Hear Him—Learning the Language of the Spirit

Brothers and Sisters, I want you to picture a radio. It could be any type of radio, a car radio, a walkie talkie, a ham radio, a CB radio, whatever floats your boat. Now this radio is constantly powered on and receiving transmission. It outputs a constant stream of communication, entertainment, and media. You will find a wide variety and collection of culture and beliefs as well as a endless vast depth of information. This radio doesn’t turn off, you are constantly receiving a stream of information. On this radio you observe a large dial. Just as you may expect this dial tunes the received transmission signal in the radio. You notice that there is variability to the volume between each station. You will find that there is one station that is incredibly still. Some may perceive that there isn’t any sound and quickly move on. While others find peace in the stillness and pursue in their listening of it.

The prophet Elijah and many of us can learn from his great observance: “And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.” (1 Kgs. 19:12)

Our lives can be compared to this radio; we are constantly receiving a stream of information and noise. The stations we choose and the noise we tune out is up to us.

God is always speaking to us. We choose to tune him out. Our lives often become filled with extraneous noise and static, to the point where we fail to recognize the Savior’s voice.

This principle is remarkably illustrated when the Savior appeared to the Nephites.

The account in 3 Nephi 11 reads: “And it came to pass that while they were thus conversing one with another, they heard a voice as if it came out of heaven; and they cast their eyes round about, for they understood not the voice which they heard; and it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a small voice it did pierce them that did hear to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn.

…again they heard the voice, and they understood it not.

And again the third time they did hear the voice, and did open their ears to hear it; and their eyes were towards the sound thereof; and they did look steadfastly towards heaven, from whence the sound came. And behold, the third time they did understand the voice which they heard;” (3 Ne. 11:3-6)

Fortunately, the Nephites were able to hear God’s voice amid the hustle and rustle of daily life. However, despite hearing His voice—they weren’t able to recognize it. So not once, not twice, but it was only after the third time of hearing His voice they were able to understand.

Hearing the voice of the Lord requires a significant amount of effort on our end. Despite the Nephites actively searching for the Lord’s voice, they struggled to understand His voice the first two times. Sister Tracy Y. Browning shared her experience expending her efforts to hear the Savior’s voice, she writes: “Through rigorous effort to look to and for Jesus Christ in my every thought and deed, my eyes were enlightened and my understanding quickened to recognize that Jesus Christ was calling for me to ‘come unto’ Him. (Matt. 11:28)”

It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t easy for her nor the Nephites to give heed unto the Savior’s voice. It requires immense spiritual work on our part. Jesus Christ himself admonishes us to “Look unto [him] in every thought; doubt not, fear not.” (D&C 6:36) Even the Savior himself prepared for his ministry with an expansive amount of spiritual work and continued to do it throughout His ministry.

When Jesus calls and commissions the Twelve in the account of 3 Nephi he says: “And blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.” (3 Ne. 12:6)

Sister Sheri L. Dew shared that, “hungering and thirsting translate to sheer spiritual labor. …Spiritual work works and is the key to learning to hear the voice of the Lord.”

…Our ability to hear spiritually is linked to our willingness to work at it. President Hinckley has often said that the only way he knows to get anything done is to get on his knees and plead for help and then get on his feet and go to work. That combination of faith and hard work is the consummate curriculum for learning the language of the Spirit.”

President Jeffrey R. Holland sheds light on this subject in his most recent address, he states: “Luke describes Jesus’s descent into His expiation as requiring Him to pray ‘more earnestly.’ (Luke 22:44) How does one who was perfect pray more earnestly? We assume that all of His prayers were earnest, yet in fulfilling His atoning sacrifice and through the pain that attended its universal reach, He felt to pray ever more pleadingly, with the weight of His offering finally bringing blood from every pore.”

The static in our lives is not stagnant. It’s always changing. We either are getting closer to hearing the Savior’s voice or further away. We get to choose if we are going to make the time to hear the Savior’s voice in our lives. If we are going to pray more earnestly. If we are going to find time for those still moments. We get to choose to hear Him.

In Elder David A. Bednar’s most recent General Conference address, he proclaimed: “I believe the Lord’s admonition to ‘be still’ entails much more than simply not talking or not moving. Perhaps His intent is for us to remember and rely upon Him and His power ‘at all times and in all things, and in all places that [we] may be in.’ (Mosiah 18:9) Thus, ‘be still’ may be a way of reminding us to focus upon the Savior unfailingly as the ultimate source of the spiritual stillness of the soul that strengthens us to do and overcome hard things.”

With this in mind we must be looking to Jesus Christ every day, and ‘relying alone upon the merits of Christ.’ (Moro. 6:4)

The Prophet Russell M. Nelson warned us: “in coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.”

Luckily there’s a remarkable promise in the sacrament prayers for those that have entered into a covenant connection with God.

If we are willing to…

• Take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ
• Always remember him
• Keep his commandments

Then, we are promised to always have his spirit to be with us.

Brothers and sisters, the gift of the Holy Ghost is one of the greatest gifts from God. If we are worthy of it, we can always have the presence of a member of the Godhead with us. Protecting us, warning us, leading us. We must do the spiritual work needed to tune our signals to his voice.

Over the course of my mission I have come to a better understanding of the remarkable language of the spirit. As you become more acquainted with the language of the spirit, one can assume that it becomes easier to hear in our daily lives. We learn from these examples that it requires a great deal of effort, even those that are most experienced in it.

I discovered more often than not, I’m following the spirit—even when I don’t recognize it. It’s only after I look back I am able to recognize it. I believe we have all experienced that.

This verse in Doctrine and Covenants section nine has embodied much of what I’ve come to learn of the language of the spirit throughout my mission. Verse 8 reads, “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.” (D&C 9:8)

Time and time again I’ve learned, we can’t just sit around and wait for a spiritual prompting to come around. We have to act! God wants us to be agents for ourselves, and pressing forward without the sure confidence of a spiritual prompting is an act of faith. We wouldn’t really have to exercise a lot of faith if God just told us everything that we need to do. And it’s hard. But as we trust in Jesus Christ everything always works out in the end.

Just as the Lord did to the Brother of Jared, he may ask, “what will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels?” (Ether 2:33) Maybe he won’t ask us about lighting vessels, but he definitely will counsel us in our lives so that we may find a solution for ourselves. It’s clear that the Lord already knows of many solutions that would solve the Brother of Jared’s problem. But he wanted him to resolve it for himself.

I promise that as you put in the spiritual work needed to tune your signals to the voice of the Lord you will Hear Him more; you will get to know him better and you will come to understand your divine role in His great Plan of Salvation better.

Brothers and sisters, I bear you my witness. God is in the details of our daily lives. He’s here for us; his arms are stretched outward for us. It’s up to us to turn to him—to search for His voice.