Most Church members called to serve in leadership and teaching positions have had little training in the art of teaching or in the art of public speaking, said Richard R. Sudweeks during the Sidney B. Sperry Symposium Oct. 19.
Therefore, said Brother Sudweeks of the BYU Instructional Science Department, members must teach by the power of the Spirit.He explained that in D&C 42:14 members are given a promise that the Spirit can be given to them by a "prayer of faith." The section, he said, also contains a warning to teachers that if they do not receive the Spirit they will not teach.
Teachers must prepare to receive the Spirit, he continued, adding that "teaching by the Holy Ghost is teaching by revelation."
Brother Sudweeks explained that one of the main issues when teaching or speaking by the Spirit is how much to prepare in advance. "Teaching by the Spirit," he continued, "does not remove the responsibility to prayerfully prepare."
Referring to a revelation given to Hyrum Smith in D&C 11:21, Brother Sudweeks explained that before one "can teach the word," they need to "seek the word."
He told his listeners that if they want to teach by the Spirit they will need to comply with four conditions: personal purity, humility, knowledge of the scriptures, and faithful obedience.
"Before you present your message, after you have prepared it, you need to pray in faith, asking the Holy Ghost to guide you while you speak," Brother Sudweeks said. "We need to rely more on the Spirit. . . .
"We are a Church of teachers, most of us are not formerly trained - to expect us to succeed is to expect a miracle, but those miracles occur because of the Spirit."