Elder Richard G. Scott
April 2012 General Conference
The Holy Ghost
communicates important information that we need to guide us in our mortal
journey.
One of the great lessons that each of us needs to learn is
to ask. Why does the Lord want us to pray to Him and to ask? Because that is
how revelation is received.
Some practical principles that enhance revelation.
1: Yielding to
emotions such as anger or hurt or defensiveness will drive away the Holy Ghost.
2: Be cautious with humor. Loud, inappropriate laughter will
offend the Spirit. A good sense of humor helps revelation; loud laughter does
not.
3: Careful, quiet speech will favor the receipt of
revelation.
4: Spiritual communication can be enhanced by good health
practices. Exercise, reasonable amounts of sleep, and good eating habits
increase our capacity to receive and understand revelation.
5: It is important that our daily activities do not distract
us from listening to the Spirit.
“And ye are to be taught from on high. Sanctify yourselves
and ye shall be endowed with power, that ye may give even as I have spoken.”
Doctrine and Covenants 43:16
The words sanctify
yourselves may appear puzzling. President Harold B. Lee once explained that
you can replace those words with the phrase “keep my commandments.” Read that
way, the counsel may seem clearer.
One must be ever mentally and physically clean and have
purity of intent so that the Lord can inspire. One who is obedient to His
commandments is trusted of the Lord. That individual has access to His inspiration
to know what to do and, as needed, the divine power to do it.
For spirituality to grow stronger and more available, it
must be planted in a righteous environment. Haughtiness, pride, and conceit are
like stony ground that will never produce spiritual fruit.
Humility is a fertile soil where spirituality grows and
produces the fruit of inspiration to know what to do. It gives access to divine
power to accomplish what must be done.
Our Heavenly Father did not put us on earth to fail but to
succeed gloriously.
Two indicators that a feeling or prompting comes from God
are that it produces peace in your heart and a quiet, warm feeling.
The more closely you follow divine guidance, the greater
will be your happiness here and for eternity.
Communication with our Father in Heaven is not a trivial
matter. It is a sacred privilege…We receive help from our Father in Heaven in
response to our faith, obedience, and the proper use of agency.
