What is the Holy Ghost? The Bible Dictionary tells us that it is “the third member of the Godhead and, as the name implies, a personage of Spirit, not possessing a body of flesh and bones.” Although this tells us the barebones of what this holy personage is, there is a lot more to it. One important aspect of this holy being is his ability to help us to be the perfect student. In 1 Nephi 10:17 (in the Book of Mormon), Nephi tells us that he “was desirious also that [he] might see, and hear, and know of these things, by the power of the Holy Ghost…” By wanting this, we see that Nephi was the ultimate student. Instead of just having his father just tell him everything, Nephi wanted to pray and know for himself. We see here that he is acting, instead of being acted upon. This makes all the difference. We see throughout the Book of Mormon examples of when his brothers, Lamen and Lemuel are being passive. One time, after Lehi (Nephi’s father) had been preaching to his children, Lamen and Lemuel start arguing about what their father had just said. When Nephi asks them if they’ve asked God for clarification on that subject, they say, in 1 Nephi 15:9 “We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us.” If we choose to be passive about our learning, no progress will be made. We may never learn who our Father in Heaven is and what He can mean to us as individuals.
The Holy Ghost will answer our prayers if we have faith.
In order to be a perfect student, we must act as Nephi did. Whenever he was taught something new by his father, he went off, on his own, and asked God for more information. Every time he asked, he received an answer. Even though we can’t expect answers like he got, with visions of angels or conversations with the Lord, we can know that we will be helped. This is where the Holy Spirit comes in. Because we don’t receive visions as often, the Holy Ghost can help us by giving us a feeling of warmth and love or even a bad feeling. The former feeling will be one of confirmation to let us know that what we are doing is correct or that the question we asked is true. Sometimes, we don’t receive this feeling of confirmation, so we have to take that step forward in faith. The latter feeling is one of deep-rooted discomfort. Most people tend to feel it on the deepest levels of feeling. This usually is for when we are headed towards a dangerous situation of any kind. This could be something that can hurt us physically, emotionally or spiritually.
I’d like to bear my witness that I have been helped by the Holy Ghost in many situations. More often than not, I have felt the love of that God that created me. Sometimes it’s been during critical moments in my personal development or just when something small goes wrong during my day. I am so grateful that I have that constant companion to be with me always. I know that my Father lives and I love him too.
By Anna R.
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