Hearing the voice of the Lord

While studying the first Book of Samuel these past two weeks, the story that left the biggest impression on me was Samuel's call to be a prophet (Chapter 3). Samuel's story helps us understand some ways that will prepare us to hear the voice of the Lord.

• Spend time in sacred places-when the Lord spoke to Samuel, he was in the temple. Pres. Nelson has said "I promise that as you increase your time in the temple...you will increase and improve your ability to hear Him." (Hear Him). Other sacred places can be in our homes, churches, and even in nature.
• Quiet time-the voice of the Lord spoke to Samuel in the middle of the night, a time when it's quiet and there are no distractions. If we're going to be able to hear the still, small voice of the Lord (1 Nephi 17:25) then we need to create quiet times/spaces in our lives that are conducive to hearing His voice.
• Follow counsel of leaders-at first, Samuel doesn't recognize it’s the Lord’s voice speaking to him, so he asks Eli for help (his parent figure/priesthood leader). We need to pay attention to the words of our leaders. Pres. Nelson has said "we hear Him as we heed the words of prophets, seers, and revelators." (Hear Him)

President Nelson has said “It has never been more imperative to know how the Spirit speaks to you than right now.” (Hear Him) As we try to follow the counsel of our prophet, we can look to Samuel’s story as an example of ways to help us create an environment where we can more easily hear the voice of the Lord.