Enhancing Spiritual Communication

Life often confronts us with difficult decisions that cause us to become reliant on spiritual communication with God. Elder Richard G. Scott teaches us how to better enhance our spiritual interaction.

Fast, Pray and Seek. “When I am faced with a very difficult matter, this is how I try to understand what to do. I fast. I pray to find and understand scriptures that will be helpful. That process is cyclical. I start reading a passage of scripture; I ponder what the verse means and pray for inspiration. I then ponder and pray to know if I have captured all the Lord wants me to do. Often more impressions come with increased understanding of doctrine. I have found that pattern to be a good way to learn from the scriptures.”

Avoid Anger. “…yielding to emotions such as anger or hurt or defensiveness will drive away the Holy Ghost. Those emotions must be eliminated, or our chance for receiving revelation is slight.”

Be Careful with Humor. “Another principle is to be cautious with humor. Loud, inappropriate laughter will offend the Spirit. A good sense of humor helps revelation; loud laughter does not. A sense of humor is an escape valve for the pressures of life.”

Use Quiet Speech. “Another enemy to revelation comes from exaggeration or loudness in what is stated. Careful, quiet speech will favor the receipt of revelation.”

Use Good Health Practices. “…spiritual communication can be enhanced by good health practices. Exercise, reasonable amounts of sleep, and good eating habits increase our capacity to receive and understand revelation. We will live for our appointed life span. However, we can improve both the quality of our service and our well-being by making careful, appropriate choices.”

Avoid Distraction. “It is important that our daily activities do not distract us from listening to the Spirit.”

Through improving our spiritual communication with God, we will be better able to make correct decisions and develop a better relationship with Him.

*Quotes taken from Richard G. Scott’s, “How to Obtain Revelation and Inspiration for your Personal Life“, April 2012 General Conference