it was my turn to teach young womens this past sunday and i had been spending a lot of time thinking about what i would like to teach the lesson on. i had heard this talk from general conference once already as mum liked it and asked me to listen to it - and then again when it came up in the 40 days of general conference (i like to do this after each conference to ensure i have managed to listen to them all!). it was this second time that i realised we had discussed a lot recently that not many of our girls were good at knowing when the lord was trying to tell them something, or in fact just what personal revelation even is! bingo. this was a perfect topic to use for our girls. although they don't talk much, i know this lesson made them think and it was a great way for them to recognise when and how they might receive their own revelation.
to tailor this to your individual classes:
sister craigs original talk can be found here
discussion ideas and questions here
printable (and many others!) can be found here
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Spiritual
Capacity
By Michelle Craig
As Jesus
Christ’s faithful disciple, you can receive personal inspiration and
revelation, consistent with His commandments, that is tailored to you.
“How can I tell when God is trying to tell me
something?” I love this question. Our souls
long for a connection with our heavenly home. We want to feel needed and
useful. But at times we struggle to distinguish between our own thoughts and
the gentle impressions of the Spirit. Prophets, ancient and modern, have taught
that if something “invites and entices to do good, it comes from Christ.”
President Russell M.
Nelson has extended a simple, powerful invitation: “My beloved brothers and
sisters, I plead with you to increase
your spiritual capacity to receive revelation. … Choose
to do the spiritual work required to enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost and hear
the voice of the Spirit more frequently and more clearly.”
We are going to talk about
four ways to increase your spiritual capacity to receive revelation.
1. Be Intentional about Creating Time
and Space to Hear God’s Voice
As you use your agency to
carve out time every day to draw close to God’s voice, especially in the Book
of Mormon, over time His voice will become clearer and more familiar to you.
In contrast, the distractions and noise that fill
the world and our homes and our lives can make it more difficult to hear His
voice. These distractions can so occupy our minds and hearts that we leave no
room for the gentle promptings of the Holy Ghost.
The Prophet Joseph Smith
taught that most often God reveals Himself “to individuals in private, in their
chamber; in the wilderness or fields, and that generally without noise or
tumult.”
Satan wants to separate
us from God’s voice by keeping us out of those quiet places. If God speaks in a
still, small voice, you and I need to draw close to hear Him. Just imagine what
would happen if we were as intent on staying connected with heaven as we are on
staying connected to Wi-Fi! Pick a time and place, and listen for God’s voice every
day. And keep this sacred appointment with exactness, for so very much depends
on it!
Many years ago when I was in the ward young womens presidency I was intent on my girls having a witness for themselves that they were in the right place and doing the right thing. I wanted them to ask their Heavenly Father to let them know that the church was indeed true. So while on our ward young womens camp out on my parents property we went out for a walk. Their property backs onto 4000 hectares of bushland so it is secluded, quiet and peaceful, allowing the noise of the world to not be a part of our day. We hiked up a hill and at the top spoke of Joseph Smith's desire to know of the truth. We then sent each girl in different directions to kneel, pray and speak to Heavenly Father. We didn't make a big deal about it afterwards so as to allow them to feel something within themselves, but I know it made a difference to many of them at that critical teenage time in their lives.
So girls… how can we know
that God is trying to tell us something?
How do we know the
difference between the promptings of the Holy Ghost and our own thoughts?
How can we remove
distractions to better hear the Holy Ghost?
(Spend some time each day
technology free, spend time each day in the quiet, pray and then pause after you pray!)
What are some things we might need to eliminate
or rearrange in order to create time to ponder and pray for inspiration?
(social media, tv, tiktok, memes, wasting time…)
President Nelson has encouraged us to seek revelation. He said in
his talk Hope of Israel at the worldwide youth devotional in June 2018, “You
can learn for yourself—right now at your age—how to receive personal
revelation. And nothing will make a bigger difference in your life than that!”
2. Act without Delay
When you receive promptings and then
act with intention, the Lord can use you. The more you act, the more familiar
the voice of the Spirit becomes. You will increasingly recognize God’s guidance
and that He is “willing … to reveal His mind and will.” If you delay, you
might forget the prompting or miss the chance to help someone for God.
What could cause us to delay in acting upon the
promptings we receive?
(Inconvenience, effort required, might be something
more difficult than we actually want to do, time of day, where we are,
embarrassment)
I had recently been called as the ward relief society president not long after moving into Ellenbrook ward when I saw someone familiar to me in the local supermarket. Years earlier a girl about my age had been taught and baptised in our ward. She married a boy who was also a member, but not long after their marriage they had become less active and I'd seen or heard nothing of them since. We knew each other quite well, I had been called to serve as her visiting teacher and we'd had many conversations and spent quite a bit of time together. I decided I wouldn't say hello as it had been years and just continued to do my shopping and wheeled my trolley into the next aisle. That's when I knew very clearly that I had to go back and talk to her. To be honest, I wasn't thrilled about it and I still don't know to this day if it was guilt or a prompting that made me turn around, but I did. I don't know if it made a difference whatsoever either! But I like to think it did. Maybe one day she will come back to church, and she'll have a friend here, that's for sure.
What might be some consequences for ourselves or
others if we delay our actions?
(Someone may have needed us then and there. We may miss an opportunity to serve or uplift.)
Were you all listening to
Bella's talk in church just a few weeks ago?
(Back story... one of our amazing YSA spoke in church recently about the importance of personal revelations and promptings. A friend of her mothers came over just a week before she would have been born and whilst visiting with her mother had a strong prompting and told her she needed to go to the hospital right away as something was wrong with the baby. She went to have things checked out and was told that her baby's heart rate had dropped to a dangerous level and that she could have died within a few more hours. In short, she would never have been born!)
What would have happened if
her mother’s visiting teacher had have waited?
Have you ever judged a prompting you’ve received?
Dismissed them because they seemed too easy or weird?
Have you been worried
about how you will look carrying them out?
How can we stop judging our
promptings and start acting on them?
If we should stop judging each other, we should
stop judging our promptings and simply act on them. It’s okay that they are
different. The story of Moses, the Brother of Jared, Noah and Nephi are great
examples. Can you imagine if we were to receive them today? “I can’t build a
boat. I’ll look ridiculous. I’ll mess it up. It’s going to take up too much
space.” I can’t collect up every animal there is! Where will I put them all?
How will I feed them? What will I do with the poop? (Just by the way… when I
read this to Madeline, she said, well throw it in the water. hahahaha I love kids!) When in this context,
it’s easier to see the ridiculousness of ourselves second guessing our
promptings.
How do we stop doing so with our promptings today?
3. Get Your Errand from the Lord
The prayer Heavenly
Father seems eager to answer is our plea to be led to someone who needs our
help. President Henry B. Eyring has taught us to seek revelation by asking
God who we can help for Him. “If you ask questions like that, the Holy Ghost will
come and you’ll feel nudges about things you can do for other people. When you
go and do those things, you’re on the Lord’s errand, and when you’re on the
Lord’s errand, you qualify for the gift of the Holy Ghost.”
You can pray and ask the
Lord for an errand. As you do, He can use your ordinary skills to accomplish
His extraordinary work.
Sister Craigs
grandfather, Fritz Hjalmar Lundgren, emigrated from Sweden when he was 19 years
old. He arrived in America alone, with a suitcase and six years of formal
schooling. Unable to speak any English, he made his way to Oregon and worked
there as a lumberjack and then later, with her grandmother and my mother, joined
the Church. He never presided over a ward, but as a faithful home teacher, he
brought more than 50 different families into Church activity. How did he do
that?
After her Grandpa’s
death, Sister Craig was going through a box of his papers and came across a
letter written by a man who had come back to church because of Grandpa’s love.
The letter read, “Brother Fritz’s secret, I believe, is that he is always on an
errand for Heavenly Father.”
That letter was from
Brother Wayne Simonis. Grandpa visited him and got to know each member of the
family. In time, Grandpa told them that they were needed and invited them to
attend church. But that Sunday, Brother Simonis awoke with a dilemma—he had not finished reroofing his
house, and rain was expected that week. He decided that he’d go to church,
shake hands with Grandpa, and then leave and go home to finish the roof. His
family could attend sacrament meeting without him.
His plan was working just
fine until, on the roof, he heard someone climbing the ladder. In his words:
“When I looked up, standing at the top of the ladder was Brother Fritz. He just
gave me that big smile. At first, I was embarrassed and felt like a little kid
getting caught for skipping school. Then … I felt anger. But Brother Fritz
just took off his suit coat and hung it on the ladder. As he rolled up the
sleeves of his white shirt, he turned to me and said, ‘Brother Simonis, do you
have another hammer? This work must be very important or you wouldn’t have left
your family, and if it’s that important, I want to help you.’ As I looked into
his eyes, I saw only kindness and Christlike love. My anger left. … I laid my
tools down that Sunday and followed my good friend down the ladder and back to
the chapel.”
Brother Fritz had
obtained his errand from the Lord, and he knew he was to seek out lost sheep.
Just as when the four men who carried their friend with palsy onto a roof and
then let him down to be healed by Jesus Christ, so too did Brother Fritz’s
errand take him to a rooftop. The Lord sends revelation to those seeking to
help others.
What are some examples of being on the Lord's
errand?
What lessons can be learned from the story about
Brother Fritz helping his neighbour fix the roof?
How can we seek out the "lost sheep"?
4. Believe and Trust
Another great missionary
who obtained his errand from the Lord was the Book of Mormon prophet Aaron.
Aaron was teaching the king of the Lamanites, who wondered why Aaron’s brother
Ammon had not also come to teach him. “And Aaron said unto the king: Behold,
the Spirit of the Lord has called him another way.”
The Spirit spoke to my
heart: each of us has a different mission to perform, and at times the Spirit
may call us in “another way.” There are many ways to build the kingdom of God
as covenant-making, covenant-keeping disciples of Jesus Christ. As His faithful
disciple, you can receive personal inspiration and revelation, consistent with
His commandments, that is tailored to you. You have unique missions and roles
to perform in life and will be given unique guidance to fulfill them.
Nephi, the brother of
Jared, and even Moses all had a large body of water to cross—and each did it differently. Nephi
worked “timbers of curious workmanship.” The brother of Jared built barges
that were “tight like unto a dish.” And Moses “walked upon dry land in the
midst of the sea.”
They each received
personalized direction, tailored to them, and each trusted and acted. The Lord
is mindful of those who obey and, in the words of Nephi, will “prepare a way
for [us to] accomplish the thing which he commandeth.” Note that Nephi says,
“a way”—not “the way.”
Do we miss or dismiss
personal errands from the Lord because He has prepared “a way” different from
the one we expect?
Sister Craigs grandfather
was led to an unusual place—in a suit, on a rooftop, on a Sunday. Trust God to lead you, even if
that way looks different than you expected or is different from others.
What’s an example of a way the Lord has
personalized inspiration just for you?
Latter-day Saints come in
many shapes and sizes, but “all are alike unto God”—“black and white, bond and free,
male and female,” single and married, rich and poor, young and old, lifelong
member and recent convert. No matter who you are or what you’re dealing
with, you are invited to the Lord’s table.
The Church’s new program
for children and youth is built on the foundation of learning to seek
revelation, discovering what the Lord would have us do, and then acting on that
direction. Each one of us, regardless of age or circumstance, can strive
to seek, receive, and act. As you follow this eternal
pattern ordained for our day, you will draw nearer to Jesus Christ—His love, His light, His direction,
His peace, and His healing and enabling power. And you will increase your
spiritual capacity to become an everyday instrument of His hands in accomplishing
His great work.
In summary:
In seeking to know the voice and the will of the Lord, we need to
eliminate distractions and act on promptings without delaying.
The Lord wants to help all His children. He often uses individuals to
help one another and will send revelation to those seeking to do so.
Personal revelation from the Lord is tailored for each individual and
will help each person to accomplish great things in the Lord’s way.
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