When I was ten or eleven years old, my twin brother and I went on a hike up the mountain just north of Y Mountain. Together, with a few friends, we woke up early and climbed straight up the face and then scampered across the top to the peak overlooking Rock Canyon.<\/p>\n
On our way back down we ran into a small rattlesnake. Being the excitable kids we were, we surrounded the poor creature and wouldn\u2019t let it escape. We became so bold as to pick it up by the tail as it would try to slither away. We\u2019d hold it for a second or two and then drop it when our nerves gave in. The potentially deadly consequence of our actions didn\u2019t deter us from our foolishness.<\/p>\n
When we got home, my mother asked me if everything went okay on the hike. I mumbled something about a rattlesnake. She then related to me that at about the same time we would have been fooling around with the snake, she had received a strong impression that we were in danger. She had knelt and prayed for us. I was astonished. How did she know we were in trouble? This is my earliest recollection of what has become many experiences in which my mother received specific inspiration from the Holy Ghost in the very moment she needed it. At the time it seemed mysterious to me\u2014this idea of the companionship of the Holy Ghost. I wondered how it really worked. I understood that the Holy Ghost was a personage of spirit, but I puzzled over how He could be helping everyone at once.<\/p>\n
Years later, during my freshman year at BYU, I found myself sitting in a Physics 122 class. One day we were discussing the theoretical limit of the speed of light\u2014about 300,000,000 meters per second. For the non-physics majors, that\u2019s more than 670 million miles per hour.<\/p>\n
The professor said, \u201cIt is the maximum speed at which all energy, matter, and information in the universe can travel.\u201d Then he paused and said, \u201cBut we know of something faster\u2014the speed of prayer.\u201d He reasoned that if God has a body as tangible as man\u2019s, then He occupies a discreet place in the universe. And we believe we can instantaneously communicate with Him. So there must be something faster than the speed of light.<\/p>\n
Again I found myself reflecting upon the nature of the power of the Holy Ghost. Keep in mind that this was in 1985, so there was no Internet and there were no smartphones or wireless networks that convey data all over the world to millions of people simultaneously in a matter of seconds. Today, with our current experience, it doesn\u2019t even stretch our minds to imagine technology that is capable of sending instantaneous and personalized messages to millions\u2014even billions\u2014of people at the same time.<\/p>\n
Today I\u2019d like to discuss just a few of the things I have learned since my youth about the power of the Holy Ghost and the nature of truth. Obviously this won\u2019t be a complete treatise on the Holy Ghost but a personal reflection. I humbly add my testimony to that of Moroni, who declared, \u201cAnd by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of\u00a0all things.<\/i>\u201d1<\/sup>\u00a0I probably quoted this scripture a thousand times as a missionary and mostly thought of it in the context of knowing the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. But this last part of Moroni\u2019s promise is a very compelling statement that opens up a world of possibilities: How do we enable the revelatory power of the Holy Ghost? What kind of truth does the Holy Ghost reveal? What exactly is included in \u201call things\u201d?<\/p>\n Our world is now filling up with smartphones, smart TVs, smart cars, and smart appliances\u2014and, coming soon, smart glasses, watches, and clothing. This connected technology is adaptive and dynamic and is becoming ever present. Websites, apps, and mobile devices track your every move. Every click, every piece of content you look at, how long you engage with it, your location, and just about anything and everything else is recorded. This information is sent every few seconds to massive data centers and is used to predict and then influence your future behavior. The trend toward more personal technological integration is increasing and will yield technology in the future that will be as startling to you as the smartphone is to your grandparents. It is amazing and alarming at the same time.<\/p>\n But as impressive as modern technology is, we have access to a celestial communication network that is infinitely more pure and capable than man\u2019s smartest technology. It has unlimited bandwidth, is infinitely fast, is personalized to every soul, and has no societal or personal downside. You can listen to me today\u2014and I will say a few things that you will most likely forget\u2014but through the power of the Holy Ghost you can receive a message that is specifically for you. This message will not be based upon your past behavior or your preferences but will be based upon what the Lord knows you need and will be presented to your mind in the context of your life and your future behavior. It will occupy a special place in your consciousness\u2014a place where it can be recalled quickly in the very moment you need it. And it will come to you with the requirement that you act upon it. I hope you will be open to the specific thoughts the Holy Ghost may put in your mind over the next twenty minutes.<\/p>\n My mission president said something to me right before I left the mission field that I didn\u2019t fully appreciate at the time. He said to the group of us departing missionaries, \u201cYou see things more clearly now than you will until midlife.\u201d Well, here I am twenty-five years later, at midlife, finally understanding what he meant. He meant that as missionaries we had been in a special situation where our personal righteousness and our desire to do God\u2019s will aligned in a way that is difficult to achieve outside the mission field. Consequently we had enjoyed the influence and companionship of the Holy Ghost more fully than we would again until midlife. And he was right. You come home and pursue your education; you worry about your finances and your social life; and then come your spouse, your children, and your career. It\u2019s a struggle to manage all the priorities and all the distractions.<\/p>\n Missionaries know that the first law of heaven\u2014and of missionary success\u2014is obedience. Righteousness and truth are inseparably connected.2<\/sup>\u00a0I learned that when I was obedient, when I was trying my best to be righteous, I had a valid expectation to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost. I also learned that I had to explicitly ask for specific guidance. Let me repeat that:\u00a0explicitly<\/i>\u00a0ask for\u00a0specific<\/i>\u00a0guidance. You have to ask because God is no respecter of persons\u2014He loves all His children and has repeatedly told them, \u201cAsk, and ye shall receive\u201d;3<\/sup>\u00a0\u201cseek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.\u201d4<\/sup>\u00a0Asking is an important part of the law that governs receiving. And not only should we ask, but we should ask for specifics. Like President Thomas S. Monson has often said, \u201cWhen we deal in generalities, we rarely have success; but when we deal in specifics, we rarely have a failure.\u201d5<\/sup>\u00a0As a missionary I learned to pray for very specific things.<\/p>\n Then I came home from my mission and life got busy. School and marriage followed quickly, and I became very focused on my future. Over time my prayers gradually slipped back into generalities. Why does that happen? Do we think the details of our lives are too mundane for the Lord? Or do we just become lazy?<\/p>\n My thinking changed one day while I was sitting in a mechanical engineering seminar my junior year. I remember it clearly. The professor, Carl Sorenson, said something to the effect of, \u201cYou students here at BYU should become the smartest engineers in the world. Not only do you have the best professors, but you have the gift of the Holy Ghost to help you learn truth.\u201d That\u2019s right! Like Moroni said, \u201cThe truth of all things.\u201d<\/p>\n I thought to myself, \u201cYou mean to tell me that I can pray about calculus, physics, thermodynamics, heat transfer, and fluid mechanics?\u201d Yes! All those topics are covered under \u201cthe truth of all things\u201d clause.<\/p>\n From that time forward I began being more specific in my prayers. I prayed over individual homework problems, assignments, and principles. And while I don\u2019t remember hearing a voice or receiving some great manifestation, I would often wake up in the morning with more clarity than I had the night before. I learned that when I combined my best efforts with very specific pondering and prayer, things went better\u2014much better. And the truths of some things were made manifest to me by the power of the Holy Ghost. I wholeheartedly recommend the practice of being very specific in your personal prayers and avoiding the generalities that so easily turn into vain repetition.<\/p>\n A few years ago I attended a priesthood leadership training session over which President Boyd K. Packer was presiding. His topic was revelation, and he had us open the hymnbook and read the words to \u201cCome unto Him.\u201d6<\/sup>\u00a0I had never sung or read this hymn before, but I really appreciate the message it contains about the nature of revelation. It reads:<\/p>\n I wander through the still of night,<\/i> When I am filled with strong desire<\/i> What I understood from President Packer\u2019s explanation of this hymn was that even when we feel alone and \u201cfeel no arm around\u201d us, the answers do eventually come \u201cwithout a voice,\u201d the storms do go \u201crolling by,\u201d and life\u2019s most important lessons are learned. Truth usually distills upon our souls like the morning dew\u2014imperceptibly.<\/p>\n In the Doctrine and Covenants the Lord repeatedly counsels missionaries to \u201copen your mouths and spare not\u201d7<\/sup>\u00a0and to \u201cspeak the thoughts that I shall put into your hearts,\u201d with the promise that \u201cit shall be given you .\u00a0.\u00a0. in the very moment, what ye shall say.\u201d8<\/sup>\u00a0I believe there is a key here to enabling the power of the Holy Ghost. When we are doing our best to keep the commandments, then our\u00a0first<\/i>\u00a0thoughts and\u00a0first<\/i>\u00a0impressions are often the inspired ones. I have observed this phenomenon many times in my life.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a typical scenario at my house. Let\u2019s call it the parable of the messy basement. After a long day of work I come home and find that every friend in the neighborhood has been at my house playing in our basement. The couch pillows are piled at the bottom of the stairs (to accommodate base jumping from the landing), every toy from the toy closet is on the floor, the blankets are all over the place\u2014you get the picture. Something inside of me softly says, \u201cGo join in the fun. Play with the kids. Don\u2019t make a big deal about the mess. You can clean it up later.\u201d This is the first thought that comes\u2014from the heart, from my best self\u2014and it is inspired.<\/p>\n But then something else kicks in\u2014a second thought, a more \u201cnatural\u201d response: \u201cWait a minute. I\u2019ve been working all day. I shouldn\u2019t have to clean this up. Haven\u2019t these kids learned anything? I better teach them a lesson. Where\u2019s my wife?\u201d Well, I can tell you from experience that option number two, in any of its various forms, never works out as initially conceived. Just follow the first impression. It\u2019s usually the right one\u2014the one that leads to more Christlike behavior. King Benjamin called this yielding \u201cto the enticings of the Holy Spirit,\u201d putting off the natural man, and becoming like a child.9<\/sup>\u00a0When we learn to heed the promptings of the Holy Ghost, these feelings become stronger and more frequent.<\/p>\n Joseph Smith said to John Taylor (as recorded by John Taylor):<\/p>\n Elder Taylor, you have been baptized, you have had hands laid upon your head for the reception of the Holy Ghost, and you have been ordained to the holy priesthood. Now, if you will continue to follow the leadings of that spirit, it will always lead you right. Sometimes it might be contrary to your judgment; never mind that, follow its dictates; and if you be true to its whisperings it will in time become in you a principle of revelation so that you will know all things.<\/i>10<\/sup><\/p>\n Alma explained the process of spiritual growth this way:<\/p>\n It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the\u00a0heed and diligence\u00a0<\/b>which they give unto him.<\/i><\/p>\n And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.<\/i>11<\/sup><\/p>\n Heed and diligence are like the Lord\u2019s encryption technology. The mind of the Lord, as taught by the Holy Ghost, is only revealed to those who are willing to act. This is the \u201csincere heart\u201d and \u201creal intent\u201d12<\/sup>\u00a0that Moroni says are prerequisite to having the truth of the Book of Mormon manifest by the power of the Holy Ghost. As missionaries we observe that the truths of the gospel are protected, or hidden, from the insincere or unprepared. Just asking \u201cIs the Book of Mormon true?\u201d or \u201cIs Joseph Smith a true prophet?\u201d is not enough. Those who are truly not willing to heed heavenly counsel rarely receive it. If the unprepared were not kept from the mysteries, as Alma put it, then they would stand condemned before the Lord, having refused the light offered them. This is the case for sign seekers\u2014those who want a manifestation who do not have real intent. The Lord said:<\/p>\n Behold, here is the agency of man, and here is the condemnation of man; because that which was from the beginning is plainly manifest unto them, and they receive not the light.<\/i><\/p>\nBe Specific<\/b><\/h2>\n
\nWhen solitude is ev\u2019rywhere\u2014<\/i>
\nAlone, beneath the starry light,<\/i>
\nAnd yet I know that God is there.<\/i>
\nI kneel upon the grass and pray;<\/i>
\nAn answer comes without a voice.<\/i>
\nIt takes my burden all away<\/i>
\nAnd makes my aching heart rejoice.<\/i><\/p>\n
\nAnd ask a boon of him, I see<\/i>
\nNo miracle of living fire,<\/i>
\nBut what I ask flows into me.<\/i>
\nAnd when the tempest rages high<\/i>
\nI feel no arm around me thrust,<\/i>
\nBut ev\u2019ry storm goes rolling by<\/i>
\nWhen I repose in him my trust.<\/i><\/p>\nYield to the Enticings<\/b><\/h2>\n