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I “Hear Him” by Responding to Promptings

Ronald A. Rasband
Ronald A. Rasband
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
21 Oct 2021 | 5 min read
Ronald A. Rasband was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on October 3, 2015.
How do you #HearHim? Elder Ronald A. Rasband says that we can #HearHim through promptings that we receive while reading the Holy Scriptures.
When I get up in the morning, I go to Heavenly Father in prayer and say, “Heavenly Father, help me today to be responsive to the promptings of Thy Spirit.” That is in my morning prayers.

As I reflect on the ways that I “hear Him,” I recall learning to hear the voice of the Lord very early in my life. I was brought up by wonderful parents, and they taught me the importance of the scriptures at an early age. From my childhood and youth, through my mission, and through life, I have been very oriented toward trying to feel the Spirit directing me. The ways that I hear the Spirit of the Lord best in my life are by reading the scriptures and following His promptings. Here are some specific instances of how I hear Him in my life.

My Mother Taught Me to Hear Him through the Scriptures

My mother was a saintly person and taught me how to listen for the promptings of the Holy Ghost. By the time I came around, she had had a lot of life experiences. Those life experiences led her to focus intensely on me as her last child. I remember she would teach me at her knee, and there was this little warm spot in front of the heater vent in our living room where she would take me. As we would sit there, she would tell me Old Testament stories. That is how I learned to recognize the Spirit. She would take different scripture stories and explain them to me, and then she would apply them to my life.

I Hear Him through Purposeful Direction

As evident from my upbringing, recognizing the Spirit does not happen randomly. When I go to bed at night, if I have something on my mind that may impact my Church work the next day, or if I am thinking about one of my children, grandchildren, or friends, I feel purposeful direction. Often I just feel a prompting; for instance, I will feel the need to go here, do this, do that, say this, say that. Other times I will feel words. I relate to Nephi in the Book of Mormon when he says to his brothers that they were “past feeling, that [they] could not feel” the words of the Lord (1 Nephi 17:45). For me the voice of the Spirit is a feeling that is manifest in a direction.

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that if you will listen to the first promptings, you will get it right nine times out of ten.1 I learned early in my life that if you follow those first promptings, you are generally going to be directed by the Holy Ghost.

I Hear Him by Being Responsive to Promptings

In recent years I have experienced the feeling of being prompted in the middle of a conversation, and then I just go with it. I try to be that responsive to the Holy Ghost, and I believe that it impacts me in every area of my life. When I get up in the morning, I go to Heavenly Father in prayer and say, “Heavenly Father, help me today to be responsive to the promptings of Thy Spirit.” That is in every morning prayer for me.

Whether it be in a Church assignment, with a family member, or in any context, I try to just be responsive to the Spirit. Being responsive to the Holy Ghost requires some careful habits on our part. Some of the television programs we watch and advertisements we see these days can be offensive to the Holy Ghost. The outside influences we let into our spirit can impact our ability to be responsive to the Holy Ghost.

I Learned to Hear Him through My Mission Call to New York

When I was 19, I had been anxiously awaiting my mission call. My father, brother, and brother-in-law had gone on a mission to Germany, and I wanted to go to Germany on my mission as well. I remember the day that I walked out to our mailbox, and there was my mission letter. I did not wait for a big celebration or party like they do now—I just opened the letter. My parents were not even home at the time.

I read: “Elder Ronald A. Rasband, you are hereby called to serve as a missionary in the Eastern States Mission, headquartered in New York City, New York.” And I remember saying, “No! I’m supposed to go to Germany!” I was disappointed. I went in the house with that letter in hand, and I knew that I was going to have to see my parents soon. So I said to myself, “I had better get a better attitude about this, and I’d better get it quick.”

I went into my bedroom, and I picked up the Doctrine and Covenants. For some reason that day, I turned exactly to the 100th section of the Doctrine and Covenants, and I began reading: “Behold, and lo, I have much people in this place, in the regions round about; and an effectual door shall be opened in the regions round about in this eastern land. Therefore, I, the Lord, have suffered you to come unto this place; for thus it was expedient in me for the salvation of souls” (Doctrine and Covenants 100:3–4).

Immediately my attitude changed about not being called to be a German missionary. By the time my parents got home, I knew, by revelation through this scripture, that the Eastern States Mission was where the Lord wanted me to go.

I Heard Him as a Mission President

In addition to being called as a missionary to New York, I was blessed to serve as a mission president there. While serving in that calling, I received news that Elder Neal A. Maxwell was coming to New York City. As I began to make plans for an all-mission conference in Manhattan, I wondered who I would get to say the opening prayer for the meeting. I got out my mission roster and prayed, saying, “Heavenly Father, help me to know which of these missionaries you would have offer this opening prayer.”

During my regular round of interviews, I spoke with an elder named Elder Joseph Appiah. I said, “Elder, I have a question to ask you. I have been praying to know who, of all our missionaries, should pray in the devotional with Elder Neal A. Maxwell, and your name has come into my mind. I would like to invite you to offer the opening prayer in the devotional.”

Elder Appiah began to weep and said, “President, there is no missionary in this mission that would be more honored to pray with Elder Maxwell than me, and let me tell you why. Elder Maxwell was the Apostle who began the work of the Church in my native country of Ghana. He called my father, Thomas Appiah, to be the district president of the Accra Ghana District. And just eight years ago, Elder Maxwell sealed my parents in the Salt Lake Temple.”

I had no idea about the Ghana connection to his father or the temple connection to his family. All I knew is that when I looked at that roster of missionaries, Elder Appiah’s name stood out almost like it was in neon lights to me. That day of the devotional, Elder Appiah offered the opening prayer, and Elder Maxwell got out of his chair and went up to the pulpit and embraced him.

I will never forget following that prompting, being directed to a missionary, and having that experience with an Apostle of the Lord. The Lord knows each one of His children. That is exemplified in the ministry of Jesus Christ. In the Book of Mormon, Jesus Christ ministers to the people one by one. I believe that is a wonderful lesson for all of us to remember: that even in huge populations, congregations, or families, the Lord Jesus Christ ministers to us one by one.

Note

1. See Truman G. Madsen, Joseph Smith the Prophet (1989), 103.


Ronald A. Rasband
Ronald A. Rasband
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
21 Oct 2021 | 5 min read
Ronald A. Rasband was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on October 3, 2015.

Comments

35
Jefferson S.
21 Nov 2021
I realize that is a big thing to combine scripture along with asking my Heavenly Father to help me feel the Spirit. At first I wondered how will I know it is the Holy Spirit or my own thinking, or even a different spirit but I realized I did have a starting point to learn to recognize that. I already knew some things, like how to be a loving person. I started focusing on how I feel when I ponder those things and it was the same feeling I get if there is another prompting to do something that I would not have known. The more I follow that, the more familiar I am with how to know what the Spirit is telling me to do as it comes to mind.
Aniema E.
18 Nov 2021
We can hear Him through Sincere prayers, We can hear Him through Scriptures study, We can hear him through the prompting of the Holy ghost ( that's why it's very important for us to listen to the the prompting of the holy ghost whenever we are praying or studying our scriptures, that still small voice that will speak to us at that very moment.
Aniema E.
13 Nov 2021
I learnt that we can hear Him through prayers and personal revelations. So it's very important for us to listen to the promptings of the Holy ghost whenever we are praying or studying our Scriptures for guidance in everything we are doing in life, so that we can have directions in life. Whenever we are studying our Scriptures, it's very important for us to ponder over what we have studied over again so that we hear Him through the promptings of the Holy ghost ( That's the still small voice that will speak to us at that moment
MARIO C.
28 Oct 2021
J.C.
MARIO C.
28 Oct 2021
i enjoyed the safety lessons provided from thea apostles i think they are very wonderful and i feel safe around them instructed by the lord appropriatedly.
Shaun S.
27 Oct 2021
Such a great reminder. This reminded me of the stinging wake-up call I experienced with President Monson shared Mr. Whittier's words: "For all sad words of tongue and pen, The saddest are these, 'It might have been'."
Madonna C.
27 Oct 2021
Thank you Elder Rasband for the additional light on the importance of always seeking after the Holy Ghost and heeding to His first promptings. I have had a lot of experiences that also strengthened my faith and testimony of how the Spirit of the Lord works and how essential it is to always pray for The Hoy Ghost in every moment of our live. I cannot imagine living a life without Him and without access to The Lord's divine inspirations. The Holy Ghost as a gift is really one of the greatest sacred endowments ever bestowed upon as covenant people.
Katie A.
26 Oct 2021
Sometimes I have a thought to reach out to someone, and almost immediately after I counter that with another thought that they're probably busy, or they wouldn't care to hear form me. Reading this post has encouraged me so much to follow promptings at the first moment we receive them. In fact, during the course of reading this short post, I followed two such promptings! Thank you Elder Rasband!
Daniel K.
26 Oct 2021
Yes this is a true revelation, Promptings of the Holy Ghost is very important in our life. Thank you Elder Rasband.
Charles H.
26 Oct 2021
I loved the story of Elder Appiah. It was a teaching moment for me to continue to strive to be closer to Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ so that I can "Hear Him" and act on the promptings of the Holy Ghost.