President Russell M. Nelson knows that living in a higher and holier way, along the covenant path, requires us to access personal revelation. He wants each of us to know that we have a loving Heavenly Father and a personal Savior in Jesus Christ who want to communicate and commune with us. Because the prophet wants us to know them, he has extended a transformational challenge to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
First, President Nelson taught a principle: “Our (Heavenly) Father loves us and yearns for each one of us to choose to return to His holy presence. He pleads with us to listen to the voice of Jesus Christ, whom the Father anointed and appointed as our Mediator, Savior and Redeemer.”
Second, in a pattern that this prophet regularly deploys, President Nelson extended a personal invitation, “In this special year as we commemorate the 200th anniversary of the First Vision, I invite you to think deeply and often about this key question: How do you hear Him? I also invite you to take steps to hear Him better and more often.”
The Lord speaks to each of us in ways that we are able to understand. Hearing him better and more often is not to be found in formulas, prescriptions or checklists. It is most likely to be found in being quick to observe, in committing to be quiet and still and in learning to listen different. Understanding the nuances of how the Lord speaks to us is vital to our spiritual strength and stamina during challenging times. The subtleties of how we can “hear Him” are many, and are worthy of our time, attention and effort.
Elder Jeffery R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelves of Apostles is a wordsmith’s wordsmith. If you pay attention you can see how Elder Holland “hears Him” — not in his eloquent oratory but in those moments when the words he hears overwhelm him. You also can spiritually sense those times when words utterly fail Elder Holland — when the words are absolutely incapable of articulating what he hears when he “hears Him.” Elder Holland’s pursuit is worthy not only of admiration, but emulation — because it will lead us to better and more often “hear Him”.
Last year Elder David A. Bednar, also of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, cautioned a crowd at BYU-Idaho about how they were approaching their learning at the devotional. “Don’t write down what I am saying,” he said. Then conveying his trust in the audience and with distinct emphasis he continued, “If you are hearing what I am saying, I am failing and you aren’t truly listening.” What Elder Bednar was really doing was teaching that there is a pattern to learning that everyone can completely trust. Trust comes from who you hear and above all how you hear him. Elder Bednar “hears Him” and trusts his listeners to “hear Him” too.
One Sunday I attempted to help a quorum of young priesthood holders understand how to better “hear Him,” how to more clearly see the many facets of testimony and discover for themselves the many ways the Lord will communicate with them.
We began in Doctrine and Covenants 1:24: “Behold, I am God and have spoken it; these commandments are of me, and were given unto my servants in their weakness, after the manner of their language, that they might come to understanding.”
The purpose of hearing him is so we can come to an understanding of him. Revelation, inspiration, insight and knowledge are promised to be delivered in a way that will make sense to us. Our challenge is doing what is required so that we will come to understand how we “hear Him” and then seek to hear him more often and come to know him better.
Then we read one of the most promising verses in scripture which shows the result of our concerted efforts to connect with the divine. Found in Doctrine and Covenants 18:36, “Wherefore you can testify that you have heard my voice and know my word.” When we can say that we have heard his voice and know his word we will be better disciples, better and more often able to “hear Him”.
I told the priests that for the next several minutes we would be joined by some members of our ward. I just wanted them to listen and hear what the Lord would teach them.
To begin, I asked Sister Davis to come in. I love to listen to her play the violin, not just because of her talent, but because she plays with and through the spirit. She pulled her violin out of the case as the boys watched. I then asked Sister Davis to play her testimony for us. In a medley of three songs, she bore a most powerful witness. The spiritual sounds emanating from her violin transcended her amazing musical gift and stirred our heartstrings with heavenly notes and the language of heaven.
When I asked the boys, “Do you hear what I hear?” Their answers were as unique and different as each of us in the room. Some were simply stirred by the Spirit, others by the tune of the hymn and the words they recognized; one was moved by the memory of a loved one who loved that hymn, others were reminded of a favorite scripture. Each could say that they had heard him.
Next, I invited Brother McDonald to join us. He is one of the senior members of our ward. A former military man possessing a soul without guile he is a disciplined and dedicated disciple in every way. He also enjoys poetry. I asked him to share his testimony with us in poetry. To my surprise he shared a poem he had written long decades earlier, on the day he was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ. The words were inspired, the spirit was profound. The boys could tell that Brother McDonald had come to “hear Him” through a lifetime of listening, discerning and obeying.
I then invited Brother Sarmiento in. He is from Peru and is one of the quiet stalwarts that the Lord knows can be trusted to hear his word. I asked this dear brother to share his testimony with the priests, in Spanish. I didn’t ask him to translate because in Brother Sarmiento’s voice and the words of a different language everyone in the room heard him. Tears flowed from every eye as we all realized that even in words we didn’t understand, we had received a transformational testimony. Brother Sarmiento’s powerful witness took us all to sacred ground.
We explored a number of other ways to “hear Him,” receive revelation and strengthen testimony. We discovered that we could “hear Him” viewing art, sitting in silence, while reading inspired words, in the voices of apostles and prophets and even parents, in partaking of the sacrament, being in the temple, behold the beauty of his creations and while serving his children. We also learned that we can “hear Him” in audible words or written phrases, impressions or ideas, calmness or confidence, dreams or pure doctrine, specific thoughts or fleeting feelings.
The invitation of an inspired prophet, who knows our Savior Jesus Christ and hears him, will set us on the journey to discipleship where we can “… take steps to hear him better and more often.”
President Nelson’s question, “How do you hear Him?” is the question of a lifetime worthy of a lifetime of pursuit. The prophet knows that in the end our ability to “testify that we have heard His voice and know His word,” will keep us on the covenant path as we journey toward our heavenly home.