…VAN EEN VERNUFTIGE
MAKELIJ…
(1 Nephi 18:1)
Belgium/Netherlands Mission
COMMUNICATION
WITH GOD
In the early 1830’s, school teachers often would take room
and board with the families that had children in school as a form of
compensation using barter since money was hard to obtain. Oliver Cowdery was a teacher in Palmyra, New
York and lived with the Smith Family.
Joseph and Emma had moved to Harmony, Pennsylvania to escape the
relentless persecution in Palmyra and were living with her parents. Oliver became intrigued by the story of the
first vision and the golden plates told by the Smith family. He earnestly prayed to know the truth and
felt that he must travel to Harmony to meet Joseph for himself. He soon began working as the scribe that
Joseph needed to translate the Book of Mormon. Thanks to Oliver, Sections 6, 8
and 9 of the Doctrine and Covenants contain valuable insight into the nature of
revelation for members of the church.
“ 14 … as often as thou
hast inquired thou hast received instruction of my Spirit. If it had not been
so, thou wouldst not have come to the place where thou art at this time.
15 Behold,
thou knowest that thou hast 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;
16 Yea,
I tell thee, that thou mayest know that there is none else save God that knowest thy
thoughts and the intents of
thy heart.”
(DC 6:14-15)
We learn that the Lord always answers prayers through
instruction from the Spirit. If we pray for
something then the way things turn out may very well be the answer. Answers to prayers may simply be
“enlightening of the mind”. And, only
God knows our thoughts and intends of our heart. Thus, Satan does not. I have heard many couples state they have a
code they use so they together know they are planning to go to the temple. Their intent is therefore only in their minds,
Satan does not know their thoughts, so they experience much less adversity to
complete the temple trip.
“22 … cast your mind upon the
night that you cried unto me in your heart, that you might know concerning
the truth of these things.
23 Did
I not speak peace to
your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can
you have than from God?
24 And
now, behold, you have received a witness;
for if I have told you
things which no man knoweth have you not received a witness?” (DC 6:21-24)
Only Oliver and God knew he had poured out his soul in
prayer. Joseph Smith did not know. Oliver’s answer revealed from God to his
question was peace in his mind concerning the matter. For many, this could be a fairly imperceptible
answer. It requires practice to learn
the language of the spirit so we consistently stay on track: looking for, feeling, recognizing and
following the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
When thoughts or new ideas come, rest assured they originate from the
spirit.
“2 Yea, behold, I will tell you
in your mind and in your heart,
by Holy Ghost,
which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart.
3 Now,
behold, this is the spirit of revelation; behold, this is the spirit by which
Moses brought the
children of Israel through the Red Sea on dry ground.” (DC 8: 2-3)
We think of a voice as words. In the language of the spirit, telling does
not mean words in your ears. Spirit telling
means thoughts in your mind and feelings in your heart. This also, for many, could be a fairly
imperceptible answer that requires practice to learn which again requires
careful: looking for, feeling,
recognizing and following the promptings of the Holy Spirit. We often think of Cecil B. Demille’s version
of Moses hearing the voice from heaven commanding him to part the Red Sea. The Lord said this revelation came through
thoughts and feelings.
“ 7 Behold,
you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when
you took no thought save it was to ask me.
8 But,
behold, I say unto you, that you must study it
out in your mind;
then you must ask me
if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within
you; therefore, you shall feel that
it is right.” (DC 9:7-8)
The Lord expects us to do the labor; work things out for
success and make the effort. We must do
this prayerfully and learn to take our own initiative and follow the Lord’s
direction. There is no way we can faithfully follow PMG without becoming
experts at looking for, feeling, recognizing and following the promptings of
the Holy Spirit.
Elders and Sisters, as we prayerfully go about our business,
we will build a 5th Stake. The
Lord said, “Where there is no vision the people will perish...” (Proverbs
29:18) We need to provide leadership in
the Lord’s way and share the vision of real growth with the members by bringing
progressing investigators to church. Let
your results do the talking. President
Teixeira has said, “Whenever we set a goal we put ourselves on the path of
results. We have never seen a time like
this. The Church is growing in
Europe. The doubling of the missionaries
is a big thing and the Lord did not do this for us to be ordinary.”
President Robinson
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