If you're like me, it can be a challenge to know if the
voices you hear are from God, from Satan or just your imagination gone wild.
There are many among us who have gone weeks, months, even
years without recognizing God's voice. If
this is the case with you, don't worry -- you're in good company.
The boy Samuel had trouble recognizing God's voice, even
when he could hear it.
In the book Come Be My
Light, we learn that throughout the course of her unparalleled ministry,
Mother Teresa suffered spiritual dry spells, times when she didn’t detect the
love or companionship of God. Month after month, and in some stretches year
after year, Mother Teresa became increasingly despondent because of God’s
silence. Although she desperately sought even a mere whisper from him, her wait
was in vain. Despite his silence, Mother Teresa remained devoted. “Even though
I don’t feel his presence,” she wrote, “I will seek to love him as he has never
been loved."
(I love that last part: “I will seek to love him as he has
never been loved")
Our God is a communicating God. Always has been, and always
will be.
President Ezra Taft Benson said, “The great task of life is
to learn the will of the Lord, and then do it” (Ezra Taft Benson, “The Great
Commandment—Love the Lord,” Ensign, May 1988, 4).
In endeavoring to fulfill this task, we are ultimately
influenced by three voices.
And remarkably enough, the first voice that influences us
may very well be God's.
In learning the will of God, it is the Lord himself who
takes the first step towards us. That's
right -- contrary to popular belief, it is the Lord -- not we -- who knocks and
speaks to our hearts and minds first. It's up to us to open the door, and let him in:
"Behold, I stand at the door,
and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him,
and will sup with him, and he with me." (Rev. 3: 20 JST)
The characteristics of the Lord's knock are pretty specific:
“They can tell the Spirit of the
Lord from all other spirits will whisper peace and joy to their souls; it will
take malice, hatred, strife and all evil from their hearts, and their whole
desire will be to do good, bring forth righteousness, and build up the kingdom
of God.” (Marion G. Romney, Conference Report, April 1944, pp. 138-141; http://scriptures.byu.edu/gettalk.php?ID=122&era=yes)
Elsewhere, we read:
"Wherefore, all things which
are good cometh of God; and that which is evil cometh of the devil; for the
devil is an enemy unto God, and fighteth against him continually, and inviteth
and enticeth to sin, and to do that which is evil continually. But behold, that
which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every
thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve
him, is inspired of God." (Moroni
7:12-13)
These godly enticings will be delivered:
- In a soft voice: “The voice of the Spirit is a still, small voice—a voice that is felt rather than heard” (Boyd K. Packer, “The Cloven Tongues of Fire,” Ensign, May 2000, 8).
- With peace: “Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?” (D&C 6:22–23)
Once we're aware of these characteristics, we can be on
better guard for them. Then, as the
Prophet Joseph Smith said, “If you will listen to the first promptings, you
will get it right nine times out of ten.” (Joseph Smith; Charles Lowell
Walker, Diary of Charles L. Walker, [1855-1902], pg. 902)
Or, as President Harold B. Lee counseled,
"All of us should try
to...give heed to the sudden ideas that come to us, and if we’ll give heed to
them and cultivate an ear to hear these promptings we too—each of us—can grow
in the spirit of revelation" (Teachings of Presidents of the Church:
Harold B. Lee [Melchizedek Priesthood and Relief Society course of study,
2000], 51).
The Lord's knock reverberates in two directions: our hearts
and our minds: "Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your
heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in
your heart" (D&C 8:2).
- Your heart: Your heart is aligned with God when you "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil." (Proverbs 3:5-7) Indeed, "But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul." (Deut. 4:30). This is what happened with the two men who (unknowingly) walked with the resurrected Lord; they stated after they recognized him, “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way?” (Luke 24:32).
However, sometimes our heart is
oriented in a direction opposite that of God.
"Feelings of inadequacy or
unworthiness might cause us to turn our hearts away from God to seek acceptance
and approval from other sources. Sometimes our 'hearts are set [too] much upon
the things of this world' and 'aspire to the honors of men' (D&C 121: 35).
Disobedience can cause our hearts to harden and stiffen and sometimes even turn
to stone. Hearts in these conditions have difficulty choosing in accordance
with God’s will" (LaNae Valentine, "Discerning the Will of the Lord
for Me", BYU Devotional, June 29, 2004,
http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=1336)
- Our minds: “When you feel pure intelligence flowing into you, it may give you sudden strokes of ideas, so that by noticing it, you may find it fulfilled the same day or soon; (i.e.) those things that were presented unto your minds by the Spirit of God, will come to pass; and thus by learning the Spirit of God and understanding it, you may grow into the principle of revelation, until you become perfect in Christ Jesus.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 151.)
Yet as Paul said, "There are .
. . so many kinds of voices in the world" (1 Corinthians 14:10) that
compete for our attention. In a society
filled with TV, shopping, sports, news, computer games, movies, music and the
Internet, there are a thousand different stimuli which can easily distract and
deviate our minds from God.
"If we are not in a quiet,
still place when we approach Him, we might not hear or feel His answers. That
quiet, still place must extend to our state of mind. The Spirit has difficulty
impressing a busy, racing, anxious mind. More often than not, whisperings of
the Spirit will go unheard if we are too busy to listen." (Valentine)
How can we ever be focused on His kingdom when we are so
wrapped up in our own?
The Lord's knock may very well not be heard if our spirits
are grossly out of alignment with his. If
we are living our lives in such a way that we have denied the sweet communion
with the Spirit, then we need to repent. The Savior said, “Sanctify yourselves;
yea, purify your hearts, and cleanse your hands … before me, that I may make
you clean" (D&C 88:74). President Spencer W. Kimball also taught:
“The essence of the miracle of
forgiveness is that it brings peace to the previously anxious, restless,
frustrated, perhaps tormented soul. … God will wipe away … the tears of
anguish, and remorse, … and fear, and guilt” (The Miracle of Forgiveness, 363,
368).
Repentance literally brings about spiritual cleanliness, the
effects of which are peace -- the same peace we need to turn our focus away
from the telestial kingdom and our telestial selves, and towards our celestial
Father.
The Second Voice: Ourselves
If your heart is out of alignment with God or your mind is out of alignment with
God or your spirit is out of
alignment with God, then you may be in a state where you are unable to discern
the still, small voice -- a state which Nephi describes as "past
feeling":
"Ye have heard his voice from
time to time; and he hath spoken unto you in a still small voice, but ye were
past feeling, that ye could not feel his words." (1 Nephi 17:45)
When we are unable to effectively feel God's words, we often substitute his words with our own, the
characteristics of which are exemplified by doubt and indecision.
"How often have you had an
impression and rationalized it away as your own thought? For instance, when
faced with a particular challenge or problem, an impression might come as to
what to do about it. Instead of acting on that prompting, many of us second-
and third-guess the prompting and begin to doubt that it actually came from the
Spirit." (Valentine)
D&C Section 6 gives us a classic case study of this
particular situation. Here, we read how
the Lord had to remind Oliver Cowdery that he had already received many answers
concerning the veracity of the Church and the course he was to take, but was
unaware of it:
"Behold, thou knowest that
thou has inquired of me and I did enlighten thy mind; and now I tell thee these
things that thou mayest know that thou hast been enlightened by the Spirit of truth.
. . .
Did I not speak peace to your mind
concerning the matter?
Look unto me in every thought;
doubt not, fear not." (D&C 6: 15, 23, 36; emphasis mine)
Here's the big picture: When we do not pay attention to the
Lord when He whispers to us on seemingly insignificant things, we are
ill-aligned to discern his promptings when something big comes along.
This leads us to the third voice.
The Third Voice: Satan's
As we well know, Satan is the author of confusion (1 Cor
14:33). One of his best tools to
solidify our doubts and confusion regarding the Holy Ghost's influence is to
inject counterfeit revelation:
"Be ever on guard lest you be
deceived by inspiration from an unworthy source. You can be given false
spiritual messages. There are counterfeit spirits just as there are counterfeit
angels... The spiritual part of us and the emotional part of us are so closely
linked that it is possible to mistake an emotional impulse for something
spiritual. We occasionally find people who receive what they assume to be spiritual
promptings from God, when those promptings are either centered in the emotions
or are from the adversary." (Boyd K. Packer, Ensign, Jan. 1983, pp 55-56).
“Some have received revelations and heard voices that are
put there deliberately by wicked sources to lead astray. You can learn to
recognize those and tune them out, if you will." (“Revelation in a
Changing World”, October 1989 General Conference).
So, how do we recognize Satan's counterfeit influences?
The Lord assures us that if a decision or course of action
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” (D&C 9:
8–9).
The dictionary uses many words to describe a stupor: dazed,
sluggish, numbness, absence of the ability to move or feel, apathy,
languidness, dullness, or not feeling inspired to go forward. The depressive
mood inherent in all of these words is noteworthy; there is nothing inspiring,
exciting or comforting about any of them.
Contrast the stupor descriptors with words describing the
Spirit: enlightens, enlivens, quickens, enlarges, expands, purifies, inspires,
fills the soul with light, peace, love, clarity, and joy (see Parley P. Pratt,
Key to the Science of Theology, 9th ed. [1965], 101). Other descriptors of how
the Spirit confirms our course are “much assurance,” “peace to your mind,”
“confidence wax strong,” and “feel that it is right.”
In my next post, we'll examine different types of filters we can employ to better discern the spiritual signals which influence us.
There are a couple things I really struggle with in this regard. Although I often have thoughts or impressions in my mind that I would like to attribute to the spirit, for the most part I don't have any kind of physical sensation like a burning in the bosom. In fact, I'm not sure that I've ever felt what I would truthfully characterize as a burning in the bosom, per se.
ReplyDeleteThe other challenge relates to distinguishing between the voice of the Lord and what I have come to call "clever thoughts." I often have thoughts, impressions and ideas that I would like to attribute to the spirit, and sometimes I have acted very diligently upon them only to have nothing happen, and completely lose traction. This seems to be at odds with the following quote: “When you feel pure intelligence flowing into you, it may give you sudden strokes of ideas, so that by noticing it, you may find it fulfilled the same day or soon; (i.e.) those things that were presented unto your minds by the Spirit of God, will come to pass. . . " Consequently, I find it both confusing and disconcerting when I have such thoughts and impressions but nothing materializes. And there are also other examples of clever thoughts and I struggle to decipher on the front end, and seem to only be able to judge "by the fruit" when I act upon them and nothing happens.
Just a few of the specific challenges I face in this regard.
I look forward to your other installments.
RE: Your first paragraph -- In your case, it may not be a burning in the bosom that touches you best. My friend John Pontius once said that "Perhaps the hardest thing to learn about personal revelation is that it begins as the voice of the conscience." He continued:
ReplyDelete"There are many forms of revelation: the still small voice, burning in the bosom when truth is presented, bursts of understanding, dreams, visions, personal visitations, patriarchal blessings, flashes of insight, prophetic words in priesthood blessings - and many others. All these means are employed from time to time, but most often it is the still small voice which communicates the will of God."
"Perhaps the hardest thing to learn about personal revelation is that it begins as the voice of the conscience. Every person knows what it is like to be prompted by their conscience to not do something. Fewer ever recognize the promptings to do something. It is the positive promptings which are the beginnings, the seeds of revelation. Just like the conscience, they come without fanfare or heralding trumpets. No angels sing, no glorious lights from heaven, no burning in the bosom, or visions of eternity occur; just a still small voice. The only way you know it is actually revelation is that it prompts you to do something good, such as to say your prayers, to do some kindness, to share, to give, to expand and grow."
So, if you're not receiving a burning in the bosom (in your particular case), it may be helpful to review the intimations to your heart and mind which often precede such manifestations. Perhaps that's when God spoke to you?
RE: Your first paragraph -- Good points. Because they are so individualized, I hesitate giving an explanation as to why you're having these particular experiences. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of potential reasons why you've had these experiences. So, my recommendation would be to pray until you receive an explanation. It may take days, months, years, decades, even perhaps once you are face-to-face with the Savior when these answers will be forthcoming. But one thing is for sure: God *does* answer prayers...especially those of his humble sons or daughters who ask, "Why?"
Another great piece. Much thanks. One of the challenges I have is that I don't personally know ANYONE who I am convinced is truly a veteran Christ-follower. Almost every I know personally seems to be completely satisfied with an entirely different level of spiritual experience ("we've got enough," etc.), so I resort to fellowshipping with, and asking others, like you, on-line.
ReplyDeleteSome things I have found helpful are John Pontius' thoughts as mentioned above. On his blog, or in his book Journey to the Veil he talks about the three voices. The second he calls the voice of our psyche. Our psyche wonders, analyzes, and debates. It asks questions. One way to distingush our own psyche is if it's a question... should i do this or that. The Spirit rarely (never?) asks questions. If i get a voice saying 'should i turn left' I figure it's my psyche. If I get a small light bulb-- doesn't have to be a burning feeling-- telling me to turn left, I turn left. The light bulbs are subtle. For me it's a feeling I can turn to and wait on for answers; it's like looking inward to the middle of my chest for a blooming feeling. For others it may be different. I ask for confirmation too. When in doubt-- follow the light bulbs. Like David Bednar says in 'Patterns of Light' mormon messages, sometimes we don't know for sure and it's all part of walking to the edge of the light and walking by faith.
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