Listen to the still small voice!
Listen! Listen!
When you have to make a choice.
He will guide you always.
"And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilæans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?"
(Acts 2:7-8)
(Acts 2:7-8)
If you try speaking English to a Spanish speaker, they aren't going to understand, right? That's because to you, green is green, but to them green is verde. But it's still green. The language is just a label. So if you point at the color, both the English speaker and the Spanish speaker can understand what you mean. On the other hand, even people who speak the same language have trouble understanding each other sometimes because they have experienced things differently. To some, hearing the words, I love you, might really mean I love you. To someone else it might mean, I want something from you.
"Language came from a desire to transcend our isolation and have some sort of connection with one another."
"It had to be easier when it was just language for simple survival e.g sound for water or sabertooth tiger right behind you. When it gets really interesting is when we use the same system of symbols to communicate all the abstract and intangible things like frustration, anger love etc. Words are just symbols, and so much of our experience is intangible…but when we communicate with one another and we think we've connected and we think that we're understood, I think we have a feeling of almost spiritual communion and that feeling might be transient but i think it's what we live for."
-Waking Life; language as symbols
There is a way to connect with our heavenly father and with one another on a deeper level - "there is a form of communication that transcends the power of words."
What if, in reality, every single one of us speaks a different language? Though we may share the basic structure of language, like English vocabulary, grammar, etc., we still understand things differently because of the different experiences we've had in our lives. So if we are depending entirely upon physical means to communicate, we will never be able to help another person truly understand what we are saying.
What if, the language that the Spirit speaks to us is one that everyone can understand? What if this language relies on experience rather than on semantics to communicate? So instead of communicating the words, it would instead teach us by helping us experience the thing it wants to communicate.
When you say "I love you" and someone replies "yes, I understand - how do you know they understand? And perhaps they only understand in the context of their own experience, but that doesn't mean that their understanding is the same as yours. So what if the Spirit speaks to our individual understanding based on our individual experiences. So to one person, the Spirit might whisper "I love you" to get them to understand and to another person he might whisper "You're acceptable the way you are", and yet be teaching the same principle to both people.
"This I have observed: There are no language barriers in the Church. There is a mighty power that transcends the power of messages conveyed by words alone, and this is the power of messages communicated by the Spirit to our hearts. In every land and clime the sweet Spirit of our Savior communicates to all who seek the truth, regardless of tongue or dialect. It is a universal messenger to every heart in tune. I have felt it everywhere in my recent experiences, regardless of the prevailing language spoken, and I testify to the power and authenticity of such communications. The Spirit is as operative today in communicating the gospel to all who seek the truth as it was on the day of Pentecost anciently."
“For it shall come to pass in that day, that every man shall hear the fulness of the gospel in his own tongue, and in his own language, through those who are ordained unto this power, by the administration of the Comforter, shed forth upon them for the revelation of Jesus Christ.” D&C 90:11
Boyd K Packer challenges us to "be prepared to have the language of the Spirit with you individually and to cultivate and develop that talent." Sister Linda K. Burton explained that "just as learning an instrument or a language is a process, learning the language of the Spirit is also a process." She goes on to explain that "discerning the Spirit is a gift of the Spirit. Just as learning a language comes easily to some and not to others, so does the ability to understand the whisperings of the Spirit."
More often than not, understanding the language of the Spirit is a process. It takes time, effort and humility. In some cases, however, just as some are talented in learning languages, some are blessed with a swift and significant understanding of the language of the spirit and how it communicates to the hearts of men. The Lord expects those with this wonderful gift of the spirit to use these talents to bless the lives of others, first and foremost inviting others to come unto Christ.
More often than not, understanding the language of the Spirit is a process. It takes time, effort and humility. In some cases, however, just as some are talented in learning languages, some are blessed with a swift and significant understanding of the language of the spirit and how it communicates to the hearts of men. The Lord expects those with this wonderful gift of the spirit to use these talents to bless the lives of others, first and foremost inviting others to come unto Christ.
What can we do to better tune in to the voice of the Spirit? We can begin by recognizing that our Father in Heaven wants to communicate with us. We know this because all latter-day prophets have taught the doctrine of personal revelation.
Listen with your heart
The voice of the Spirit comes as a feeling rather than a sound. You will learn, as I have learned, to “listen” for that voice that is felt rather than heard. Nephi scolded his older brothers in 1 Nephi 17:45 saying, “Ye have seen an angel, and he spake unto you; yea, ye have heard his voice from time to time; and he hath spoken unto you in a still small voice, but ye were past feeling, that ye could not feel his words.” On another occasion he said, "And now I, Nephi, cannot write all the things which were taught among my people; neither am I mighty in writing, like unto speaking; for when a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men."(1 Nephi 33:1)
When people say, just listen to your heart, we often think of how cliche that statement is, I mean it's not like your heart even speaks right? But feelings do contain an energy, an energy that is just as strong as words. We need to listen to the feelings that are sent to our hearts by the promptings of the Spirit. Only then will we learn to listen to and communicate with the language of the Spirit.
Brethren, acquire the language of the Spirit. It is not learned from textbooks written by men of letters, nor is it acquired through reading and memorization. The language of the Spirit comes to him who seeks with all his heart to know God and keep His divine commandments. Proficiency in this “language” permits one to breach barriers, overcome obstacles, and touch the human heart.
(To the Rescue)
(To the Rescue)
President Gordon B. Hinckley observed: "That’s the test, when all is said and done. Does it persuade one to do good, to rise, to stand tall, to do the right thing, to be kind, to be generous? Then it is of the Spirit of God."
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