At times of darkness and difficulty in our lives, when it feels like light and warmth will never come, we testify that God hears and answers prayers. This excellent video portrays a young woman reflecting on Joseph Smith’s experience about asking God about his questions about his faith.

The reflections relate to a recent post we had on going to God for answers. God is really there. He will hear you. You can come to know how He answers prayers for you. We testify that He has spoken to prophets again, and also that He speaks through His Spirit directly and personally — and through tender mercies — to His children, individually.

The post Got questions about life, God? How can you know what is really true? appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

This is a great thought from Clayton Christensen (renowned Harvard business professor, who is also a Mormon (member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). Professor Christensen’s thoughts were recently summarized by Andy Proctor here.

“[Clayton Christensen has] referred to heaven as an immense library that was [and is!] full of books and that those books had [and have!] the answers to all questions. Yes, ALL questions. We just had to request the books and we could find the answers. He used this example to teach about the restoration of the gospel – that up until the time of Joseph Smith, no one believed that we could ask questions because they supposed all the answers had been given. So people stopped asking questions. And they stopped receiving answers.

Then Joseph asked.”

(For more information about Joseph Smith and the restoration of the gospel and the answers that came to his heartfelt questions, see Mormon.org.)

I’ve had the opportunity to hear Brother Christensen talk about this. He testifies that God desires with all His heart to give us answers, but if He were to give us answers where we don’t have questions, those answers wouldn’t have the same meaning and “sticking power.” We have the opportunity have to create spaces in our minds and hearts and spirits so that the answers have a space to be received and to stay and take root.

How often when we have questions do we, instead, turn to Google or Facebook for answers? (See Andy’s post for some stats that show the kinds of questions people take to the internet.)

The blog post author continues:

“When was the last time you asked God a question?

When was the last time He answered?…

[T]here is an actual library that you can go to and that there is information just waiting to be checked out or in our digital lingo, queried. We cannot ask too many questions nor can we query heaven too much. There is no heavenly query limit. No server downtime. No system errors and we all have free access to the largest database of information in the universe. Do we believe this? Because this is true. There is no limit to the revelation that we can receive from heaven.”

Read more http://www.thereturnedmissionary.com/heaven-is-a-library-check-out-more-books/

I know from my own personal experience that this pattern of asking and receiving answers is real. God hears prayers and questions can be answered. He gives some of those answers through living prophets and through honest seekers of truth. Answers often distill over time — like when you go to a library to do extensive research. It’s a thrilling process to discover how close truth really is when I’m willing to seek, ask, knock — and then receive and act upon what answers come.

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When we talk of power in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we talk of something very different from how business or other organizations function. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints proclaims to the world that priesthood keys and authority that were given anciently to the Lord’s leaders by the Lord (such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Elijah in Old Testament times, and Peter, James and John in New Testament times) have been restored to earth to and through Joseph Smith (see Joseph Smith—History 1:72; D&C 27:12; D&C 110:11–12). Why were these keys restored? This scripture in Moses 1 sums up God’s purpose of His work: “For behold, this is my ^awork and my ^bglory—to bring to pass the ^cimmortality and ^deternal ^elife of man.”

When we talk of priesthood keys, authority, and power in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are not talking about the power of people to do God’s work, but rather, we believe that “All priesthood keys ultimately come from Heavenly Father through His Son, Jesus Christ.” (See New Era article, “Priesthood Keys.”)

The end purpose of the Church is to provide all of Heavenly Father’s children the opportunity to receive the saving ordinances of the gospel — both those who are living and those who have died without this opportunity. These ordinances bind individuals to God and can bind marriage and family relationships beyond the grave. These ordinances are about reaching our full and eternal potential as children of divine parents. Where earthly organizations may provide opportunity for earthly development, the mission of the Church looks far beyond this earth life to helping us reach our eternal potential.

As the Savior said to Peter right before giving him keys on the Mount of Transfiguration, “I will ^agive unto thee the ^bkeys of the ^ckingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt ^dbind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

In a recent post, we shared insights from a recent Relief Society [Mormon women] training about how divine power and the blessings of the priesthood that can flow into an individual’s life. Those blessings are available because God has restored priesthood keys and authority to earth.

[You can read more about the restoration of priesthood keys and authority and church organization on this page, “The Church of Jesus Christ, an Established Pattern.”

Learn more about how the Church of Jesus Christ is organized.]

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One of my goals as a Piano Performance major was to play with the orchestra on the School of Music’s annual Concerto Night. I had dreamed of it since my first year at school, when I attended the concert and exulted in the gorgeous music, the phenomenal talents, and yes, even the applause and adulation given to the student performers. As the years at school went by, and I didn’t win the opportunity in the audition process, I would reassure myself, “Next year is the year. Just keep working.”
Finally came my last opportunity to audition. I had beseeched Heavenly Father to allow me to perform to the best of my ability. The music was deep inside my bones. My fingers were sure. I communicated deep, eternal emotions. When I was done, I knew I had done my best, and it was a powerful best. I walked away from the piano at peace with my offering.

Later that day, I crept through a side door into the top of the recital hall to listen to my dear friend audition with her own concerto. She played beautifully, and in the middle of the performance, the Spirit whispered to me that she, not I, would be performing on the concert. I slipped from the recital hall, hugged and congratulated my friend on her wonderful audition, and went home to wait for the results, hoping against hope that I had misheard the Spirit.

I hadn’t.

My heart — though broken a little — rallied, and my last year of graduate work was successful and happy. Then came the chance to travel to another state to audition with the same concerto for a concert with a community orchestra. I went, again begging Heavenly Father to help me do my best, and again, felt blessed in my performance.

And I placed second.

My six years of college piano study ended, and in two months my husband and I were expecting our first child. Performing as I knew it had ended, and my new life had begun.

Except…

Two years later I found myself in the wings of a concert hall, heart pounding, listening to the welcoming applause, ready to walk on stage to perform a concerto with an orchestra. It wasn’t until a few years later that I realized that performing that night was an answer to all of my earlier prayers, deferred until the Lord’s time.

When I consider the pathways of my life, the many twists and turns, the wide avenues or dead ends, I am drawn to more than a few instances of these types of answers, these gifts, deferred. Largely, I see a bigger plan at work, a loving Heavenly Father wanting to give me the desires of my heart, but knowing when it is best for me to receive them.

Over and over, I am taught that my time is not the Lord’s time. While I recognize that sometimes the answer to a heartfelt prayer is not a “Not yet,” but a “No,” I have discovered that watching Heavenly Father’s plan unfold in my life is filled with many of these gifts.

It takes patience and faith to wait on the Lord, especially when I’m not sure if the Lord’s answer to a heart’s desire is “no,” “yes,” or “yes, but later.” I’m also aware of the dangers of knocking too often at His door with a request that is not according to his will (Martin Harris, anyone?). It’s a fine line to walk, but allowing “Thy will be done” to be part of all my prayers gives me the safety net I need to continue to trust the Lord’s hand in my life.

Recently, I decided, as I have many times in the past twelve years since becoming a mother, that it was time to go back to the piano in earnest. Before, I would begin the process and realize that my time was best spent in other pursuits. This time, something was different. When I prayed about my decision, the spirit poured into me. The door was opened, and I heard, “Rush through. It’s time.”

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Personal revelation is also essential to our sojourn on earth. Personal revelation exists to provide

…a confirmation in the hearts of the believers that…revelation to the prophets is true. It also consists of individual guidance for every person who seeks for it and follows the prescribed course of faith, repentance, and obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ. (From the entry on revelation in the Bible Dictionary.)

An important part of our journey on earth is to learn how to communicate with God through prayer and through seeking personal revelation. One of the key ways that we can receive personal revelation is through the Holy Ghost, sometimes called the Spirit.

The Holy Ghost speaks to our hearts and minds. Learning to recognize the Spirit’s voice is an individual process and experience, but sometimes it helps to hear how others experience and recognize the Spirit. We invite you to share how you can tell when God is communicating with you.

One thing to note is that there is no one way that people experience the Spirit. For some, direction from heaven comes in the form of peace and other simple but pure, light-filled feelings. Some feel a physical sensation of burning in their hearts. Sometimes, revelation comes in the form of mental clarity and ideas. Sometimes, it’s simply a feeling that things are falling into place.

Many times, over a lifetime, a person will have experienced personal revelation in various ways. Often, there is a combination of thoughts and feelings that help one recognize the reality of revelation.

Learning to recognize the Spirit is something that can take time, patience, and experience. It certainly takes faith and obedience and diligence. It’s a wonderful thing to know that we, as children of God, can receive personal guidance and comfort and help through the gift of personal revelation.

**Please note: The answers in “Ask a Mormon Woman” and reflect the thoughts, perspectives, and experiences of individuals. Although here at Mormon Women, we strive to have our content consistent with the Church’s doctrine and teachings, we do not speak officially for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. For official information about or from the Church, please visit www.mormon.org or www.lds.org.

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For more Ask a Mormon Woman questions/answers, please click here.

Do you have a question you would like to submit? Simply include a comment below, or send an email at gmail with the username ‘mormonwoman’

To hear several members’ experiences with the search for truth and finding answers to life’s questions, see this page at mormon.org.

For more about this topic, see the following articles:

Robert D. Hales, “Personal Revelation: The Teachings and Examples of the Prophets,” Liahona, Nov 2007, 86–89

James E. Faust, “Communion with the Holy Spirit,” Liahona, Mar 2002, 3

L. Lionel Kendrick, “Personal Revelation,” Ensign, Sep 1999, 7

Gerald N. Lund, “Is It Revelation?,” New Era, Jul 2004, 44

Visiting Teaching Message: “Receiving Personal Revelation,” Liahona, Sep 2000, 25

Search for more articles at lds.org – suggested topics include: revelation, personal revelation, answer to prayer, divine guidance, Holy Ghost, pure intelligence….

The post <i>Weekly question</i>: On recognizing the Spirit appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

And watch for Monday’s weekly question, which will relate to this topic.

The post <i>Review, Reflect, and Return</i>: Gospel Doctrine lessons on personal revelation appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.