Acquiring the Gift of the Holy Ghost and Being Born Again

Joseph Smith proclaimed, "Being born again comes by the Spirit of God through ordinances." (History of the Church, 3:392; from a discourse given by Joseph Smith about July 1839 in Commerce, Illinois; reported by Willard Richards.) Temple attendance can increase ones spirituality and draw one closer to the Savior through the gift of the Holy Ghost. We are to be worthy and seek after these gifts.

Luke 11: 13 tells us that to obtain the Holy Ghost in our lives we need to ask.
"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him."

Elder Henry B. Eyring

"The foundation is a burning desire to qualify for that gift. Most of us who are members of the restored Church have enough faith to want the Holy Ghost at times. That desire may be weak and intermittent, but it comes, usually when we are in trouble. For us to be led upward to safety in the times ahead, it must become steady and intense.
The problem for most human beings is that when things go well, we feel self-sufficient. You remember the warning:
"And others will he pacify, [again speaking of Satan] and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well -- and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell" (2 Nephi 28:21).
And later comes the warning:
"Cursed is he that putteth his trust in man, or maketh flesh his arm, or shall hearken unto the precepts of men, save their precepts shall be given by the power of the Holy Ghost" (2 Nephi 28:31)."

So we need to have a burning desire to have the Holy Ghost as a constant companion and we need to actively seek and ask for this gift. The scripture declares in 2 Nephi 32: 3-5:
“Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.
Wherefore, now after I have spoken these words, if ye cannot understand them it will be because ye ask not, neither do ye knock; wherefore, ye are not brought into the light, but must perish in the dark.
For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do.”

As LDS we talk about the Burning in the Bosom… "Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me. But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right. But if it be not right you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor of thought that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong..." (D&C 9:7–9)

We have all heard from our critics concerning the Holy Ghost and the “Burning in the bosom!” There are those who believe that we should NOT trust our feelings or the way in which Holy Spirit operates in our lives to understand the things of God. Secularism is on the rise in the U.S. and we see many Christian Churches losing members.  More and more are becoming atheists and ungodly.
These non believers demand that, "the things that one believes about the world and the universe in which we live should be based on reproducible physical evidence interpreted with logic and reason, and not subjective feelings such as a “burning in the bosom.” They believe that decisions based on emotion instead of fact seldom benefit anyone and that the failure to recognize relevant facts is an attribute of magical thinking. They believe that a worldview based mainly on “burning bosom” decision making, evidence seen with “spiritual eyes,” or the expectation of supernatural intervention, must be considered at least naïve and irresponsible. And at its worst, magical thinking can be dangerous and even fatal to the decision-maker and others (sometimes many others)".

Unlike the critics, LDS believe in the witness of the Holy Spirit and the "burning in the bosom" as part of gaining knowledge and truth. LDS scholar Blake Ostler in an interview addressed these views and gives some amazing insight in answer to the Mormon detractors…..he tells us:

"So...would it be realistic to say that you think religion deals more with the emotions as opposed to reality of science, dealing with facts and what is out there for real?"
"Well, I think that's too reductive."
"What science demonstrates is...without emotion we can't make choices...we can't even think rationally without feelings...they go hand in hand. Rationality requires feelings....rationality requires emotion." Antonio Damasio and Oliver Sacks, world-renowned neural physiologists have demonstrated this with their patients..
"For instance they had a group of people who had some brain damage in an area that effects their emotion to intertwine their emotional states with their cognitive states. They couldn't make any decisions. They were completely incapable of decision making. The reality is without their emotions, without their feelings they have or we have no way of evaluating what's better and what's not. Or in making any decisions at all."

In his Oct. 2009 conference address, “To Acquire Spiritual Guidance,” Elder Richard G. Scott tells us:

“Impressions of the Spirit can come in response to urgent prayer or unsolicited when needed. Sometimes the Lord reveals truth to you when you are not actively seeking it, such as when you are in danger and do not know it. However, the Lord will not force you to learn. You must exercise your agency to authorize the Spirit to teach you. As you make this a practice in your life, you will be more perceptive to the feelings that come with spiritual guidance. Then, when that guidance comes, sometimes when you least expect it, you will recognize it more easily.”

We are admonished to read the scriptures daily…feast upon the words of Christ to gain an enduring testimony and the become more spiritual.

President Henry B. Eyring

"Just as pondering the scriptures invites the companionship of the Holy Ghost, so does doing the things we have been told to do and doing them promptly. We are promised that the scriptures and the Holy Ghost will tell us all things that we should do. When we go and do what we have been told and do it the best we can, we qualify for more instructions of what to do. If we do not act, we will not receive further instructions."

President Henry B. Eyring

"Now, there is a wonderful way in which all the things about which we have spoken work together. Desire for the Holy Ghost leads us to the prayer of faith. Pondering the words of the Savior in the scriptures increases our capacity to recognize the voice of the Spirit. The Spirit and the words of Christ tell us all things that we must do. And as we do those things, we qualify for further inspiration by the Spirit. And, in time, that companionship of the Holy Ghost changes us. We feel the effects of the Atonement. Our desire for light increases, and so we pray with greater faith that our prayers will be answered. The scriptures open up to us more clearly, our power to obey becomes greater, and we are drawn ever upward, higher and higher, toward purity and happiness and eternal safety." (see 3 Nephi 27:20; Alma 19:33; 3 Nephi 9:20).

Prayer is so very important:

“And it came to pass that when Ammon arose he also administered unto them, and also did all the servants of Lamoni; and they did all declare unto the people the selfsame thing—that their hearts had been changed; that they had no more desire to do evil.” (Alma 19: 33)

As we gain the guidance of the Holy Spirit we become “born again” or “born of the spirit” “a new creature”

“And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost, even as the Lamanites, because of their faith in me at the time of their conversion, were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not.” (3 Ne. 9: 20)

Concerning the Last Days and Standing in Holy Places President Henry B. Eyring reminds us that,“fear shall come upon all people, but you and I know that the Lord has prepared places of safety to which He is eager to guide us.”

President Ezra Taft Benson

You will live in the midst of economic, political and spiritual instability. When you see these signs—unmistakable evidences that His coming is nigh—be not troubled, but, “stand … in holy places, and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come” (D&C 87:8). Holy men stand in holy places and these holy places include our temples, our chapels, our homes, and the stakes of Zion, which are, as the Lord declares, “for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm, and from wrath when it shall be poured out without mixture upon the whole earth” (D&C 115:6).
Heed the Lord’s counsel to the Saints of this dispensation: “Prepare yourselves for the great day of the Lord” (D&C 133:10).
This preparation must consist of more than just casual membership in the Church. You must learn to be guided by personal revelation and the counsel of the living prophet so you will not be deceived. Our Lord has indicated who, among Church members, will stand when He appears:
“And at that day, when I shall come in my glory, shall the parable be fulfilled which I spake concerning the ten virgins.
“For they that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived—verily I say unto you, they shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but shall abide the day.
“And the earth shall be given unto them for an inheritance; and they shall multiply and wax strong, and their children shall grow up without sin unto salvation.
“For the Lord shall be in their midst, and his glory shall be upon them, and he will be their king and their lawgiver.” (D&C 45:56–59; italics added.)

We all know that the oil in the wise virgins’ lamps was spirituality and it is something that cannot be shared but only cultivated on our own only through a personal relationship with the Savior and living by the gift of the Holy Spirit.

President Eyring tells us,

"As the challenges around us increase, we must commit to do more to qualify for the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Casual prayer won't be enough. Reading a few verses of the scripture won't be enough. Doing the minimum of what the Lord asks of us won't be enough. Hoping that we will have the Atonement work in our lives and that we will perhaps sometimes feel the influence of the Holy Ghost won't be enough. And one great burst of effort won't be enough. Only a steady, ever-increasing effort will allow the Lord to take us to higher ground."

Elder Richard G. Scott tells us:

"I am convinced that there is no simple formula or technique that would immediately allow you to master the ability to be guided by the voice of the Spirit. Our Father expects you to learn how to obtain that divine help by exercising faith in Him and His Holy Son, Father in Heaven knew that you would face challenges and be required to make some decisions that would be beyond your own ability to decide correctly. In His plan of happiness, He included a provision for you to receive help with such challenges and decisions during your mortal life. That assistance will come to you through the Holy Ghost as spiritual guidance. It is a power, beyond your own capability, that a loving Heavenly Father wants you to use consistently for your peace and happiness.

President John Taylor wrote:

“Joseph Smith, upwards of forty years ago, said to me: ‘Brother Taylor, you have received the Holy Ghost. Now follow the influence of that Spirit, and it will lead you into all truth, until by and by, it will become in you a principle of revelation.’ Then he told me never to arise in the morning without bowing before the Lord, and dedicating myself to him during that day.”

May we all seek not only to keep the Sabbath day Holy but also strive to have the Holy Spirit as a constant companion and make every day Holy by dedicating it each morning to the Lord.

"That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day" (D&C 50:24)