heart. You must
pray that God will bless you with His Spirit, that He will lead you into all
truth and show you the right way.
Elder D. Todd Christofferson, I Hear Him through
Prayer, Pondering, and Trusting in Him
In the Sacred Grove, Joseph
Smith gave a very simple but powerful example of how to hear the voice of the
Lord and how to seek wisdom and guidance from God. We can all strive to go to
the Lord in prayer regularly. Heavenly Father has given us all what we call the
Light of Christ—that sense of truth and right and wrong—to guide us. As I seek
Him, He gives me what I need according to His wisdom, love, and understanding
of my needs and according to my preparation to receive what He is willing to
share with me. I would like to share with you several ways that I have learned
to “hear Him.”
I Hear Him through Sincere
Desire
I hope that everyone can
understand that there is not a “perfect prayer.” We do not have to follow a
specific kind of pattern or verbiage. The one thing that is required is the heart—the
real desire to receive what the Lord would have us receive. Our commitment to
act on His promptings is what really draws forth His voice and His direction.
Even when you are being as
sincere as is possible, you may not get the immediate response from the Lord
that you were expecting. It comes at His discretion and according to His will.
We must be sincere, having the patience and the humility to wait for God to
respond, as Joseph did. Sometimes we wait a long time; other times it is almost
instantaneous.
I Hear Him When I Am
Willing to Trust His Timing
When I was a teenager, I had
the chance to be at the Sacred Grove in Palmyra, New York. I was participating
in the Hill Cumorah Pageant that was presented at that time in the summer.
After the performance one evening, I went alone to the Sacred Grove. It was a
very pleasant and quiet summer evening in July, and a beautiful moon was
shining down. I entered the grove alone and thought, “This is really the
perfect setting for me to pray and to receive the kinds of answers that Joseph
Smith received here in this very place.”
I prayed with deep sincerity
for a long time and wanted a similar confirmation. I thought I was humble in
the sense that I said, “However you want to respond is fine with me.” But nothing
came—no response. I finally left disappointed, not knowing what I had done
wrong.
About six weeks later, I was
home reading in the Book of Mormon, pondering a little in a quiet moment, when
there came flooding over me that confirming spirit. I learned from that
experience that you cannot tell God how and when He should respond to your
prayers. You have to say, “I am always open. I am always ready. I am always
willing to hear.”
We Can Hear Him Wherever
We Are
My Sacred Grove experience
also taught me that I did not have to be in any special place or make a
pilgrimage to some special location to receive a witness of the Spirit and an
answer to my prayer, just as you do not have to go to Jerusalem to get a
witness of Jesus Christ and His Atonement and Resurrection. I learned from that
experience that the location is quite immaterial and the Lord can find us
wherever we are.
I Hear Him by Writing Down
My Experiences
My former mission president,
Elder Richard G. Scott, used to say to us as missionaries, “When you get
communications from the Spirit … write it down, make a record. It is important
to remember it.” When we wrote down what we had received, Elder Scott
encouraged us to pray and ask, “Have I captured it, and is there anything
more?” More often than not, there was more. It was the springboard to
additional communication from the Lord. That is a process that I found indeed
helps me to hear His voice, remember it, and then hear more.
Remembering the
communications that have come when you have heard Him does two things. It
refreshes the spiritual direction that has come to you, but it also brings back
the feelings of that moment. It brings back the things you experienced in that
moment, and the witness of the Spirit that was present returns again and
reaffirms what happened, whenever that might have been. When you write down
your impressions, you have more to build on and can develop a deeper, broader
foundation.
I Hear Him through
Pondering and Quiet Reflection
In our culture, there is so
much noise and distraction that you have to intentionally work to find that
quiet time regularly. A prayer in which you are the only one speaking shuts off
the communication coming the other way. There has to be time to meditate and
think and ponder as well as speak.
I would hope no one would
look at someone who seems to have an open conduit into heaven and feel
discouraged or think, “Well, that is not my experience. I will never have
that.” Just keep striving, and over time you will increase and enhance your
ability both to receive and to understand what comes to you. I do not think any
of us ought to compare ourselves to someone else in that regard.
In the Book of Mormon, the
Savior said: “I perceive that ye are weak, that ye cannot understand all my
words which I am commanded of the Father to speak unto you at this time.
Therefore, go ye unto your homes, and ponder upon the things which I have said,
and ask of the Father, in my name, that ye may understand, and prepare your minds
for the morrow, and I come unto you again” (3 Nephi 17:2–3).
That is like all of us. We
are often weak, certainly in comparison to Him. We cannot immediately
understand everything that He has to give us or that is appropriate for Him to
speak at a given moment, and that is all right. He did not condemn the people;
He just said, “Go to your homes, ponder it, ask the Father, and prepare your
minds to faithfully receive more.”
If faith becomes a struggle,
it is something you can ask for, just as the man who sought the blessing for
his child said, “Help thou mine unbelief” (Mark 9:24). We ought to ask for the
spiritual gift of faith to believe and seek the knowledge that He is willing to
give us, diligently following the path that He has outlined. This applies to
every person in the world. He does answer, and we can hear Him.
Elder Neil L. Anderson, I Hear Him through Sincere
Prayer and Reflection
Honest, sincere, personal prayer opens the window to
revelation from our Heavenly Father. Trying to listen to the quiet impressions
of the Spirit and promising my Heavenly Father that I will be more attentive to
those things seems to bring a greater ability for me to hear Him.
Sometimes the Holy Spirit is so unforgettable that the
memory may never leave you. President M. Russell Ballard spoke about a special
prompting he felt as a missionary 70 years ago and has never forgotten. Those
are powerful, defining memories. Many times receiving heavenly guidance is like
that. Other times it is quick and sure but not nearly as intensive. Here are
some of the ways I currently hear Him.
I Hear Him When I Am
Willing to Change
One of my favorite scriptures
is “Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee
answer to thy prayers” (Doctrine and Covenants 112:10). I find that I hear
Him most strongly when I come before Him with humility, true honesty, a
willingness to let Him prevail, and a desire to become more than I am through
change and repentance.
I have found that in my own
life, when a loved one or a friend suggests things that I need to change, the
natural man inside of me sometimes responds first: “You are not seeing it from
my point of view. Who are you to judge?” However, when I kneel humbly before
my Heavenly Father and ask in the depth of sincerity, “Father, what do I need
to change? Where am I lacking?” a calm feeling comes upon me. And at the
appropriate time, I hear Him and the truth penetrates my heart. At times it is
uncomfortable. But if I do not reject the spiritual insight, hearing His
honesty with me allows me to be honest with myself.
Real change rarely happens in
a day, but with time, we can become more like we want to be. As I hear Him and
act on the spiritual direction I receive from Him, He showers His Spirit and
His approval upon me. There is nothing better than feeling His Spirit and
approval.
I Hear Him through Sincere
Prayer and Reflection
Many years ago, I had a
difficult situation. At the time, I was working with President James E. Faust,
who was then in the First Presidency. I took the problem to him because I knew
he could solve it. After I asked for his advice about the problem, rather than
just giving me the answer, he said to me, “Well, Neil, have you prayed about it?”
I told him I had prayed about it. Then he paused as if I was not understanding
him, and he said, “Have you prayed all night like Enos prayed?” I had to admit
I had not done that. And he said, “When you do that, you will have your
answer.” He was right—when I prayed for an extensive period of time, the
answer came clearly.
I try to pray every morning:
“Heavenly Father, if there is something I can do for Thee, please allow me to
do it.” Then as I go through my day, I pay attention to things around me. It
might be someone who needs financial help or someone who just needs a good word
of encouragement or simply a thank-you. Knowing that the Lord will prompt me
keeps me more attuned to listening to that Spirit inside of me so that I
actually do the things I am prompted to do.
Hear Him through the
Influence of My Wife
I also receive promptings by
listening to the spiritual counsel of my wife. I had a mission president who
referred to his wife as his “eternal passport.” This rings true for me as well
because my wife, Kathy, is very much influenced by the power of the Holy Ghost,
and it would be foolish for me not to listen carefully to her. I have found
that having the Spirit of the Lord with me very much depends on how I interact
with my precious, dear companion. If I want to feel the Spirit of the Lord
strongly in my life, then I need to be responsive to her, quick to listen to
her, and slow to be impatient with her. Now that we have been married 46 years,
I have learned it in great abundance. I knew it after we had been married for a
year, but after 46 years, it is in my DNA. My relationship with Kathy has
influenced my ability to have the Spirit with me and to hear Him more than any
other thing in my life.
I Hear Him through
Repentance and Eternal Progression
None of us are perfect, and
we all make mistakes in this life. We all have weaknesses, and becoming like
the Savior is a high mountain to climb. My experience is that while the Lord
is very honest with me, He is also very willing to forgive me. So when a
correction comes, I cannot expect forgiveness in the next breath. I know if I
am sorrowful and repentant for what I have done, the Lord quickly showers His
love upon me and lets me know I am heading in the right direction. One of the
things I learn about the Godhead, as I come to know Them well, is that Their
love is well beyond our love and Their ability to forgive is well beyond our
ability to forgive. Their desire to bring happiness to us far surpasses our
willingness to bring happiness to others.
President Russell M. Nelson
said, “Nothing is more liberating, more ennobling, or more crucial to our
individual progression than is a regular, daily focus on repentance.”1 In my
prayers, I try to review the happenings of my day, asking myself: Did my
actions reveal honesty and unselfishness? What thoughts and emotions do I need to
better control? How could I have been more kind, more loving, more forgiving
and merciful, more helpful to those in need? I also try to ask the positive
questions: Where did I see the Lord’s hand in my life? Where did I make
progress? Where did I follow the example of the Savior? I then pause and
quietly listen. The Holy Ghost confirms our Heavenly Father’s love for me and
assures me that my small steps of progress are helping me to come unto Him.
Honest, sincere, personal
prayer opens the window to revelation from our Heavenly Father. Trying to
listen to the quiet impressions of the Spirit and promising my Heavenly Father
that I will be more attentive to those things seem to bring a greater ability
for me to hear Him.
Note
1. Russell M. Nelson, “We Can
Do Better and Be Better,” general conference, Apr. 2019.
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