Be Still, and Know that I Am God

President Ballard wrote recently how he hears the voice of the Lord. He said, “I have learned that we must be still to hear the Lord’s voice. The Lord made it pretty clear when He said, ‘Be still, and know that I am God’ (Psalm 46:10)…. Receiving revelation only comes, at least in my case, when I have those still and quiet moments. I have found I cannot connect with heaven in a mass of clutter. You have to find those quiet moments in your life when you can contemplate the things of the Spirit. In my experience, when I am in that mode and striving to be still, that’s when I get impressions.” This invitation that he quoted from the Lord has been given again in our day by the Savior: “All flesh is in mine hands; be still and know that I am God” (Doctrine and Covenants 101:16). Another psalm similarly invites us: “The Lord will hear when I call unto him. Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still” (Psalm 4:3-4). During His mortal ministry the Savior also rebuked the storm and said, “Peace, be still.” Those few words were obeyed by the storm, and I believe they were likewise meant to be obeyed by us. As we learn to “be still” we can too hear and heed the voice of the Lord. We must learn to be still on the outside and in our hearts so that we can commune with heaven.

               In this article President Ballard also made this comment: “I tell my grandchildren that they should set aside quiet time each day to think about their lives and ponder what the Lord wants them to do.” This is certainly wise advice for all of us, and as I read that I realized that this is something I need to learn to better teach my children. With a house full of small children it seems like there are very few quiet moments, and we are often telling one of them to “sit still” when we are eating or doing a family activity or reading scriptures or just trying to have a little calm our home. Perhaps we need to learn to teach them more conscientiously to not only sit still but to also be still at times so they can hear the voice of the Lord. As I think about how as parents we might do that, I realize that the gospel already has built in these moments if we will take the time to really engage in its practices. In particular, scripture study, prayer, and partaking of the Sacrament are key activities that can be for us moments when we are still and can hear the voice of the Lord. But they will only be so if we can discipline our minds to focus on the right things in these moments. Perhaps the key for teaching children is to help them ask and answer important questions during these activities. When we read scriptures with them we can ask them questions to make sure they understand what they are reading and help them to ponder. We of course cannot force them to be still and contemplative as they read scriptures, but we can guide them to think about what they are reading and ponder what it might mean for them. As we pray with them surely the principle is the same; we can encourage them to think about what they will pray for before they begin and even ask questions to them afterwards to encourage contemplation. With the Sacrament we can do the same, and this opportunity where we have home church is a prime time to do that since we can be a little more verbal with them about what they should be doing as the Sacrament is administered and they have a few minutes to sit and be part of it. Ultimately perhaps the best way to teach them to be still is to work to do so ourselves; as they see us take seriously the words of the scriptures, the time we set aside to pray, and our experience with the Sacrament they will know at least that we are seeking to commune with God in these moments.