followHIM - "How can I distinguish between the Holy Ghost and my own thoughts?" : follow HIM Favorite

Episode Date: June 5, 2022

Hank Smith and John Bytheway answer a question from this week's Come, Follow Me study.Show Notes (English, French, Spanish, Portuguese): https://followhim.co/old-testament/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/followhimpodcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/followhimpodcastYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/FollowHimOfficialChannelThanks to the followHIM team:Steve & Shannon Sorensen: Executive Producers/SponsorsDavid & Verla Sorensen: SponsorsDr. Hank Smith: Co-hostJohn Bytheway: Co-hostDavid Perry: ProducerKyle Nelson: MarketingLisa Spice: Client Relations, Show Notes/TranscriptsJamie Neilson: Social Media, Graphic DesignWill Stoughton: Rough Video EditorKrystal Roberts: Transcripts/Language Team/French TranscriptsAriel Cuadra: Spanish TranscriptsIgor Willians: Portuguese Transcripts"Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise" by Marshall McDonaldhttps://www.marshallmcdonaldmusic.com/products/let-zion-in-her-beauty-rise-piano

Hello, my friends. Welcome to Follow Him Favorites. My name is Hank Smith. I'm here with the amazing John, by the way. Hello, John, by the way. Hi, Hank. If you've been following Follow Him Favorites this year, we're taking a single question from each week's lesson and talking about it. This lesson is on the book of Ruth and the first three chapters of 1 Samuel. We're taking our question from 1 Samuel chapter 3, in which Samuel hears the voice of the Lord, but doesn't know it's the voice of the Lord. He thinks Eli is calling him. And so he goes to Eli, what did you want? And Eli says, it's not me. Go back to bed. This happens a couple of times until Samuel finally realizes, oh, wait, that's the voice

of the Lord. A common question I get is, how do I tell the difference? How do I know if it's the Spirit, the voice of the Lord, or just my own thoughts? So I think this is a good time to bring this up, John. How would you help someone say, how do I distinguish between the Holy Ghost and my own voice? Such a good question. I remember hearing David O. McKay, somebody saying that the conscience speaks through our own voice, or it sounds like our own voice. Sometimes when the Holy Ghost or our conscience speak to us, it's in our voice.

And I think one of the really helpful ways is, you know this, Hank, in the Book of Mormon, what is it, Moroni 7? Does it lead you to do good? Does it lead you to believe in Christ? Sometimes, if you're not sure, what is it asking you to do? Is it asking you to do something good that strengthens your faith in Christ? And then you can know with the perfect knowledge it's of God if it's asking you to do something good that's consistent with what you know about the gospel. So that helps.

But I just love if teenagers are asking the question, that right consistent with what you know about the gospel. So that helps. But I just love if teenagers are asking the question, that right there is awesome. Just the fact that you're asking the question means you're on the right track and you will, you'll get there. It's something you learn over time. It's a very much a line upon line thing. I remember Elder Packer saying he listened as an apostle to the exact same voice he heard when he was a deacon. He said, but the signal's much clearer now. It's the same voice.

You're just learning to kind of tune in. A lot of our listeners have never used a radio where they actually had to tune it in. But what you'll find in life is that you're just tuning that radio to get that signal even clearer. John, one of my favorite descriptions of the influence of the Holy Ghost is in Doctrine and Covenants 11, 12, 13. You can always remember it, 11, 12, 13, where the Lord says,

Put your trust in that spirit, which leadeth to do good, to do justly, meaning to be honest, to be humble, and to judge righteously. He says, this is my spirit. So if you are feeling like you want to do good you want to be honest you need to be humble and you're not judging people you're maybe making judgments about situations but you're not judging others he says this is my spirit you can know for a fact that's my spirit. And then he goes on in 13 to say, I will impart unto you of my spirit, which shall enlighten your mind. So this idea of promptings, this idea of enlighten your mind, something comes into my head and, wow, I'd never thought of that before. That's usually not something I would think to do. And he says, which will fill your soul with joy. So I take that to mean that whatever the Holy

Ghost is telling me here, it's making me feel good. It's uplifting me. It's making me feel edified inside and encouraged. So I think that's part of what we're learning here in 1 Samuel 3, when the Lord says, Samuel, and he says, oh, I'm ready. I'm ready. It's learning to distinguish that feeling, not just a voice, but that feeling of, oh, this is really, like you said, John, prompting me to do something good. I love that 11, 12, 13, and it goes with Moroni 7. Too often, we might overthink it and think, I have to have this burning feeling or something like that. Well, that happens sometimes to some people. It doesn't happen to everybody.

It's so simple to be able to do what you're saying. Is it asking me to do good things, to do right things? Then you can know, hey, that was a good influence. That was a good impulse I just had. That was a good prompting, we might say. We will grow in our understanding of how to get those messages. I just like what Samuel said, speak, thy servant heareth. So good. It's like, I'm ready.

What do you want? Remember in the book of Mormon, who is it that calls Mormon as a child? He says, you're quick to observe. Amoron. Amoron. You're quick to observe. This idea of, hey, I can see that when you get a prompting, you go. You act.

You're obedient. You're quick to be obedient. If it's a good thing, John, I feel like, hey, move forward. Move forward. Is that the Lord or is that me? Hey, if it's a good thing, John, I feel like, hey, move forward. Move forward. Is that the Lord or is that me? Hey, if it's a good thing, move forward. If you're trying to do what's right, you're trying to keep the commandments, you're reading and praying and really trying to make the Lord the number one priority in your life. Don't worry too much about, oh, is this me or is this the Lord?

When you're trying to unite your will with his, those voices can become one and the same at times. Well, I do think that's part of the test of life is the Lord saying, I wonder what they'll do if I don't send a prompting. And that's why we choose the right. We don't have to always be compelled or prompted. We choose the right because we know what's right. I wonder sometimes if the Lord tests us that way. What will they do when I don't prompt them? Hopefully we have enough of a testimony to say, I'm going to do the right thing. Yeah. I'm going to do good here. What does the Lord say? Yeah. I don't want to have to command you in all things. Slothful servant is compelled in all things. Yeah. I want you to do many things of your own free will and bring to pass much righteousness. King Benjamin, I cannot tell you

all the ways that you can sin, but this much I can tell you. Watch yourself and your thoughts and your deeds. Just stay on that covenant path. Sometimes you'll be prompted to, but even if you don't, you know what the covenant path is. You know how to stay on there. And that's, I think, what President Nelson might remind us. Stay on the covenant path. As you move forward doing what John just said, just staying on that covenant path, you'll be able to turn around one day and look back. And Eli, the high priest says to Samuel, he says, it is the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. Like you'll see that you were being directed far more than you thought you were. I've noticed that in my life, John. Here I am trying to

make good decisions, trying to stay on the covenant path. And I look back and I can go, oh, wow, look at all these things that fell into place. When maybe I wasn't thinking, oh, that's a prompting, that's a prompting, that's a prompting. I'm just trying to do my best. And doors and opportunities were opening for me. And you look back and you go, oh, wow, it was the Lord. And he's doing this as seemeth him good. And it says Samuel grew and the Lord was with him. I think you can trust that too.

The Lord's going to be with you. He'll guide you sometimes even when you don't feel it, if you are striving to be on the covenant path. I love that because that's me too. I look back, wow, I was being helped back then. I didn't even realize it at the time, but that was a better decision than I thought it was. And I think it's because the Lord helped me there and I didn't even realize it. I think it was Elder Bednar who said, you can learn from the times when you feel the spirit, but you can also learn from those times where you don't feel the spirit. Because the promise of the sacrament is that they will always have his spirit to be with them. So, the rare thing should be when I don't feel like I want to do good, when I don't feel like being honest, when I don't feel

like judging righteously. And I'm having those times and the spirit has withdrawn. I can learn from, wow, how that feels. I can learn from listening to the great and spacious and giving them heed to remember Elder Bednar saying we heeded them not, right? And I know that feels different and I know it does. That cold hollowness, you can say to yourself, wow, I may not know what the Holy Ghost feels like exactly, but I know what it feels like when it's gone. I'm going to stay away from those situations. Join us next week for another Follow Him Favorites. Come join us for our full podcast. We're talking to Dr. Gay Strathairn about these chapters, and I think you're going to

love her. She is just a wonderful, brilliant scholar, and she's got a great accent. Come check it out. Yeah, you got to hear it. And join us next week for another Follow Him Favorites. Thank you.