Following the Voice of the Lord

It seems that if I want to go to sleep tonight I need to get these thoughts down...

I am reading the book "Following the Light of Christ Into His Presence" by John Pontius.  The chapter I am reading is all about recognizing the different voices in our head and where they come from so that we can learn to recognize the voice of the Lord and obey.

There are generally three main sources of voices in a healthy mind.  One is our own voice.  "it questions things, and is seldom definite or decisive.  It almost always asks questions. 'What was that? Who said that? What does it mean?'"

"The second voice comes from Satan's realm....When we hear a voice from this source, it will be cleverly disguised and enticing.  It will appeal to the natural, carnal, sensual, and devilish side of us....A prompting from this source will nearly always be stated as an absolute.  'You're too tired to pray.  You deserve better.  No one will notice.'  These promptings will always lead us away from the truth...The evil ones cannot read our minds or hear our silent prayers (Doctrine and Covenants 6:16).  Yet it seems they hear what the Holy Spirit says to us, for they respond immediately.  When the Holy Spirit prompts, "Say your prayers," you immediately hear something like, "Don't say prayers, you're too tired."

"While the Holy Spirit generally prompts us only once, the tempters often voice many objections to each prompting....This is actually one of the ways we may discern the voices.  The Holy Spirit whispers truth, and thereafter, the opposition tirades against it."

"The third source of information in our minds is the voice of the Lord through the Holy Spirit...In its most rudimentary stages it is a quiet urging to choose the right, to abandon wrong choices, and to seek greater truth....This voice always entices us to do good, to believe, serve, pray and repent."

I LOVE how John Pontius summerizes the three voices!  "Good comes from God.  Evil comes from the adversary.  Questions and analysis come from within.  It really is just that simple."

I hope this little tidbit will be helpful to others in recognizing and following the voice of the Lord.  The only way we will survive the things that will happen in these last days is if we have taken the Holy Spirit for our guide so we are not deceived.  May we all learn to listen and OBEY!

Kristi