On Keeping the Spirit's Presence In Your Life

I've been thinking about how it can sometimes be hard to feel the Spirit. One thing I have felt is that the more we turn up the noise of the world, the harder it is for us to feel the spirit. I've definitely seen this in my life. And we can be left without hearing the spirit "ere we are aware," almost without even noticing it.

 

The devil is cunning and crafty and he does lead us "carefully down to hell" if we're not diligent. He uses flaxen cords and tells us "well, it's not that bad." He just wants us to spend all of our time and energy doing things that are good, but not better or best. All satan has to do to succeed is keep us from following the promptings of the Spirit. It's easy to think he isn't real. It's easy to just think the church is out of touch. And to be honest, there are a lot of things in the church that we just have to accept on faith, having a firm hope that one day we will be given further light and knowledge. We see through a glass darkly right now. 

Believing and persevering requires faith. It requires sacrifice. It requires diligent effort and prayer. It requires that we "watch ourselves" to make sure we're not slipping and falling away. Satan is real. He is smart. He does know us well. And he wants us to find joy in our works for a season but then become miserable as he is. 

We must be careful and not casual. We must remember to do the small and simple things. Just as small and simple distractions and diversions can make it harder to hear God's voice, so can small and simple acts of faith help us hear it. I've noticed in my life that when I recommit to study the scriptures and pray and set aside time for God, I immediately feel more of the presence of the Spirit in my life. I am then reminded of things I must correct. Making those changes isn't always easy, but we receive help as we earnestly pray. 

"To better hear His voice, it would be wise to turn down the volume control of the worldly noise in our lives. If we ignore or block out the promptings of the Spirit for whatever reason, they become less noticeable until we cannot hear them at all." -Elder Uchtdorf, Waiting on the Road to Damascus 

"If most of the information you get comes from social or other media, your ability to hear the whisperings of the Spirit will be diminished. Make your spiritual foundation firm and able to stand the test of time by doing the things that allow the Holy Ghost to be with you always."

- President Russell M. Nelson, Make Time For the Lord

What are the things that allow the Holy Ghost to be with us always? 

*Remember Christ

*Keep his commandments and the covenants we've made

It is quite simple when it comes down to it. But so often we become slothful because of the easiness of the way. We fail to do the little things. We think we don't need to study the scriptures because we've already studied them all cover to cover multiple times.

Humility is key. If we humbly kneel before our Father and tell him the things we are struggling with and then be open to his guidance, we can be blessed. We will be blessed. Pride is what keeps us from progressing. Selfishness, too.

It's so interesting how two people can hear the exact same talk or read the exact same scripture and get something entirely different. To me, it has to do with how spiritually prepared one is. If we are open to the spirit and humbly seeking instead of having an attitude that we already know it all, we will receive the greater portion of the word. If we harden our hearts, we receive less and less until we "know nothing" concerning the mysteries of God.

ALMA 12:10-11

10 And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the blesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full. 

11 And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell.

Doctrine and Covenants 50:24

24 That which is of God is ^alight; and he that ^breceiveth ^clight, and ^dcontinueth in God, receiveth more ^elight; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day.

2 NEPHI 28:20-32

20 For behold, at that day shall he ^arage in the ^bhearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good.

21 And others will he ^apacify, and lull them away into carnal ^bsecurity, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the ^cdevil ^dcheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.

22 And behold, others he ^aflattereth away, and telleth them there is no ^bhell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none—and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful ^cchains, from whence there is no deliverance.

23 Yea, they are grasped with death, and hell; and death, and hell, and the devil, and all that have been seized therewith must stand before the throne of God, and be ^ajudged according to their works, from whence they must go into the place prepared for them, even a ^blake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment.

24 Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ^aease in Zion!

25 Wo be unto him that crieth: All is well!

26 Yea, wo be unto him that ^ahearkeneth unto the precepts of men, and denieth the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost!

27 Yea, wo be unto him that saith: We have received, and we ^aneed no more!

28 And in fine, wo unto all those who tremble, and are ^aangry because of ^bthe truth of God! For behold, he that is built upon the ^crock ^dreceiveth it with gladness; and he that is built upon a sandy foundation trembleth lest he shall fall.

29 Wo be unto him that shall say: We have received the word of God, and we ^aneed ^bno more of the word of God, for we have enough!

30 For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, ^aprecept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn ^bwisdom; for unto him that ^creceiveth I will give ^dmore; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.

31 Cursed is he that putteth his ^atrust in man, or maketh flesh his arm, or shall hearken unto the ^bprecepts of men, save their precepts shall be given by the power of the Holy Ghost.

32 ^aWo be unto the Gentiles, saith the Lord God of Hosts! For notwithstanding I shall lengthen out mine arm unto them from day to day, they will deny me; nevertheless, I will be merciful unto them, saith the Lord God, if they will repent and ^bcome unto me; for mine ^carm is lengthened out all the day long, saith the Lord God of Hosts.

Mosiah 4:30

30 But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not ^awatch yourselves, and your ^bthoughts, and your ^cwords, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and ^dcontinue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not.

2 Nephi 26:22-23

...and he leadeth them by the neck with a flaxen cord, until he bindeth them with his strong cords forever.

23 For behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you that the Lord God worketh not in ^adarkness.

2 Nephi 9: 39-41

39 O, my beloved brethren, remember the awfulness in ^atransgressing against that Holy God, and also the awfulness of yielding to the enticings of that ^bcunning one. Remember, to be ^ccarnally-minded is ^ddeath, and to be ^espiritually-minded is ^flife ^geternal.

40 O, my beloved brethren, give ear to my words. Remember the greatness of the Holy One of Israel. Do not say that I have spoken hard things against you; for if ye do, ye will ^arevile against the ^btruth; for I have spoken the words of your Maker. I know that the words of truth are ^chard against all ^duncleanness; but the ^erighteous fear them not, for they love the truth and are not shaken.

41 O then, my beloved brethren, ^acome unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the ^bway for man is ^cnarrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the ^dgate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.

Romans 3:23

23 For all have ^asinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Mosiah 3:19

19 For the ^anatural ^bman is an ^cenemy to God, and has been from the ^dfall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he ^eyields to the enticings of the ^fHoly Spirit, and ^gputteth off the ^hnatural man and becometh a ⁱsaint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a ^jchild, ^ksubmissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.

Just wanted to put my thoughts down. These are mainly for me, but if you happen to come across this, I hope it brightens your day. Jesus lives. He loves us. He's our savior. He knows us perfectly. He knows me. He knows you. He knows how hard it is to keep going in the hard world we're living in. He wants to bless us. He wants us to work and struggle and grow and improve. 

Making the decision to Christ is easy, but being a committed disciple day after day requires diligent effort. Turning to Christ and asking him what you can improve can bring about some painful realities when you realize what you need to change. It does take work. It isn't always easy. But we do have the Savior of the world and the Holy Ghost on our side. These powers are real. We just need to humble ourselves, make and keep covenants, and seek them daily.