Prayer and Learning by the Spirit

[_Jay]

Rockslider.

I don't have an answer for you. In my own case, I know that when I wanted an "answer" to something that I really desired, it was as you said, the heavens turned to brass. It seems that preconceived answers drive the spirit away. It is only when I went in desiring only to know the Lord's will and then willing to do it, that I received direction.

One possibility was that it was the Lord's will to call you to that position, just not the Stake President's.

[_Gunnar]

Rockslider.

I don't have an answer for you. In my own case, I know that when I wanted an "answer" to something that I really desired, it was as you said, the heavens turned to brass. It seems that preconceived answers drive the spirit away. It is only when I went in desiring only to know the Lord's will and then willing to do it, that I received direction.

One possibility was that it was the Lord's will to call you to that position, just not the Stake President's.

Why do you keep denying by far the most obvious and likely probability that "promptings of the spirit" or the Holy Ghost are simply neither reliable nor real?

Do you honestly believe that merely being free of doubt about the source of your promptings is an infallible guarantee that you are right? Do you think the 9-11 terrorists had even the slightest doubt that they were doing the will of God?

[_RockSlider]

Jay,

When the shelves all start collapsing its a very disorienting and painful time. If one were to pray for Jay, would it be that his shelves never collapse or that they might quickly collapse and that Jay might be able to quickly recover from it?

Maybe the answer is individually based, and maybe its universal, I can not tell.

One could only hope for balance, where not too much of life is wasted, as it was in my case.

[_SteelHead]

I prayed Jay. I felt Exu strongly tell my heart and mind that the Book of Mormon is false and Joseph Smith a con man.

What now?

[_Gunnar]

I prayed Jay. I felt Exu strongly tell my heart and mind that the Book of Mormon is false and Joseph Smith a con man.

What now?

LittleNipper claims to have gotten the same result when he prayed about the Book of Mormon, except, of course, Exu was not the God he prayed to. Of course, just because he did not pray to Exu, does not necessarily preclude the possibility that Exu is the one who answered.

[_Bazooka]

If you will use this key when you pray, it will unlock the truth and you will know if the Holy Ghost has spoken to you or if it is any other voice. The test is very simple. When you have prayed and asked God to reveal something to you, and now you hear an answer coming into your mind into your soul, when you have received the answer, ask yourself this question, "Is there any doubt at all in my heart that this might be wrong? Is there even a little tiny flicker of doubt?" If a truth has been testated to you by the Holy Ghost, there is no doubt. If you feel even a flicker of doubt, then you have not received the witness of the Holy Ghost. Now maybe the spirit is revealing to you truth, but until that truth is signed or testated to by the Holy Ghost, you cannot trust. So, some of you, when you receive something you think might be revelation, you say, "Oh, God I have heard these words and I desire now to know if they be true or if they are not true. Please reveal to me by the Holy Ghost whether or not these things be true." You have no way of controlling when the Holy Ghost will speak to you. When it is bearing witness it will always sign its name. It will always testify to the truthfullness of the message it brings. But the important key I want to leave with you is the key that says, "If you still have some doubts, if you are not sure, then you have not heard the Holy ghost." Now do not confuse this with the counterfeit. There is a counterfeit that says, "Since that was something I did not want to hear, I doubt it is right." I have seen many people do that. They only deceive themselves. Anyone else can tell that they really know that it is true. They just do not want to admit it or they do not want to face it. If you are tired of receiving revelation from the Holy Ghost, reject the light that is given to you, or as the scriptures say, "Turn on your light." When you receive revealed truth and you reject it because it was not what you wanted to hear, you offend the spirit, heaven is greived and it will be a long time before the Holy Ghost will ever speak to you again. There is a great responsibility that comes with receiving revealed truth -- responsibility to obey and be true and faithful to the truth that you have received.

If you would live with God again, you must learn how to walk by the Holy Ghost, how to dance in this life, in tune with the wishes and the propmtings of the Almighty God. The only way you can achieve this is through an ability of hearing and feeling the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Make this gift a constant companion. Learn to discern. Never call your selfish desires, counterfeit feelings or Satanic lies a prompting of the Holy Ghost. To say God spoke these things when it was not God, is to offend truth and to have the heavens withdraw from you. Just as you must never deny the witness of the Holy Ghost when it has been given.

Now these are seemingly small simple things, but I say in them is the very power unto salvation. If you would master these things, you would find in them the power unto the attainment of eternal life.

Jay, can you demonstrate how this is a reliable method?
Based on a quick survey of the people on this forum, it can be clearly seen to be demonstrably unreliable.

[_subgenius]

Jay, can you demonstrate how this is a reliable method?
Based on a quick survey of the people on this forum, it can be clearly seen to be demonstrably unreliable.

Here comes the usual cynicism and facetious hair-splitting form Bazooka.(er. Drifting)
Did you not bother to read the OP?

...the writer implied that since spiritual experience could not be validated externally, then they must be figments of human imagination. ...(snip)..I have seen the results of it change lives. I have personally experienced gaining not just a confirmation of something, but new knowledge that was unknown to me previously.

Again, Bazooka denies the truth conveyed in the USA DoI (which is understandable since he may be upset about the thrashing the empire took back in 1776)


For some reason...odd a sit may seem...posters like Bazooka deny "self-evident" when it comes to all things theological...but readily accept "self-evident" when it comes to granting LGBT a marriage license.
Do not be fooled..."reliability" is a term of convenience for Zook and his ilk.

[_Bazooka]

Again, Bazooka denies the truth conveyed in the USA DoI (which is understandable since he may be upset about the thrashing the empire took back in 1776)


For some reason...odd a sit may seem...posters like Bazooka deny "self-evident" when it comes to all things theological...but readily accept "self-evident" when it comes to granting LGBT a marriage license.
Do not be fooled..."reliability" is a term of convenience for Zook and his ilk.

In what conceivable way is the American Declaration of Independence relevant to "Prayer and Learning by the Spirit"?

[_Jay]

Jay, can you demonstrate how this is a reliable method?
Based on a quick survey of the people on this forum, it can be clearly seen to be demonstrably unreliable.

Just because you are not having or have had experiences, does not mean that they have not happened and are happening to others.

Is your vision reliable? To a blind man the descriptions of what you see make little or no sense as they are outside of his experience. But does that make them any less real to you? Your sight allows you to travel with a confidence that the blind man will never know.

Granted we often ignore what we see, or even take it for granted, and in the process we stumble and fall. But that is not to say that sight is unreliable. We simply did not use the gift of sight that was available to us.

Wouldn't it be humerous for a conference of the blind to condemn those that see because of a quick survey of those that were blind?

Can you recognize the voice of your spouse in a crowd? How were you able to, there are so many voices in the crowd? Yet if you heard her tell you that your child was in danger, would you ignore it? The Holy spirit has a identifiable personality that is just as distinct as the voice of your spouse. You can learn to recognize it.

Is learning by the Holy Spirit unreliable? Apparently so, at least for you.

In the case of learning by the Holy Spirit, if we ignore it, it will simply stop. If we don't yearn for it, it will never come. If we aren't willing to live what we are taught, again it won't happen. There are rules that governs how the Holy Spirit operates. If we try to operate outside of those rules, then as you observe, the Holy Spirit won't prompt you, or as you stated it is unreliable.

The prompting of the Holy Spirit is not limited to a simple "yes" or "no". That is only the beginning steps. After we begin to learn the "signature" or the "personality" of the Holy Ghost, we begin to receive much more. There is nothing more amazing that receiving a truth that we didn't even know to ask for a "yes" or "no". When we receive such a truth, it is at a whole new level beyond reliability. We recognize the truth as pure knowledge and truth from God. We also know that we cannot deny it, for not only do we know it, but God knows that we know it.

The good news is that we don't have to remain blind as God has promised that all of his children can receive his truths and directions that they need in their lives and that isn't just true for those that belong to the LDS Church - ALL OF HIS CHILDREN.

I was attracted to this site as it indicated that it's purpose was "Because we all want the truth". Apparently there are at least a few that are instead seeking out justification for their actions. I hope that are at least some who are really seeking out truth and will share what they have found through the Holy Spirit. We all have much to learn.

[_SteelHead]

Jay I talked with Exu today, he told me Yoda's prescience via the force is more reliable than your holy ghost.

What now?