Learning to Discern the Spirit of the Lord

Spencer W. Kimball, October 1982 General Conference

This morning as I studied my scriptures, I came was impressed by some lessons about the idea of revelation that--while perhaps not ground shaking to anyone else--moved me deeply.  After beginning my study in Mosiah 4:2-3, I felt impressed to take a look back at an old talk of President Hinckley's entitled Priesthood Restoration, given at a devotional on May 15, 1988.  In this talk, President Hinckley recounted the following:

"I was not present when John the Baptist conferred the Aaronic Priesthood.  I was not present when Peter, James, and John conferred the Melchizedek Priesthood.  But I was present and was a participant and a witness to what occurred on Thursday, June 1, 1978.  My memory is clear concerning the events of that day. . . . The question of extending the blessings of the priesthood to blacks had been on the minds of many of the Brethren over a period of years.  It had repeatedly been brought up by Presidents of the Church.  It had become a matter of particular concern to President Spencer W. Kimball.  Over a considerable period of time he had prayed concerning this serious and difficult question.  He had spent many hours in that upper room in the temple by himself in prayer and meditation.  On this occasion he raised the question before his Brethren--his Counselors and the Apostles.  Following this discussion we joined in prayer in the most sacred of circumstances.  President Kimball himself was voice in that prayer.  I do not recall the exact words that he spoke.  But I do recall my own feelings and the nature of the expressions of my Brethren.  There was a hallowed and sanctified atmosphere in the room.  For me it felt as if a conduit opened between the heavenly throne and the kneeling, pleading prophet of God who was joined by his Brethren.  The Spirit of God was there.  And by the power of the Holy Ghost there came to that prophet an assurance that the thing for which he prayed was right, that the time had come, and that now the wondrous blessings of the priesthood should be extended to worthy men everywhere regardless of lineage.  Every man in that circle, by the power of the Holy Ghost, knew the same thing.  It was a quiet and sublime occasion. . . . No voice audible to our physical ears was heard.  But the voice of the Spirit whispered with certainty into our minds and our very souls.  It was for us, at least for me personally, as I imagine it was with Enos, who said concerning his remarkable experience, 'And while I was thus struggling in the spirit, behold the voice of the Lord came into my mind' (Enos 1:10).  So it was on that memorable June 1, 1978.  We left that meeting subdued and reverent and joyful.  Not one of us who was present on that occasion was ever quite the same after that."

Certainly this is the most remarkable and dramatic revelation of our generation.  In addition to--and perhaps more important than--providing the priesthood to worthy males of all races and nationalities, this revelation opened up the doors and saving ordinances of the temple to men and women from every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.  We cannot overstate the importance of that June day in 1978.  But beyond the deep and eternal significance of the message, there is an important example of the revelatory process.

President Kimball, and the other Prophets before him, had been pondering and praying about this matter for years--an important, if perhaps somewhat unnerving reminder about the danger of always expecting immediate answers to our prayers.  Further, President Kimball had counseled with his Brethren of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve, doing as much work as he could possibly do to prepare their minds and hearts to be open to the will of the Lord.  President Kimball stated that he "knew that we could receive the revelations of the Lord only by being worthy and ready for them and ready to accept them and put them into place."  Having done as much as he could do, President Kimball pled with the Lord, expressing that he "'want[ed] only what is right,'" and "'want[ed] it when [He] want[ed] it and not until'" (Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 450-51).  And the revelation came.  It was dramatic, moving, memorable, and life-altering.  But as much as it was all these, it was also quiet, reverent, and solemn.  All thirteen men in attendance (two members of the Twelve were unable to attend that day) felt the quiet whisper of the Holy Ghost and recognized it for what it was and Who it was that spoke to them.  And they walked away changed men because of that experience.

As I read this account, I was moved by the way in which all those present were able to recognize and accept the promptings and confirmations that came to them.  Perhaps it is just me, but I find it so easy to miss those promptings, to rationalize them away, and thus fail to act upon them.  But at the same time, I took courage in reading President Hinckley's account, because I saw that the promptings were of the same kind and variety that I have experienced before.  As President Hinckley describes it, there were no angelic visitors, no miraculous displays of power, just the moving and transformative presence of the Holy Ghost (which is more powerful than both angels and miraculous displays of power).  Somehow I felt more confident in realizing that the Lord gave such an eternally important revelation to His Prophets, Seers, and Revelators in the same way that He speaks to me.  True, I have ignored and missed such moments of inspiration from time to time, but I have had them and the opportunities to recognize the voice of the Spirit were there.

As the Prophet Joseph advised Brigham Young in a dream on February 17, 1847, if we will be "humble and faithful and be sure to keep the Spirit of the Lord," revelations will come to us and will "lead [us] right."  Gratefully, we "can tell the Spirit of the Lord from all other Spirits" because "it will whisper peace and joy to [our] souls; it will take malice, hatred, strife, and all evil from [our] hearts and [our] whole desire will be to do good, bring forth righteousness and build up the Kingdom of God."  Following that Spirit, we "will go right" (Brigham Young, handwritten account of vision, 17 February 1847, Brigham Young Papers, LDS Church Archives).  What a privilege it is to think that we can qualify to hear and follow the Voice of the Lord the same way that Prophets do!

Brett