Is it from God, Satan, or me?


Chrissy3818
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I've always had trouble telling when something is from God because I always fear it will either be from me or Satan and I want to follow God so badly. Anyways let me explain.

Last night I prayed about something and then I read my patriarchal blessing (hoping to see if it could aid me in my answer). Nearing the end of reading it (I am going to do a terrible job explaining) my muscle got stiff almost like I was frozen in the position I was in (I couldn't move that easily). so I just sat there holding my blessing and prayed. Then my heart God warm and I was filled with Joy? I don't know, I was just warm and my heart was warm almost hot like. (even sitting here typing this I am shaking).

My question is how do I tell who my answer came from. I talked to a friend about my experience and she thinks it came from God. But i have ascendancy to doubt and have other thought flooding through my mind that contradict the answer I got.

Also could it have anything to do with antidepressants I am taking? Could that affect me getting the real answer? Yes I do want the answer to be a yes, I got a yes. But I really wanted to know, if it was a yes from God and now today, as of now. I keep having thoughts flood in my head that its wrong and it can't be yes.

(This is why I am so lost on knowing if the LDS church is true or not. I am always unsure)

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Doctrine and Covenants 9: 8-9

8 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 eburn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right.

9 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; therefore, you cannot write that which is sacred save it be given you from me.

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Doctrine and Covenants 9: 8-9

8 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 eburn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right.

9 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; therefore, you cannot write that which is sacred save it be given you from me.

Okay, I get that somewhat. Scripture is sometimes hard for me to understand

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Then my heart God warm and I was filled with Joy? I don't know, I was just warm and my heart was warm almost hot like. (even sitting here typing this I am shaking).

Satan can't give you joy or peace.

Then How do I tell when it is from God? This is kind of why I stopped asking God questions for a while.

You said you felt joy. If Satan can't give you joy, then the alternative is that the feeling came from God.

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You said you felt joy. If Satan can't give you joy, then the alternative is that the feeling came from God.

Oh sorry I though you said he can not can't. I always thought he could make you feel the same, but if he can't I know you can inter fear with Gods answer. I think the answer came from God, but I am afraid if it didn't then I am not following God. I want to follow God and that night when I prayed I truly wanted to know and I would except the answer even if it was a no. I knew if it was a no it would just take some time, but then everything would ba all right.

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my muscle got stiff almost like I was frozen in the position I was in (I couldn't move that easily). so I just sat there holding my blessing and prayed. Then my heart God warm and I was filled with Joy? I don't know, I was just warm and my heart was warm almost hot like.

But couldn't I also affect it? I am not sure if I could create such an experience like this ^^^ But I don't know. I am afraid to be wrong and in this case, follow my own wants over what God wants for me.

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The only way you're going to reconcile this is to trust that the scriptures are telling you the truth, and act on those good feelings. As you do that you'll get more and more confident in those feelings, you'll recognize them better, and as Heavenly Father sees that you will listen to Him, He will communicate with you even more. But if you keep letting your fear overshadow your faith, you're not going to get anywhere. You're allowing yourself to be paralyzed by doubt and fear. God is giving you a clear answer as far as I can see, but you're talking yourself out of it.

It's called a "leap of faith" for a reason. And you have to exercise that faith, test it out, before you know anything.

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From the description of "warmth" you described, it sounded like your experience was from God. Light (as in the "light of truth", see D&C 84:45) is connected with the physical feeling of warmth, like when the sun's rays warm your skin. Most importantly, any manifestation from God always contains a manifestation of "truth"- you would do well to ponder that moment and ask yourself if there were any thoughts presented to your mind, fully formed, that answered your question(s). By paying close attention, you can become more in tune with the Spirit through learning to recognize the thoughts it presents to your mind and the feelings it gives to your heart (in addition to what mdfxdb said, I would present D&C 8:2 as a guidepost to learning how to to recognize revelation).

Ultimately, if you truly wish to seek the counsel of the Lord and do what He wants, then moving forward with faith that you will please Him is the only way to 100% prove to yourself if that experience was from God or not. Act in accordance to the answer you got, and you will learn if it was from the Lord. Do not be afraid, either, because if you do the wrong thing because of inexperience or confusion the Lord will be merciful so long as you are truly seeking to do His will.

Good luck!

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One of the biggest helps to me is learning to recognize the Spirit.

What helped me a lot were 2 things. One reading scriptures. They always bring the Spirit. D&C 68:4.

Two, Read Preach My Gospel about recognizing the Spirit. If you were are trying to honestly learn to recognize the Spirit, then over time you will begin to recognize consistent messages from God.

The other thing is praying frequently and pondering throughout the day for the ability to recognize the Spirit.

I promise that if you do those things, then you will recognize the Spirit and the increase in confidence in recognizing it will further increase the ability to recognize the Spirit. This is my experience.

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Have you ever had someone who keeps asking you for help and advice, and you give it to them over and over and over, but they never take it? So then you start to feel like it's a waste of energy to try to help them? I wonder if God starts feeling that way when we ignore Him or talk our way out of following His help.

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I work this way with the Holy Spirit.

I have a decision to make. I look at the good/bad of the decision. I'll pray about it, talk to trusted friends/family about it, or study it. Then I decide. I'll take that decision to God in prayer. If I feel peace or joy, then I know He approves.

If I have a bad feeling, like confusion or anger or ill feelings, then I re-think my decision. If I decide that my original decision is right, I'll pray about it again. If I still get those bad feelings, then I'll either not choose it (do nothing) or I'll choose the alternative.

If I make a decision and I don't feel anything, then I'll continue to pray and ask God if my decision is good/right for me. If I still get nothing, then I'll proceed with my decision. I have found that if I proceed and it isn't right for me, either the Spirit will warn me (again, with those bad feelings) or I fail and look at it as a learning experience.

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Originally Posted by Chrissy3818

my muscle got stiff almost like I was frozen in the position I was in (I couldn't move that easily). so I just sat there holding my blessing and prayed. Then my heart God warm and I was filled with Joy? I don't know, I was just warm and my heart was warm almost hot like.

But couldn't I also affect it? I am not sure if I could create such an experience like this ^^^ But I don't know. I am afraid to be wrong and in this case, follow my own wants over what God wants for me.

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Have you ever had someone who keeps asking you for help and advice, and you give it to them over and over and over, but they never take it? So then you start to feel like it's a waste of energy to try to help them?

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Have you ever had someone who keeps asking you for help and advice, and you give it to them over and over and over, but they never take it? So then you start to feel like it's a waste of energy to try to help them?

I have heard everything else just not someone explaining this.. can I make my self feel the way I did? Since it's obviously not from Satan because Satan can't make you feel like that. And someone said that only the holy Ghost can make you feel like that, but I also heard you can affect your answer. Can I affect my answer that much that it makes me freeze up and get warm warmhearted?

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Not sure where to post this, but I think this will do for now.

I have always had trouble telling when I feel the spirit or if its from God, Satan, or Me., and I want to change that. More like I need to if I am going to find out if the LDS church is the true church. I think I know when I feel the spirit or get personal revelation, but I always doubt myself. I am not sure how "peace" is suppose to feel, and I think it would be difficult to explain, so I am not going of the peace feeling too much.

I found a general conference talk (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2011/04/the-spirit-of-revelation?lang=eng) that applied to me really well, but I am still unsure how to feel the spirit and recognize it. I fear letting God down. I am like oliver "Thus, Oliver received a revelation through the Prophet Joseph Smith informing him that he had been receiving revelation. Apparently Oliver had not recognized how and when he had been receiving direction from God and needed this instruction to increase his understanding about the spirit of revelation. In essence, Oliver had been walking in the light as the sun was rising on a cloudy morning."

Are personal revelation and feeling the holy ghost the same thing? How do you know when the spirit is communicating with you? How do I better recognize the spirit and KNOW he is talking to me? How do I know when Satan is speaking or me?

I read somewhere in the scriptures (don't remember where) that when the devil speaks to you he can also cause your heart to burn with in you, just like the spirit can.

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Doctrine & Covenants 9:8-9

8 But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your bmind; 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.

9 But if it be not right you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a astupor of thought that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong; therefore, you cannot write that which is sacred save it be given you from me.

and no, the devil cannot cause your heart to burn within you in the same manner. don't know where you heard that one...

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and no, the devil cannot cause your heart to burn within you in the same manner. don't know where you heard that one...

What do you mean the same manner? See this is why I am confused... Because I think I read the devil can make your heart burn to, but what do you mean the same manner? You mean he still can make your heart burn or not at all?

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One thing I often do when it comes to a decision is this:

First I'll research and weigh it out. Then if I have enough info to make a tentative decision, I'll do so, then ask the Lord if it is right (D&C 9 comes into play here). If I do not have enough info to make such a decision, then I'll take it to the Lord, tell him what research I've done, tell him the pros/cons/doubts/concerns I have on all possible decisions. Then I'll ask him in a very specific way: if X is true/correct, then make me feel good about it inside via the Holy Ghost; however if X is false/wrong, then make me feel bad or have a stupor of thought regarding it. This really helps me to distinguish between my own feelings and those answers from the HG.

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One thing I often do when it comes to a decision is this:

First I'll research and weigh it out. Then if I have enough info to make a tentative decision, I'll do so, then ask the Lord if it is right (D&C 9 comes into play here). If I do not have enough info to make such a decision, then I'll take it to the Lord, tell him what research I've done, tell him the pros/cons/doubts/concerns I have on all possible decisions. Then I'll ask him in a very specific way: if X is true/correct, then make me feel good about it inside via the Holy Ghost; however if X is false/wrong, then make me feel bad or have a stupor of thought regarding it. This really helps me to distinguish between my own feelings and those answers from the HG.

This approach also works for me too, particularly the distinction between the good feelings vs. the stupor of thought.
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