From Elder Henry B. Eyring book: ‘To Draw Closer to God’, under the title “Listen Together”.:
To me the best directions on how to get the help of the Holy Ghost, directions that I have tested and know to be true, were given by President Marion G. Romney. I will give you his instructions in his own words. Then together let us see if we can figure out how we can work to prepare for that Sunday School teacher or quorum leader or sacrament meeting speaker to whom we will listen next Sunday.
Here are President Romney’s instructions: “If you want to obtain and keep the guidance of the Spirit, you can do so by following this simple four-point program. One, pray. Pray diligently. Pray with each other. Pray in public in the proper places. . . . Learn to talk to the Lord; call upon his name in great faith and confidence. Second, study and learn the gospel. Third, live righteously; repent of your sins by confessing them and forsaking them. Then conform to the teachings of the gospel. Fourth, give service in the Church.” And then President Romney concludes in this way: “If you will do these things, you will get the guidance of the Holy Spirit and you will go through this world successfully, regardless of what the people of the world say and do.” (“Guidance of the Holy Spirit,” Ensign, January 1980, p. 5; emphasis added)
That four point program makes no distinction between the moments we seek the Spirit when we are alone in our scripture reading and those moments when we are listening to a human being. I bear testimony that it works in both settings. It takes effort sometimes when the words come from people than from the gilt-edged pages of scripture with which you have had long and sacred experience, but it can be done. Let us see how we might make that effort.
Pray Diligently. President Romney began by saying: “Pray. Pray diligently. Pray with each other. Pray in public in the proper places. Learn to talk to he Lord; call upon his name in great faith and confidence.”
You might find a moment tonight to get in the proper place, perhaps alone, where you can pour out your heart. Among the things you will pray about, you might ask for a blessing on those who will teach you next Sunday. Try to visualize where you will be and who will teach you.
. . . . I pray for the speakers. I won’t know all their names. They may be frightened . . . I will pray for them with faith and with confidence. I will talk to God about them and tell him how much I desire to teach me through them, And I know that I will be taught things that neither education nor experience nor the previous teaching I have received has ever provided me. From those people I will be taught things of which I will be able to bear testimony.
You may not know who your Sunday School teacher or quorum or Relief Society teacher will be next Sunday, so you may not know their names either, but you can do the same thing. You can pray specifically that the Holy Ghost will come to them as they prepare to teach and again as you sit at their feet to listen. ~ President Henry B. Eyring, To Draw Closer To God, (Salt Lake City, Deseret Book, 1997) p.14-16
