One of the first things the missionaries teach to people who are investigating the Church is how to obtain a spiritual witness. Joseph Smith restored to the earth the knowledge that each of us can personally pray and ask the Lord a question, and then expect that He in His love for us will answer, in His own way, on His own timetable.
Let Him Ask of God
James, one of the Lord's apostles in the Old World, wrote:
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed." (James 1:5-6)
Moroni's Promise
The prophet Moroni, who finished the Book of Mormon for his father, Mormon, and delivered it personally as a resurrected being to Joseph Smith some 1,600 years later, gives us a test for knowing if the Book of Mormon is true:
"Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts. And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." (Moroni 10:3-5)
Ask and Ye Shall Receive
The Savior taught that the Father loves to give spiritual witnesses:
"And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? (Luke 11:9-13)
Obtaining a Witness by the Power of the Holy Ghost
During his life, the Savior taught that those who want what He has to give can hear and recognize his voice:
Learning to "Hear" God with our Hearts
In our encounters with God, most of us never see His face or hear His voice with our ears. Rather it is with our hearts that we "hear" Him, or "feel" Him speak to us.
Some examples of the way the Lord communicates with us:
The Importance of Purity of Heart
Let Him Ask of God
James, one of the Lord's apostles in the Old World, wrote:
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed." (James 1:5-6)
Moroni's Promise
The prophet Moroni, who finished the Book of Mormon for his father, Mormon, and delivered it personally as a resurrected being to Joseph Smith some 1,600 years later, gives us a test for knowing if the Book of Mormon is true:
"Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts. And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." (Moroni 10:3-5)
Ask and Ye Shall Receive
The Savior taught that the Father loves to give spiritual witnesses:
"And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? (Luke 11:9-13)
Obtaining a Witness by the Power of the Holy Ghost
The apostle Paul gave us this guideline for recognizing the influence of the Holy Spirit of God, or the still small voice:
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23)
He taught the Romans that "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit..." (Romans 8:16)
He taught the Romans that "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit..." (Romans 8:16)
"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me" (John 10:27)
Learning to listen to the Good Shepherd's voice takes effort, but the end result is a personal conviction of the existence of God and a knowledge of his truth. The inhabitants of ancient America experienced this when the resurrected Christ appeared to them, descending out of heaven:
"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. And it came to pass that 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; and it said unto them: Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him...And it came to pass, as they understood they cast their eyes up again towards heaven; and behold, they saw a Man descending out of heaven; and he was clothed in a white robe... And it came to pass that he stretched forth his hand and spake unto the people, saying: Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world. And behold, I am the light and the life of the world..." (3 Nephi 11:3-11)
Learning to "Hear" God with our Hearts
In our encounters with God, most of us never see His face or hear His voice with our ears. Rather it is with our hearts that we "hear" Him, or "feel" Him speak to us.
Some examples of the way the Lord communicates with us:
- Following the death of the Savior, two disciples, Simon and Cleopas, were traveling from Jerusalem to Emmaus. They met up with someone who taught them about how the scriptures had prophesied of the suffering, death, and subsequent resurrection of Jesus. They did not realize it was Jesus himself until He disappeared. Upon realizing who had been teaching them the scriptures, they said to each other, "Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?" (see Luke 24:13-32)
- During his ministry among the Israelites, the Lord showed Elijah the way He most commonly manifests himself to man: "And [the Lord] said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice." (1 Kings 19:11-12)
- Following the signs of the Savior's death which had been given in ancient America, the people "heard" a voice seem to come out of heaven. When they focused on it, it caused their hearts to burn: "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." Once they learned to listen to what they were feeling, they understood that the voice was that of the Father introducing His Son: "Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him." At that moment, the Savior appeared to them out of heaven and descended to the earth to begin his immortal ministry among them. (see 3 Nephi 11:3-7)
The Importance of Purity of Heart
Your heart has to be pure in order to perceive the things of God, and you have to be attuned to it, listening for it in your heart. In a nutshell, having a pure heart means that, even though we all make mistakes and do things we shouldn't, our desire and our commitment is to overcome those things, to push them out of our lives. The primary reason for God's many commandments and expectations of us is that our observance of those things gives us the purity of heart we need to have a sense of His existence in the universe and to perceive His being at work in our lives.
Physical Proof, Spiritual Proof
Here in the physical world, we have to "prove" things in order to accept them as true. Scientists come up with a hypothesis, then develop a test they believe is appropriate for that hypothesis. If upon running the test, they get the expected results, the hypothesis is proven correct. If not, either the hypothesis changes, or the test is revised. The reason we accept the physical laws of the universe to be true is because they have been proven in this way.
The same goes for things of a spiritual nature. If we want proof of the operation of spiritual laws - including the influence of God in our lives - we have to be willing to set up the conditions and repeat the experiment that proves it. We have to be willing to accept spiritual proof.
Here are the requirements for the experiment as discussed above, listed in brief:
The Savior said it this way:
"And blessed are all the pure in heart, for they shall see God." (3 Nephi 12:8 compare Matthew 5:8)
Physical Proof, Spiritual Proof
Here in the physical world, we have to "prove" things in order to accept them as true. Scientists come up with a hypothesis, then develop a test they believe is appropriate for that hypothesis. If upon running the test, they get the expected results, the hypothesis is proven correct. If not, either the hypothesis changes, or the test is revised. The reason we accept the physical laws of the universe to be true is because they have been proven in this way.
The same goes for things of a spiritual nature. If we want proof of the operation of spiritual laws - including the influence of God in our lives - we have to be willing to set up the conditions and repeat the experiment that proves it. We have to be willing to accept spiritual proof.
Here are the requirements for the experiment as discussed above, listed in brief:
- 1. Purity of heart
- 2. Ask God if He's there or if the things you are learning are true
- ask with a sincere heart - you can't just say "oops I prayed; didn't work". You have to make a genuine effort to communicate with God
- real intent - tell God what you will do if He answers, or if the things you are learning turn out to be true
- faith in Christ - without a hypothesis, there is no experiment. You have to believe this just might work, because if you don't, the lack of belief will be self-fulfilling. You have to "ask in faith, nothing wavering".
- 3. Listen not with your ears, but with your heart.
One of the main reasons some people have difficulty accepting spiritual proofs is that they don't trust their emotions to perform a logical function. This is because the vast majority of emotions in the human experience will, if anything, temporarily distract from the use of intellect.
But in my extensive experience, there is one emotion that actually conveys logic or intelligence, and that's the manifestation of Holy Spirit.
This is a feeling that doesn't usually come in response to an external event or in response to the actions of another person. It comes as a result of your effort to communicate with God, or to learn about Him and His gospel. In my experience, this emotional experience has always eventually turned out to be communication from Someone who consistently proves to be far smarter and far wiser than I am.
I have learned in my lifetime that, so long as I am strictly honest with myself about what I am feeling, the guidance and influence of the Holy Ghost is always worthy of my trust. Obtaining spiritual witnesses in this way has done more than any other kind of proof to help me learn gospel truths and to provide the kind of conviction that has changed my life. Through the witness of the Holy Ghost, the Lord can do the same thing for you. You just have to be willing to ask Him!
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