Are You Training Yourself To Hear God Or Ignore Him

A tiny spiritual nudge can feel easy to dismiss, until you realize it might have been the exact help someone needed. I’m Todd, and I’m digging into a principle that has shaped my life: when we act on promptings from the Holy Ghost, we become more able to receive personal revelation. When we postpone, rationalize, or ignore those impressions, we can miss specific blessings and slowly lose spiritual sensitivity, even if we still have full agency to choose.

We connect the dots across General Conference teachings from leaders like Elder David A. Bednar, Elder Richard G. Scott, and President Henry B. Eyring, plus scriptures that teach revelation comes line upon line. We talk about why God rarely gives a full map, why confirmation often comes after we start moving, and why writing down impressions can train your mind and heart to recognize God’s hand more consistently. If you’ve ever thought, “Was that really the Spirit or just me?”, you’ll find practical clarity here.

I also share a personal story about acting on a prompting to make sure a needed blessing happened, along with a candid look at what it feels like to lose light through small choices and how to return to it step by step. In a world full of noise, opinions, and confusion, learning to recognize and act on spiritual promptings is not just inspiring, it’s essential. Listen, then subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review with your biggest question about personal revelation.

Transcript

Welcome Back And Family First

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Welcome to Todd Talks, where I help you design the spiritual life that you desire. This is Todd Talks, Spirit by Design, and I'm Todd. I'm your host. I know it's been over a week since I last recorded an episode. Went to Montana for a wonderful wedding, uh, had a good time with family, saw our new grandbaby in uh Salt Lake. That was awesome. So, family is important. Doing things with family is important. So I took a took a back seat for a couple of days. So hope you'll forgive me. During that time, I had a discussion with one of our kids, and it brought to mind the idea for this this episode, which is really the theme of this entire year, right? So I asked ChatGPT to give me some synopses of different talks from General Conference about are there general conference talks? Are there talks from apostles and prophets that talk about receiving promptings, and if you follow the promptings, you'll receive more promptings. So that's kind of the theme of today. So a recurring

The Yearlong Focus On Promptings

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theme in LDS General Conference is that when we act on promptings that we receive, our ability to receive further revelation increases. I know this for a fact. It has happened in my life. The more that Tiffany and I answer and follow on the promptings that we are given, the more we receive. The Lord often gives light incrementally in obedience to the light that we've already received invites us to receive more light. There are people that believe that the Lord isn't gonna tell us all that we should do, and he's not. He's not going to tell us everything that we should do. But he will prompt us in the direction that he thinks would be best for us, in a direction that will give us blessings. In fact, he guarantees that when we act on the promptings that he gives us, that we are blessed. Elder David A. Bednar uh taught that revelation frequently comes line upon line, and that many members wait for dramatic manifestations while overlooking small impressions. He explained that as we act in faith on spiritual impressions, the Lord gives additional guidance. One of his memorable teachings is that revelation often comes while we are moving forward in faith rather than waiting passively for certainty. To me, that's where where things are real important because we move forward, we step forward in the direction we think we should go. If it feels right, if it feels like that's the direction he's sending us, we step forward and we will be confirmed if it's right. Elder Richard G. Scott said, repeatedly taught, that when an impression comes from the Spirit, we should

Moving Forward Before Full Certainty

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act on it promptly. He said that spiritual impressions are more likely to continue when we honor them, record them, and obey them. Frequently quoted statement from him is When you are living righteously and are acting with trust, God will not let you proceed too far without a warning impression if you have made the wrong decision. He also taught that ignored promptings tend to become less frequent, meaning if you don't act on the promptings that he gives you, the personal revelation he gives you, if you don't act on it and move forward on it, he'll stop. It's not that he'll stop giving it to you, but you'll stop feeling it, you'll stop receiving it. And this is important. You always have agency to choose. You can choose to obey, you can choose to disobey, you can choose to follow it, not follow it. But when you follow the promptings he gives you, he'll prompt more often and he'll give you more personal revelation. It'll become clearer to you. That's the that's the beauty of it. President Henry B. Irene shared his practice of recording spiritual impressions. He testified that as he wrote down and acted upon promptings, he became more aware of God's hand in his life and more receptive to future revelation. His message strongly suggests that gratitude, recording impressions and acting on them increases spiritual sensitivity. This right here is everything that I'm working towards this year to help you increase your spiritual sensitivity, to be able to receive revelation and act on it. Because God doesn't just talk to prophets, He talks to all of us and is willing to guide us in our life today. President Russell M. Nelson taught that in coming days it would not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding influence of the Holy Ghost. He encouraged members to increase their capacity to receive revelation and emphasize that revelation grows as we seek it and respond to it. I've emphasized that so many times in the last several months. There are many scriptures that support these principles.

Record And Obey Impressions Quickly

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Here a little, there a little, we receive line upon line. God's not going to control or guide your entire life, but he is going to nudge you along the path that will bring you the most blessings. Alma 32, 28 to 43 teaches that faith grows as we experiment upon the word and we nourish the seed. Spiritual knowledge increases through action. And Oliver Cowdry in Doctrine Covenants 9, 8, and 9 learned that revelation often comes after we study it out in our minds and then seek confirmation. Promptings, personal revelation, are not merely invitations. They're not merely information, I should say, they are invitations. When God gives a prompting and we act on it, we demonstrate trust. That trust opens the door to additional revelation. Many conference speakers have taught that revelation is less like downloading an entire map and more like receiving the next step on the path. As we take that step, the next one becomes visible. He that receiveth light and continueth in God receiveth more light. That's a beautiful line. And I like thinking of Revelation as light because God's love is light, God's knowledge is light. Everything God does is spoken about as being light. Light obeyed becomes greater light. Ignored light often fades, acted upon light expands. Ignored revelation fades. The ability to recognize it disappears. Acted upon light grows, and you can recognize more easily the promptings of the spirit. So one of the most important doctrines taught in General Conference is that agency applies to revelation. We can receive promptings from the Holy Ghost and still choose not to

Light Grows When You Act

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follow them. Several leaders have taught that ignoring promptings can diminish our spiritual sensitivity and limit future revelation. Thomas S. Monson, President Monson, frequently taught about acting immediately on promptings. He shared numerous experiences where he felt impressed to visit someone, make a phone call, or render service. One of his most quoted statements is never postpone a prompting. His message was clear. Promptings can be ignored, delayed, or acted upon, and blessings are often tied to our response. You know, when I left for work, normally when I'm gonna be gone for a while, I give Tiffany a blessing, especially if she's got a lot going on. And this last time didn't, and as I was um just got busy, had other things, and realized it as as I was uh driving into work, and I got received a prompting to ask another brother in the ward to uh a friend of ours to give her a blessing, and I immediately acted on, sent him a message, and he acted on it and um gave Tiffany a blessing after church, and it was special and spiritual, and it was exactly what she needed. Had I not acted on my prompting, she might not have received the blessing that she needed. Elder Richard G. Scott warned that impressions can fade when they are not acted upon. He taught that writing them down and obeying them demonstrates to the Lord that we value his guidance. He said impressions of the Spirit are very delicate. The implication is that we can choose to disregard them, and doing so affects our ability to recognize future promptings. Elder Henry B. Iring taught that revelation requires both receiving and responding. He explained that God trusts us with additional light when we act on what we have already received. An elder Boyd K. Packard taught that revelation is often quiet enough that it can be ignored. The Lord rarely forces us. We must choose whether to heed the whisperings of the Spirit. Now, when talking about our agency and our ability to choose or ignore, part of our discussion leaned towards the fact that yes, we can choose, and it doesn't mean that that we're wrong. The Lord will still bless us, but what I find is that we

Agency Can Strengthen Or Dull Hearing

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miss out on specific blessings that the Lord either wanted for us or for us to have the opportunity to bless somebody else by not acting on those promptings. So, yes, we have our agency to choose not to act. But when we act on what the Lord gives us, the blessings are that much greater, either for us specifically, or for somebody else that needs that blessing. The Lord works through other people, and sometimes our receiving the revelation to act is specifically to build to bless somebody else, not necessarily us. Dr. Incons 58, 26 to 29, the Lord teaches us that he does not compel his children in all things, for the power is in them, he says, wherein they are agents unto themselves. Even when prompted, we retain our agency. DNC 121.37 says that they may not be able to detect your wickedness in the presence of my people. The broader section teaches that the Spirit can withdraw when agency is misused. And we are taught that no principle or power of the priesthood should be abused. And when we abuse it, we lose the priesthood and power thereof. We lose the ability to bless others, we lose the ability to act in God's name. We lose the ability to receive that revelation when we abuse. Not the power, but the authority that we've been given. In 1 Thessalonians 5.19, it says, quench not the spirit. This is one of the clear scriptural teachings we can that we can resist or suppress spiritual promptings. And in Acts 7.51, Stephen rebuked those who do always resist the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is an

A Prompting To Get A Blessing

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influencer, not like those on social media. He influences us by inviting us, but not compelling us. He speaks in a quiet voice to our heart and our mind. The world is getting more chaotic. AI and all the voices that are teaching a thousand different things are making it harder to tell what is truth from lie. As I already quoted, Russell M. Nelson taught that receiving revelation will be required to get through life and understand truth in these last days. He taught that receiving revelation requires effort and spiritual preparation. Implicit in that teaching is that revelation is not automatic. We can choose to ignore doubt, rationalize, await, or act upon promptings. The Lord honors our agency to so completely that he often allows us to reject his guidance and learn from the consequences. Most disciples do not wake up intending to reject God. Instead, they receive a prompting such as call that person, apologize, give a blessing, read the scriptures, bear your testimony, buy that house, change that habit, serve that neighbor, stop doing that, start doing that. Lots of different things. Turn this way, turn that way. And they think maybe later. A day becomes a week, a week

Don’t Quench The Spirit In Chaos

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becomes a year. And the scriptures and the speakers at General Conference repeatedly teach that the Holy Ghost is not a force that overwhelms agency. The Spirit invites, persuades, nudges, enlightens, and warns, but ultimately we choose whether to listen. That's why President Monson's counsel is so powerful. When he teaches, never postpone a prompting. Because every prompting is also a test of discipleship. When we follow the light we have been given, we qualify for more light. When we ignore it, we risk becoming less sensitive to the very voice we are trying to hear. As the Lord teaches in DNC 5024, again, he that receiveth light and continueth in God receiveth more light. The opposite is also implied. Light neglected does not produce greater light. Why am I so emphatic about this? Why is this my purpose this year? I'm emphatic about this because I have been on the other side where I've lost my light, where I've lost my spirit. From small choices leading to bigger choices leading to not having the spirit with me at all. I felt that void, I felt that darkness. Not a place anyone wants to be in. I was there, I got out of it, came back to the light, line upon line, precept on precept. Now there's a reason that I don't ignore promptings. There's a reason that Tiffany and I act on the promptings that we are given. Even when the Lord tells us to buy a house, when we're not ready to buy a house, even when the Lord tells us to move to a location we

Losing Light Then Returning Line Upon Line

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did not want to move to originally. And you know what? I love it there. I absolutely love it. Tiffany's warming up to it, but we acted. And that is the important part. Like I said, there's a reason that I am so adamant about teaching you to learn to recognize personal revelation and act on it. Because it's important. I hope you learned something. Yes, you have the choice to ignore spiritual promptings. But I hope you don't. The Lord will still bless you. He will give you another route to go on to eventually get to where he wants you to go. But sometimes it's a longer, harder road. And sometimes the blessings are different if you don't act on his original plan. This is Todd Tox. I hope you learn to listen to the Spirit. It's such an important, important topic. Not just listen, but act on it. And I promise you'll receive more and more personal revelation when you do. Have a blessed day.