Comments on: Acquiring Spiritual Guidance

By: TStevens

TStevens — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:06:30 +0000

I totally missed Elder Scott’s point that he received relevation during both SS lessons when I heard it originally. I remember thinking he was being a little harsh to the “intellectual” teacher. Now that I have read it I finally saw his bigger point, the one you allude to in this great post. Inspiration can come to us both ways if we are open to it.

The talk reminded of Malcolm Gladwell’s recent book Outliers. He made a point of the “10,000” hour rule. I wonder what a dedicated 10,000 hours of sincere prayer would do for my divine communication skills. To quote Scott:

“What may appear initially to be a daunting task will be much easier to manage over time as you consistently strive to recognize and follow feelings prompted by the Spirit.”

Maybe time can mean 10,000 hours :-)

By: annegb

annegb — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 21:06:46 +0000

Wow. Good food for thought. Thanks.

By: annegb

annegb — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 21:05:09 +0000

Wow, thanks you guys. Good post.

By: Sharon LDS in Tennessee

Sharon LDS in Tennessee — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:38:04 +0000

Personal note:
Noticing that Bednar most frequently invites the presence of the Holy Ghost, I then experimented by doing so very often throughout the day and for sure before personal devotional study (scriptures/good talks). It made a difference to a measure of 50% better in my ability to hear, understand and sharpened my mind. This was opposed to just normal prayer before….sometimes just “asking for the Spirit…instead of warmly – personally with love, INVITING him to come and enlarge my time. The biggest change though was when inviting him when asking questions and having an increase of desire to be taught, learn, understand, know HOW to apply and serve / minister afterwards….so as to use the info as well as just “get it”.
Giant increase. Revelation is such a gift. I, too have benefited from keeping notebook and pen ready. The more I practice that, the more I am dictated to. Love it.
Get much from notes even years earlier on different questions that the current needs. How I know it’s from God a lot of times is that he uses words I never knew spelling or meaning of…or the correct application. One such is exquisite. “My justice is exquisite”. Look that one up.
I still smile and see how vast and amazingly precise Father can give us the exact answer in few words, at times less words that hold mountains of information!
Loved Elder Scott of course. We are all so much better off for asking heaven instead of relying on our on recourse of emotionally fret limited opinions of self!
It’s worth the work to learn how to receive daily.
It’s worth bazillions….cause we will always get gold nuggets = just for us from a loving Father who was just waiting for us.
Love to All.

By: Thomas Parkin

Thomas Parkin — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:54:28 +0000

Awesome, John.

I totally agree with your analysis, your last paragraph especially. That came through to me, from Elder Scott, as well. ~

By: John C.

John C. — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 10:28:15 +0000

Thanks, all.

Jones,
I agree that that was a powerful moment. I’ve been trying to carry a notebook around with me ever since.

By: m&m

m&m — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 07:18:13 +0000

Great post, John. Thanks.

By: Jared

Jared — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 04:07:10 +0000

Well said!

This was my favorite talk from conference. In fact, just before I found this post I was on the phone with a young man who is spiritually gifted. I was at the temple with him a few years ago (baptism for the dead) when he received a waking dream/vision regarding a man who had taken his life a few weeks prior. It was a powerful experience for both of us.

However, he is currently struggling with online pornography. I read to him from this talk. The analogy Elder Scott used of the grape and jalapeno pepper was useful in our discussion. Maybe I should invite him over for grapes and peppers to further illustrate the point.

By: Jones

Jones — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 03:04:35 +0000

I felt Elder Scott’s address was amazing on many levels. What was most helpful and interesting to me was the process of RETURNING to the promptings (in his case written down), pondering them, asking if it was correct and was it ALL. He did this more than once. He doesn’t elaborate on what the final end result was of this process except to name it as the “most sacred experience” and that he “received some of the most precious, specific, personal direction one could hope to obtain in this life”. That is profound and encouraging. I want to strive to follow this pattern. As often happens, I felt he was talking directly to me. This talk is exactly what I needed to hear.

By: Steve Evans

Steve Evans — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 02:47:54 +0000

Great work, John. I agree with that endgame analysis.