Oh, there is so much more that your Father in Heaven wants you to know. As Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught, “To those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, it is clear that the Father and the Son are giving away the secrets of the universe!”
When prophets invite us to “Awake” in the scriptures, this is an important place your awakening occurs. The world refers to this as a higher consciousness. Either way, you are awakening to a consciousness of who is speaking in your mind. You have clarity and discernment and you begin to use your agency to proactively choose which voice you will heed and which voice you will ignore.
When you are living your life spiritually “asleep”, you live life believing all the thoughts that come into your mind. So much so, that you don’t even notice the difference in the point of view these thoughts come in. You believe it all, and live in a trance like state. As you can imagine, this can lead to chaos and dysfunction in life. Satan is constantly offering up his point of view and how to interpret everything in the world around you. He will tell you stories of who you are, who other people are, what is happening around you, and if you are spiritually asleep you will believe much of it and act accordingly. You think its true because it sounds like you.
While both the voice of God and the voice of Satan will speak in third person into your mind and both will sound like your own voice in your head, an important distinction is that Satan will offer his perspective without your permission or request. The Lord however, has instructed us to ask, seek, and knock. While hearing Satan’s voice takes no effort at all, hearing God’s guidance requires effort. The Lord loves effort.
“Ask and ye shall receive. Seek and ye shall find. Knock and it shall be opened unto you.”
When you seek the Lord in a meditation or prayer journaling, trust the words that come into your mind. Expect His voice to be so still and small that it sounds like the voice in your head. Listen for the third person perspective. Expect Him to speak in the same style you speak. He designed this divine communication to be so intimate that it is literally within you.
Recently I was reading the church history book, Saints Volume 1. A historical narrative of the unfolding of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In the early days of the church, the Prophet Joseph Smith was receiving revelations for the church that he would write down in what would later become, The Doctrine And Covenants. A book of scripture that today we reverence, revere, and believe to be the word of God. He was writing the words God spoke unto him, much like what I’ve described as prayer journaling. But in those early days, there were some members of the church council who were reluctant to have them published.
To quote from the 13th chapter of the book, it says,
“They knew Joseph was a prophet, and they knew the revelations were true, but they were embarrassed that the word of the Lord had come to them filtered through Joseph’s limited vocabulary and weak grammar.”
The Lord did not share their concern. In His preface, He had testified that the revelations came from Him given to His servants “in their weakness, after the manner of their language.”
To help the men know the revelations came from Him, He issued a new revelation, challenging the council to select the wisest man in the room to write a revelation like the ones Joseph had received.
If the man selected for the task was unable to do it, everyone in the room would know and be responsible to testify that the Lord’s revelations to Joseph were true, despite their imperfections.
Taking up a pen, William W. Phelps tried to write a revelation, confident in his mastery of language. When he finished though, he and the other men in the room knew what he had written had not come from the Lord. They admitted their error and signed a statement testifying that the revelations had been a given to the Prophet by the inspiration of God.
In council, they resolved that Joseph should review the revelations and “correct those errors or mistakes which he may discover by the Holy Spirit.” (Saints Volume 1: Chapter 13).
I love this historical insight and what it reveals to us about the process of receiving revelation.
It shows indeed, that God’s word comes to us in the language we understand, and in the language we speak. Even to a prophet, it comes through his own filter. The church counsel was hesitant to publish the revelations we now have as The Doctrine and Covenants because it was written in the same style as Joseph spoke. I read the Doctrine & Covenants today and it sounds very poetic, but language has changed significantly in 200 years. We don’t speak the same today. 200 years ago, those words sounded like the way Joseph normally spoke. It came through his own filter. Similarly, when we listen to our current prophet speak in General Conference, he speaks in his own style and language.
God’s response to this situation is the context for the first section of the Doctrine & Covenants verse 24 reads,
“Behold, I am God and have spoken it; these commandments are of Me and were given unto My servants in their weakness, after the manner of their language, that they might come to understanding.”
He will speak to us in the same style of language we speak. He will speak through your own filter, or in other words, in your weakness.
Also, this insight notes that Joseph would go back afterwards and make any corrections that he would discover by the Holy Spirit. We are humans with limitations, not only in our language, but in our understanding. If we make an error in writing, we can go back and correct it. The Prophet did this, so can we.
You will not always hear perfectly. This is a skill that requires practice. If however, your underlying intent is to faithfully learn how to do this better and better, you will always eventually end up at the correct destination. This is why I don’t worry so much if what I hear is 100% accurate or not. My intent is pure and I’m learning through experience.
Be willing to trust that the words you hear are from Him and that if you still have a little bias in what you hear He will correct and guide you as you go along. As Dieter F. Uchtdorf has said, “…doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith.” More guidance comes on the move. Trust that what you hear is from Him and that He will correct and guide you as you go along.
I hope this brief description of how to converse with the Lord prompts you to explore it for yourself. If you’d like my full guide where I teach my complete approach, my favorite questions and prompts, and address the most common questions and concerns, you can find it at workandwonderco.com.
Imagine your life conversing with the Lord and receiving detailed revelation for your exact questions and circumstances and look forward with faith.
See, say, feel, do, become.
You are a creator, now go create something great.
