FEELING THE HOLY GHOST
“I cannot use any language that describes to you what a revelation is. Somebody said, ‘How can I tell if I have had a revelation? I have had a feeling
that such and such is true. How can I be sure?’ Nobody can tell you how to be sure. Revelation is not something that you describe. Revelation is
something that you experience.” (Bruce R. McConkie, “Personal Revelation” address delivered to the Salt Lake Institute of Religion, 22 Jan 1971, p.
7.)
“Even in our day, many people…expect if there be revelation it will come with awe inspiring, earth-shaking display…The burning bushes, the
smoking mountains, the sheets of four-footed beasts, the Cumorahs, and the Kirtlands were realities; but they were the exceptions. The great volume
of revelation came to Moses and to Joseph and comes to today’s prophet in the less spectacular way—that of deep impressions, without spectacle or
glamour or dramatic events. Always expecting the spectacular, many will miss entirely the constant flow of revealed communication” (President
Spencer W. Kimball, in CR Munich Germany Area Conference 1973, pp. 76-77).
“Then when we have a spiritual communication, we can say within ourselves, this is it! This is what is meant by those words in the revelation.
Thereafter, if they are carefully chosen, words are adequate for teaching about spiritual things.
We do not have the words (even the scriptures do not have words) which perfectly describe the spirit. The scriptures generally use the word voice,
which does not exactly fit. These delicate, refined spiritual communications are not seen with our eyes, nor heard with our ears. And even though it is
described as a voice, it is a voice that one feels, more than one hears.
“Once I came to understand this, one verse in the Book of Mormon took on a profound meaning, and my testimony of the book increased
immeasurably. It had to do with Laman and Lemuel, who rebelled against Nephi. Nephi rebuked them and said, ‘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 are past feeling, that ye could not
feel his word’ (1 Nephi 17:45)
“The voice of the Spirit is described in the scripture as being neither ‘loud’ nor ‘harsh.’ It is ‘not a voice of thunder, neither…voice of a great
tumultuous noise.’ But rather, ‘a still voice of perfect mildness, as if it had been a whisper, and it can ‘pierce even to the very soul’ and ‘cause [the
heart] to burn.’ (3 Nephi 11:3; Helaman 5:30; D&C 85:6-7.) Remember, Elijah found the voice of the Lord as not in the wind, nor in the earthquake,
nor in the fire, but was a ‘still small voice.’ (1 Kings 19:12.)
“The Spirit does not get our attention by shouting or shaking us with a heavy hand, rather it whispers. It caresses so gently that if we are preoccupied
we may not feel it at all. (No wonder that the Word of Wisdom was revealed to us, for how could the drunkard or the addict feel such a voice?)
Occasionally it will press just firmly enough for us to pay heed. But most of the time, if we do not heed the gentle feeling, the Spirit will withdraw
and wait until we come seeking and listening and say in our manner and expression, like Samuel of ancient time, ‘Speak [Lord], for thy servant
heareth.’ (1Samuel 3:10.)” (Elder Boyd K. Packer Ensign, Jan 1983, pp. 51-56).
“The great blessing you will receive is to become familiar with the still small voice and learn that this voice will tell you all things that you must do.
The word we use to describe this communication is promptings, the way we feel. These promptings can come many times, through many
experiences. That is the voice of the Lord speaking.
“Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ” (2 Nephi 32:3).
Nephi explained that angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost, and you can speak with the tongue of angels, which simply means that you can
speak with the power of the Holy Ghost. It will be quiet. It will be invisible. There will not be a dove. There will not be cloven tongues of fire. But
the power will be there.” (President Boyd K. Packer, “The Gift of the Holy Ghost: What Every Missionary Should Know—and Every Member As
Well, address given 24 June 2003 for the New Mission Presidents’ Seminar at the Provo Missionary Training Center.)
“The Holy Ghost speaks with a voice that you feel more than you hear. It is described as a ‘still small voice.’ And while we speak of ‘listening’ to the
whisperings of the Spirit, most often one describes a spiritual prompting by saying, ‘I had a feeling…’…
“Revelation comes as words we feel more than hear. Nephi told his wayward brothers, who were visited by an angel, ‘Ye were past feeling, that ye
could not feel his words’” (President Boyd K. Packer, Conference Report, Oct. 1994, 77; or Ensign, Nov. 1994, 60).
“I testify [that the Spirit] is a small voice. It whispers, not shouts. And so you must be very quiet inside. That is why you may wisely fast when you
want to listen. And that is why you will listen best when you feel, ‘Father, thy will, not mine, be done.’ You will have a feeling of ‘I want what you
want.’ Then the still small voice will seem as if it pierces you. It may make your bones to quake. More often it will make your heart burn within you,
again softly, but with a burning which will lift and reassure” (Bishop Henry B. Eyring Conference Report, Apr. 1991, 87-88; or Ensign, May 1991,
67).
“I get concerned when it appears that strong emotion or free-flowing tears are equated with the presence of the Spirit. Certainly the Spirit of the Lord
can bring strong emotional feelings, including tears, but that outward manifestation ought not be confused with the presence of the Spirit itself.
I have watched a great many of my brethren over the years and we have shared some rare and unspeakable spiritual experiences together. Those
experiences have all been different, each special in it own way, and such sacred moments may or may not be accompanied by tears. Very often they
are, but sometimes they are accompanied by total silence. Other times they are accompanied by joy. Always they are accompanied by a great
manifestation of the truth, of revelation to the heart” (President Howard W. Hunter “Eternal Investments,” address given to CES personnel, Salt
Lake City, 10 February 1989, 3, emphasis in original).