How do I Distinguish the Holy Ghost from My Own Thoughts?

Q: How do I tell the difference between promptings from the Holy Ghost and my own thoughts?

A: For some reason, this is a question which preoccupies members of the church, especially the youth and young adults.  I have heard some variation of this question in countless settings throughout the church.  I have heard it in seminary and institute classes, I have heard it during ward youth activities, and during Sunday school and priesthood classes.  I also noticed that this question cropped up in every single face to face session the general authorities have held with the young adults in the church.  Clearly, there is a burning desire to learn the answer to this question!

I think it is a good sign that so many want to know how to better recognize that voice of the spirit.  It shows that people across the church are thinking about this question, and seeking to better know the Lord.  However, I do think it is a little strange that there should be so much confusion among members of the church.  Presumably, if they are members of the church, then they have been baptized and they have received the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. Since we are therefore entitled to the companionship of the Holy Ghost to guide, instruct, and direct us in our lives; surely Latter-day Saints must be experts when it comes to receiving and recognizing the spirit.

Why All the Confusion?

Given the particular facility the gift of the Holy Ghost ought to bestow upon members of the church, why is it (clearly) so difficult for us to tell the difference between the voice of the spirit and other influences?

Making the Sacrament More Sacred

Why we Need to Understand the Whys and the Wherefores

The words we use matter.  We, as Mormons, often tend to use our own special definitions for gospel terms without always giving much thought to the reasons for using those specific terms, or to the particular meanings which may be contained in those terms.  Sometimes we as members even participate in certain church activities without giving much thought to the reasons why we are doing them.  This is especially true of the sacrament, which is one of our most sacred ordinances, and yet we tend to take it for granted because we observe it almost every week.

“The ordinance of the sacrament has been called “one of the most holy and sacred ordinances in the Church.” It needs to become more holy and sacred to each of us” (Hamula, 2014).

“Since we can partake of the sacrament every week, many take the ordinance for granted or fail to prepare properly for it each time. External disturbances may prevent complete concentration on spiritual things during the sacrament. Some do not understand the true nature of the sacrament.

Almost all Latter-day Saints could better use the ordinance of the sacrament to help purge their souls in preparation for eternal life. President David O. McKay stated: “The partaking of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is one of the most sacred ordinances of the Church of Jesus Christ. Associated with it are principles fundamental in character building and essential to man’s advancement and exaltation in the kingdom of God. Too few communicants attach to this simple though sublime rite the importance and significance that it merits. Unfortunately, the form of worship is frequently an outward compliance without the true soul acknowledgment of its deep spiritual significance”” (Doctrines of the Gospel Teacher Manual, 2011, 71).

To the end that we might more fully appreciate and understand the deep significance of one of the most important parts of our worship, it might be helpful to break the term “the sacrament” down to examine its roots and to glimpse its full meaning.

How Can I Get My Testimony Back?

Q:  I was baptized a little over a year ago. I was baptized because I knew for a fact all of the things most people do: Jesus Christ is our Savior, Thomas S. Monson is a prophet, the church is true, etc... But now, I just don't. I'm no longer sure if the Book of Mormon is true. I can't read any scriptures. I don't even know if they are true. I'm not sure Thomas S. Monson is a prophet. But I want to be sure. I want to be like I was a year ago. But I don't know how.

A:  When you first got baptized no doubt you were on a spiritual high, and your emotions were probably running high as well. Now that time has passed, your emotions have cooled somewhat, and you have had to face the relatively mundane task of maintaining (and nurturing) your testimony from day to day. C. S. Lewis declared that such a change in mood is natural, and that it is precisely in moments such as these that faith is most useful:

"Now faith, in the sense in which I am here using the word, is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods. For moods will change, whatever view your reason takes. I know that by experience. Now that I am a Christian I do have moods in which the whole thing looks very improbable: but when I was an atheist I had moods in which Christianity looked terribly probable. This rebellion of your moods against your real self is going to come anyway. That is why Faith is such a necessary virtue: unless you teach your moods “where they get off,” you can never be either a sound Christian or even a sound atheist, but just a creature dithering to and fro, with its beliefs really dependent on the weather and the state of its digestion. Consequently one must train the habit of Faith.

The first step is to recognize [sic] the fact that your moods change. The next is to make sure that, if you have once accepted Christianity, then some of its main doctrines shall be deliberately held before your mind for some time every day. That is why daily prayers and religious reading and church-going are necessary parts of the Christian life. We have to be continually reminded of what we believe. Neither this belief nor any other will automatically remain alive in the mind. It must be fed. And as a matter of fact, if you examined a hundred people who had lost their faith in Christianity, I wonder how many of them would turn out to have been reasoned out of it by honest argument? Do not most people simply drift away?" (Mere Christianity, 140-141)

C. S. Lewis lists three things which he tells us are "necessary parts of Christian life," if we are to keep our faith "fed" and nurtured. I call these things "the three pillars of personal testimony," because they are essential in the maintenance and development of a healthy testimony and a robust faith.

*Daily prayers (Constant prayer)

*Religious readings (Consistent scripture study)

*Church-going (Regular & worthy observance of the sacrament)

The Three Pillars of Personal Testimony

We live in a world in which we are constantly assailed by the trials, temptations, opinions, philosophies, creeds, heartache, betrayal, and grief that are a part of this life.  Some of these things are incidental to a life lived in a fallen world, and some of these afflictions can be attributed to the determined assault of Satan.  In light of the fierce trials and temptations that we are called upon every day to face, it is crucial that we learn to build ourselves "upon the rock of our Redeemer".

How to Overcome Temptation and Trials: Why the Sunday School Answers are not Enough

There is a misconception about the so-called Sunday school answers (prayer and scripture study and church attendance) that I wish to dispel:

The acts of prayer and scripture study and even church attendance, while vital components in our personal efforts to become more like Christ, do not of themselves confer upon anyone any kind of talismanic protection, be that from temptation, trial, or depredation.

Case in point:  it is common to hear people who are presented with a grievous spiritual challenge such as same gender attraction, or an addiction of some kind, etc.  who declare that they feel that if only they could pray even harder and be even more diligent in studying their scriptures then they might be able to "fix" themselves.  Their hope is that by being "more righteous than righteous" they can somehow demonstrate to God the sincerity of their desire to be rid of the "thorn in the flesh" which plagues them.  They are inevitably disappointed in this effort, which often leads to disillusionment and frustration on their part, and more often than not this leads them to give up on themselves and/or the church, or even God.