Excerpt from: Following the Light of Christ into His Presence, by John Pontius (pages
36-40)
The Voices
It is one thing to say we must follow the voice of our conscience, which is the voice
of the Lord within us. It is quite another to be able to clearly distinguish it from
the other voices we hear. Toward that end, let us cast some light upon the other
voices. Elder James E. Faust had this to say about the voices we hear:
"But we hear other voices. Paul said, 'There are... so many kinds of voices in the
world...' (1 Cor. 14:10) that compete with the voice of the Spirit. Such is the situation
in the world." (Faust, "Voice of the Spirit," 7; ellipses in original.)
There are three main sources of voices in a healthy mind. The first is the voice
of your own mind. You hear yourself think. You talk with yourself, discuss things
with yourself, argue with yourself, berate, praise, and jabber with yourself all
day long. This voice is distinguishable because it is unsure, or in other words,
it questions things, and is seldom definite or decisive. It almost always asks questions.
"What was that? Who said that? Why did you say that? What does it mean? Do you suppose?
What would happen if? I wonder?" Even when it is emphatic, it leaves open the possibility
of change. "I'm definitely going to bed now--Okay?" "I'm going to town--if the car
will start." You will notice that this voice usually takes the personal case; "I
think I should fast today." The Holy Spirit would have said, "Fast today."
The second voice comes from Satan's realm. It is unlikely that we receive much attention
from the king of that kingdom personally. Rather, we deal with his minions, his messengers,
and tempters. These beings have been in the business of tempting mankind as long
as the earth has existed, perhaps longer. They are undoubtedly very skilled and highly
motivated. Each have probably tempted thousands of people like ourselves. They have
spent thousands of years of intimate contact with mortals. They have much more experience
with tempting mortals to sin than we could possibly have in resisting it. They know
the subtleties and tricks necessary to entice and trick us into failing. They undoubtedly
specialize in their work, meaning that certain of them specialize in anger, marital
infidelity, family disharmony, murder, drugs, illness, depression, hate, or a million
other maladies, sins, and vices. Once successful, they linger year after year with
those they afflict.
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. There is
real intelligence in the message, and malice aforethought. They plan and plot against
us, and their messages are carefully chosen.
"The adversary tries to smother this voice [of the Holy Spirit] with a multitude
of loud, persistent, persuasive, and appealing voices: murmuring voices, conjuring
up perceived injustices; whining voices, abhorring challenge and work; seductive
voices, offering sensual enticements; soothing voices, lulling us into carnal security;
intellectual voices, professing sophistication and superiority; proud voices, relying
on the arm of the flesh; flattering voices, puffing us up with pride; cynical voices,
destroying hope; entertaining voices, promoting pleasure seeking; commercial voices,
tempting us to 'spend money for that which is of no worth' and our 'labor for that
which cannot satisfy...' (2 Nephi 9:51), and delirious voices, spawning the desire
for a 'high'... [which is] death-defying experiences for nothing more than a thrill."
(Faust, "Voice of the Spirit," 7.)
A prompting from this source will nearly always be stated as an absolute. "Don't
let him get away with that. I'm too tired to pray. You deserve better. Pay him back.
No one will notice. It should be yours anyway--just take it. She's your wife--not
your mother. Football only happens once a year, the church can get along without
you for one Sunday. She wants you--it's only natural. He loves you more than your
husband, how can you not love him back?"
These promptings will always lead us away from the truth. They prompt us to disobey,
not to pray, to abandon church assignments and family responsibilities, to commit
sin and walk in forbidden paths. They do not limit themselves to voices alone. They
can draw from the trash stores in our minds to dredge up memories which will either
lure us away from purity and virtue, or keep our minds harrowed up with vivid memories
of our sins--even after we have repented of them.
The evil ones cannot read our minds or hear our silent prayers. It seems they hear
what the Holy Spirit says to us, for they respond immediately. When the Holy Spirit
prompts, "Say your prayer," you immediately hear, "Don't say prayers, you're too
tired."
"Yea, I tell thee, that thou mayest know that there is none else save God that knowest
thy thoughts and the intents of thy heart." (D&C 6:16.)
They cannot force us to do anything, unless we yield to them, and value our inability
to see them. They can tell when a temptation excites or repels us. They are most
successful in half-light, half-truths, and half-hearted people. Their tools are limited,
but they use what they have with great effect. They have destroyed millions of souls,
and you are simply the next on their list. They are confident, efficient, successful,
and they hate us with unimaginable intensity. From their perspective, they are engaged
in an all-out war against us. Our perspective barely includes a realization they
exist, and certainly no thought of an all-out war against us. It is no wonder they
win so frequently. Yielding to the enticings of Satan's minions will have the opposite
effect of yielding to the enticings of the Holy Spirit. Any time we receive a prompting
to do wrong, or disobey, it comes from Satan's realm.
One of their weaknesses is that they can rarely voice just one lie. While the Holy
Spirit generally prompts us only once, the tempters often voice many objections to
each prompting. The Holy Spirit may prompt us to call everyone to family prayers.
Thereafter, the evil ones suggest many reasons why we should not obey. "Everyone
is tired. They will complain. You don't feel like it. The wife is already in bed.
It's late. It's useless. You can do it tomorrow." 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. It begins as the conscience, the light of Christ, and is a free gift.
In its most rudimentary stages it is a quiet urging to choose right, to abandon wrong
choices, and to seek greater truth. This voice grows in content and quality as one
heeds it direction until it becomes a significant guide, and measure of truth. Following
baptism and the bestowal of the gift of the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit assumes greater
power and authority, and though remaining still a still small voice it becomes a
comfort, guide, and source of great strength as we learn to obey it.
This voice always entices to do good, to believe, serve, pray, and repent. It nearly
always prompts contrary to where you were headed. If you were lying under the car
Sunday morning, it would tell you to go to church. If you were already on your way
to church, it would prompt nothing, but would give a feeling of comfort and satisfaction.
The voice of the conscience is easy to recognize, because it is the only one of the
three which prompts to do good. These promptings come as absolute statements. The
Holy Spirit would say, "Fast today." Your mind would have said, "I wonder if I should
fast today," or "Perhaps I should fast." Any time you have a prompting to do good,
it has come from God.
We have been talking a lot about promptings. Perhaps even the term needs clarification.
A prompting is information which originates outside one's mind. The Holy Spirit prompts
to do good, the devil prompts to do evil. Our minds consider and analyze the promptings,
and make decisions concerning them. These promptings all appear, and sound, exactly
like our own thoughts. The only way to differentiate between them is the way we have
already discussed. Good comes from God. Evil comes from the adversary. Questions
and analysis come from within. It really is just that simple.
