LET THE HOLY SPIRIT
GUIDE
SING:
Let the Holy Spirit guide; Let him teach us
what is true.
He
will testify of Christ, Light our minds with heaven's view.
Let
the Holy Spirit guard; Let his whisper govern choice.
He will lead us safely home If we listen to his
voice.
Let the
Spirit heal our hearts Thru his quiet, gentle pow'r.
May
we purify our lives To receive him hour by hour.
…. I love music. It always touches my heart and teaches
me. In this hymn we learn about what
the Holy Spirit can do for us… Teach, Testify, Enlighten, Guard, Guide, purify,
govern and Heal….All of these words that describe the holy spirits function can
be found when we seek personal revelation .
Personal revelation
is one of the greatest gifts and blessings we can receive. My remarks are based
on a talk given by Elder Kendrick of the Quorum of the 70’s. In it he says that Personal Revelation involves preparation, prayer, and promptings.
1. Preparation…. Receiving personal revelation is not a passive
process. We must prepare for these
sacred experiences. President Spencer W.
Kimball told us that, “God reveals himself to people who are prepared for such
manifestations.” There are many things we should do to properly
prepare to receive personal revelation, I will just mention one…develop a
spirit of reverence. Boyd K. Packer
counseled, “Inspiration comes more easily in peaceful settings. He added. “irreverence suits the purposes of
the adversary by obstructing the delicate channels of revelation in both mind
and spirit, “ and he also said, “reverence
invites revelation. We live in a hurry
up, noisy world…yet the spirit speaks in a still, small voice. IF we want to access revelation more
easily…then reverence is necessary.
2. Prayer .
Pray often and ponder before we pray.
We must follow the counsel found in 2 Nephi 9:52, to “Pray unto him
continually by day and give thanks unto his holy name by night. “ As I have studied this topic, I know it is
not the duration of our prayers but the depth of our desire that results in
revelation. We need to study it out in
our mind then ask. We musk ask in
faith, humility, sincerity and with intensity…then wait for answers. In a world of instant communication, we are
prone to become impatient and want instant answers to our prayers. God always answers prayers, but He does it in
his own way and in His own time.
Remember this counsel found in doctrine and Covenants 101:12, “Be still
and know that I am God.”
3. Promptings. One of the most important parts of our
communications with Heavenly Father is the ability to recognize the means by
which He speaks to us through the promptings of the Spirit. If we have properly prepared, we will become
sensitive to these promptings
This Flow of inspiration
depends on Faith….I want to share a personal story with you about my fight with
revelation…and finally being still long enough to hear and accept it…and the
blessings that followed.
Today is May 15th.
It’s a special holiday in our family….it’s Laila Day… her gotcha day… Lailas
adoption into our family was a miracle and we thank the Lord daily for this
beautiful child of God.
When our boys were 9, 11, 13
and 15 years old… we were feeling like
someone was missing. Wayne and I have 4
wonderful sons, and I LOVE my boys…but I always wanted a daughter named after
my Grandma Eulala Butters whom I adored. My aunt and Uncle were in China
teaching English and spending time at the orphanages and telling us about all
these black haired baby girls that nobody wanted that needed families. We started praying about adoption for our
family. We studied out the situation,
figured out our finances and kept praying.……this would be a big change for our
family and Wayne and I were 40….so… I kept making deals with the Lord. Things
like….if Sara Rigby who is adopted, sits
by me in Relief Society then we will adopt.
Sara would sit by me. Or … If we
are chosen to be the witness couple in a temple session, then we would
adopt. We were the witness couple. Or If I see a picture of a Chinese baby in
this magazine I am reading we will adopt…there was a picture. Every time I asked the Lord.. I received a clear answer….we were
supposed to adopt. Someone was counting
on us. This is the only time in my life
I remember this happening so clearly. SO….. the Welches were going to adopt…and in
my dreams I would see a black haired little girl. We started paying money for VISAS and adoption fees to China, getting our family
home studies done and we were thinking that in about 2 years we would have a
new 2 year old sister for our boys. It
was a gut wrenching, tender time… so many tears, so many social workers, so
much money and red tape…. But we felt
held up by the spirit this whole time. 5
months into this process we received a phone call out of the blue from an
adoption agency in Philadelphia who was
calling contacts all over the country who knew someone who knew my cousin, who told
them about us….that a little black haired 3 month old baby girl was ready to be adopted
right now…and the birth momma didn’t want the baby to go into any kind of
foster care but to a family who was ready with home studies and fees in place
right now…. That was us. Now 14 years
later I look back on that time as a testimony builder time. The Lord was aware of the achings of my
heart… and answered my prayers over and over again…and as we followed the
promptings of the spirit to know what to do
thinking we were going the Chinese route, the Lord knew better and we
were blessed with our daughter Laila.
She was an answer to our prayers…and
personal revelation.
It is a tender experience to petition our Heavenly Father in sincere,
heartfelt prayer and know that He will respond with personal revelation. His
promises are sure. I testify Revelation will come if we prepare, pray and
listen to promptings then follow through with Faith. In the name of Jesus
Christ, Amen
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