D&C Lesson 6: "I Will Tell You in Your Mind and in Your Heart, By the Holy Ghost"

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INTRODUCTION:
The scriptures mention a multitude of different ways in which the Spirit can communicate with us. Many of these are in the D&C, but other volumes of the standard works also teach rich and rewarding lessons on this topic. In this lesson, I will try to give an overview of the many passages from the scriptures that suggest the different forms that inspiration and revelation can take.

If we seek divine direction, but anticipate that it will only come in one way, we may miss the very thing for which we have asked.

1. UNDERSTANDING HOW THE HOLY GHOST COMMUNICATES WITH US
1 Sam. 3:4,5,10—An audible voice

Samuel heard the voice so clearly he thought Eli was calling him. President Harold B. Lee recorded this experience:

As a young boy I was out on a farm, waiting for my father to finish his day's work, playing about, manufacturing things to while away the time, when I saw over the fence into the neighbor's yard some broken down buildings with the sheds caving in and with rotting timbers. I imagined as a young boy that that might be a castle that I should explore, so I went over to the fence and started to climb through, then I heard a voice as distinctly as you are hearing mine. "Harold, don't go over there." I looked in every direction to see where the speaker was. I wondered if it was my father, but he couldn't see me. There was no one in sight. I realized that someone was warning me of an unseen danger (Harold B. Lee, "The Way to Eternal Life," Ensign, Nov. 1971).

D&C 6:22,23—The Spirit speaks (gives) peace

I may not know how things will work out, or even if they will work out according to my desires, but I know that the Lord will cause things to work according to his will. This imparts a great sense of peace.

D&C 8:2-3—I will tell you in your mind and in your heart

The Lord tells us that this experience—the combination of intellect and spirit—is the spirit of revelation. Many of you will remember experiences in the mission field when you taught the gospel or were being taught the gospel, and this phrase was spoken: “I have always believed that.” That is the heart confirming the intellectual evidence of the mind.

D&C 11:12—The Spirit leads to do good

We are told that Jesus went about doing good (Acts 10:38). Often we are satisfied with just going about. In any situation, those moved by the Spirit will choose to do the good thing. We are led by the Spirit to offer ourselves in service to others, for which we will be blessed. “And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward” (D&C 58:28).

D&C 11:12—The Spirit leads to walk humbly

A temple president once told a group of young people attending the temple:

After your own baptism, you were told to receive the Holy Ghost, which means that the Holy Ghost will guide and bless you if you are worthy. If anyone should oppose you, or bring harm to you, you can overcome that opposition by the influence of the Holy Ghost.” 

The president soon noticed one young woman sobbing. She explained that her mother opposed her activity in the Church and was angry that she had left for the temple. “I have been fasting ever since I left home that here in the temple I would be given a guide and the power to overcome the opposition of my mother. I was going away disappointed. But now, at the last moment, you have given me the key.  I am going to bring Mother within the influence of the power of the Holy Ghost.”

A few weeks later the temple president received a letter. The young woman explained that her mother was still angry when she returned home. She wrote: “On other occasions I had fought back, but this time I walked over and put my arm around her shoulder. I told her what a wonderful experience I had had in the temple. And to my amazement, Mother burst into tears and begged my forgiveness (The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, ed. Clyde J. Williams [1996], 96-97).

D&C 11:12—The Spirit leads us to judge righteously

The King James Version reads: “Judge not, that ye be not judged” (Matt. 7:1), making it sound as if no one should ever judge others. But the JST footnote clarifies the doctrine: “Judge not unrighteously, that ye be not judged: but judge righteous judgment.”

The context of verses 2-5 suggests that looking for fault in others or critically condemning others is what is being censured by the Savior. He warned us to “cease to find fault one with another” (D&C 88:124) because “with [that same] judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged” (Matt. 7:2). (W. Jeffrey Marsh, “Prophetic Enlightenment on the Sermon on the Mount,” Ensign, Jan. 1999, 20)

D&C 11:13—My spirit will “fill your soul with joy.”

I sat in the temple ten years ago for the sealing of my daughter to a wonderful returned missionary. It was a sublime moment, one we had hardly dared hope for over the preceding years. I was nearly overcome with the sense of joy and victory.

D&C 9:7-9—The Spirit can cause our hearts to burn or give us a stupor of thought

Elder Oaks spoke of D&C 9:7-9 as follows:

This may be one of the most important and misunderstood teachings in all the Doctrine and Covenants. The teachings of the Spirit often come as feelings. That fact is of the utmost importance, yet some misunderstand what it means. I have met persons who told me they have never had a witness from the Holy Ghost because they have never felt their bosom “burn within” them.

Enos 1:10—A voice might speak in our mind

President Marion G. Romney said that the Lord sometimes reveals answers to prayer in complete sentences (See Improvement Era, Dec. 1961, pp. 947-49), or what others have called finished sentences. At times, a person may actually hear an audible voice; at other times, a person may have an impression or a thought come into his mind expressed in one or more complete sentences. Enos reported that while he was "struggling in the spirit, behold, the voice of the Lord came into [his] mind.” (Enos 1:10.)   

2. CAUTIONS ABOUT PERSONAL REVELATION

The history of this Church is filled with examples of people who have been led away from the truth by revelation from a source not approved by heaven. I had a missionary companion who received revelations faster than he could write them down. He was certain when he was 20 years old that he was soon to be called to fill a vacancy in the Quorum of the Twelve. He had ideas to revolutionize the missionary work in my mission. He had no time to proselyte! There were more important things to do. Only the strongest counsel from our Mission President turned him away from a course that might have led to destruction.

I have an acquaintance who has had a multitude of visions and revelations and who has started his own church. He received a revelation calling me to the quorum of the twelve in his new organization.

And the stories go on and on. Beginning with Hyram Page in D&C 28 and continuing on with the numerous and troubling examples in our own day, we have records and personal experience with people who have not been able to discern between what is divine and true and what is not.
D&C 28 gives us some important direction:

1. “But, behold, verily, verily, I say unto thee, no one shall be appointed to receive commandments and revelations in this church excepting my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., for he receiveth them even as Moses.” The word “in” in this verse has been interpreted to mean “for.” Only one man can receive revelation “for” the Church. The same is true of wards and stakes and families. There is an order in this process that is as critical as any in the Church. (28:2)

2. “And if thou art led at any time by the Comforter to speak or teach, or at all times by the way of commandment unto the church, thou mayest do it. But thou shalt not write by way of commandment, but by wisdom . . .” (28:3-4) “thou shalt have revelations, but write them not by way of commandment” (28:8). We can speak under the Spirit of inspiration. We ought to. But we are not permitted to publish our insights as commandments.

3. “And thou shalt not command him who is at thy head, and at the head of the church . . . “ (28:6) Only one person can give commandments to the President of the Church, and that is the Head of the Church.

4. “And again, thou shalt take thy brother, Hiram Page, between him and thee alone, and tell him that those things which he hath written from that stone are not of me and that Satan deceiveth him; For, behold, these things have not been appointed unto him, neither shall anything be appointed unto any of this church contrary to the church covenants” (28:11-12). Nothing shall be appointed to the Church contrary to the covenants of the Church. This is a great standard for the protection of the people and the perception of the truth.

5. “For all things must be done in order, and by common consent in the church, by the prayer of faith.” (28:12) The raising of the right hand to sustain leaders and to acknowledge their right to receive revelation for us is a powerful antidote to any efforts of Lucifer to divert the energies of the Church.

3. WHEN REVELATION IS NOT RECEIVED OR RECOGNIZED

For all of us, there seem to come times when we seek to know the will of the Lord but no answers come. At such times it is not uncommon for supplicants to question their own worthiness, thinking that perhaps the problem is with them. Of course this may be true at times. A pattern of disobedience will make us less receptive to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit. But other considerations may also be a part of the equation. Ponder these two conditions along with the counsel given in the lesson manual.

1. What we ask for must be right

A. "And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right . . ." (3 Nephi 18:20, emphasis added)

B. "And now, if God . . . doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right . . ." (Mosiah 4:21, emphasis added)

If we come before the Father in prayer, but we are not certain that the thing we request is right, then we must follow the Savior's example in Luke 22:42: ". . . Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done."
So very much of pure prayer seems to be the process of discovering, rather than requesting, the will of our Father in heaven and then aligning ourselves therewith (Elder Neal A. Maxwell, All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience, p. 93).

The Bible Dictionary  of the Church’s edition of the King James Version tells us that

Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them. (Bible Dictionary, p. 752,753)

No matter how desirable a blessing seems to us, and no matter how marvelous (in our perspective) the benefits might be, we must submit to the Lord's will and the Lord's answers, lest we find ourselves in great difficulty.

2. We must be right

A. "And now, if God . . . doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith, believing that ye shall receive . . ." (Mosiah 4:21, emphasis added)

B. "All things shall be done unto thee according to thy word, for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will." (Helaman 10:5, emphasis added)

Remember that the Lord may say, in answering our requests, "No" or "Not yet." If we get either of these answers, there are two possible reasons. First, what we have asked for may not be right, and a "Yes" answer might impede the plans of God for the welfare of his children. Second, we might not be right, and a "Yes" answer would do us more harm than good by teaching us incorrect principles, or reinforcing our unworthiness. It is imperative that we never lose sight of the reality that we are being proved in this mortal environment (Abraham 3:25). We should not expect God to remove all of our problems because we pray. Sometimes we must endure in faith while we pray, waiting on the will of God, and knowing that whatever he is doing to us will be good for us if we are willing.

CONCLUSION:

Elder Boyd K. Packer spoke of the experience of receiving and responding to revelation in this way:
“Some answers will come from reading the scriptures, some from hearing speakers. And, occasionally, when it is important, some will come by very direct and powerful inspiration. The promptings will be clear and unmistakable.

“You can learn how, in your youth, to be led by the Holy Ghost. . . .

“No message is repeated more times in scripture than the simple thought: “Ask, and ye shall receive” (D&C 4:7).

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