Intuition is the ability to know or understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning, proof, or step-by-step logic. It is the act of your brain rapidly processing information and past experiences in the background to understand a person, topic, situation, or experience.

So here we have “something” within each of us that we all experience to some varying degree and which seems to be almost impossible to explain or describe to another person when you experience it. Especially as it does not require proof or a step-by-step explanation of how you reached your conclusion. And yet intuition is an immediate understanding and knowledge. How is that possible? How can you know something within the moment that you previously didn’t know?

The Holy Ghost is the individual spirit within each man and woman. Its purpose is to inform you and give you understanding as it is the heavenly record from one’s previous experiences that are now veiled.

In that sense it is a he (or, if one is female, a she). The Holy Ghost is the light of truth. In that sense, it is an it. The Holy Ghost is also the received communication, inspiration, or light from above, and the source of that light can be any number of holy beings sent to shed that light upon mankind. In that sense, it is a they (Glossary – Holy Ghost). 

The Holy Ghost enlightens your mind; it enlivens your senses; it brings light into your life; you understand something anew. There are some people who have the Spirit with them in such a degree that to be in their presence is to understand things better—understanding, comprehension, light and truth (Lecture 10: Preserving the Restoration, RE; Pg. 5).

So far it would seem that intuition and the Holy Ghost are entwined seeing as one is the ability to immediately receive knowledge and understanding and another is the source or the informant. If one’s belief system is founded within the scriptures, then one’s intuition would be informed by the Holy Ghost. However, the more exposure you have to Babylon, the more voices you will have in your head that require discernment to find the voice of the Lord within yourself. Ultimately, it’s more work for yourself as leaning into intuition is nearly impossible to do with all the noise.

Everyone has the capacity for intuition, but it is something to be learned and fine-tuned.

In addition to this, I hope you all understand that the Holy Ghost can and does speak to everyone—Baptists, Lutherans, Catholics. C.S. Lewis could not have written and comprehended what he wrote and understood unless the light of the Holy Ghost shown upon that man’s mind. Period. There is no organization which controls the Holy Ghost (Lecture 10: Preserving the Restoration, RE; Pg. 4).

A wise mind is intuitive and practices internal reasoning and dialogue to form one’s own belief system through which they assess and conclude.

Intuition is based upon the wise mind, which is taking evidence that’s before you and reaching a conclusion based upon a premise that you’re entertaining from both your own experience, your own emotions, your own background, AND thinking it through (Topics to Consider; Pg. 16. 2024.04.07).

Wisdom and prudence go together as companions. Prudence means good judgment or common sense. It is the quality of assessing things correctly and making a sound decision in light of the circumstances and persons involved. Prudent judgment is not hasty or unfair (Our Divine Parents, Pg. 7, 2018.03.25).

How can you have correct intuition without wisdom? And if you cannot have wisdom without prudence, how can you have prudence without the Holy Ghost?

Intuition that is informed by wisdom will display decisions and conclusions made with prudence. While this allows for correct and fair assessment and reliable conclusions regarding situations and persons involved, such intuition remains open to further experience, information, and knowledge that can sway the assessment differently in the future. Thus the more one is familiar with the Holy Ghost within oneself, the more accurately they can see the things around them for what they truly are.

The purpose of the Holy Ghost is to allow you to see things in their true light with the underlying intent behind them and to allow you to do that without distortion and without confusion (“The Temple,” Pg. 16; 2012.10.28).

Distortion and confusion are not fruits of the Holy Ghost. This holy spirit does not come without clarity, order and understanding. It does not require you to bend a true principle like a pretzel to reach its opposite conclusion and still consider it truth. “The scriptures are readily available to you; if you deliberately misinterpret or distort them, it will be to your own destruction (Alma 10:2).”

When Jacob says that the educated think they are wise yet don’t follow God’s counsel and therefore their wisdom is foolishness, it is because wisdom requires guidance of the Holy Ghost (2 Nephi 6:9). Without the practice of hearing Christ’s voice, who speaks to you through the Holy Ghost, you find yourself ever learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth (2 Timothy 1:8).

When Christ was quoting the Father to the Nephites, He said “Your sciences and learning will turn into foolishness, and your false beliefs will cause your failure. I’ll expose the fraud of those in authority, and your trusted institutions will lose everyone’s loyalty (3 Nephi 9:12).” Those in authority includes those whom we place in such positions because we misinterpret or distort the scriptures. When we trust and follow them, we lose the opportunity to discover the truth within our own minds through the guidance, discernment, and intelligence of the Holy Ghost.

Then, my dear people, come to the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that His paths are righteousness. The way for man is narrow, but it lies in a straight course before him [Remember that the straight and narrow path is the word of God]. And the gatekeeper is the Holy One of Israel, and He doesn’t use any servant there. There’s no other way except through the gate, and He can’t be deceived since His name is the Lord God. He’ll open to whoever knocks. And the worldly, the educated, and those who are rich, who are inflated with pride because of their knowledge, education, and wealth — they’re the ones He looks down upon. And unless they abandon these things and consider themselves fools before God, and come down in the depths of humility, He won’t allow them through the gate. Real wisdom and real understanding will be hidden from them forever, and shared only with the holy ones to give them joy (2 Nephi 6:11).

Denver said regarding Joseph Smith:

Joseph’s education did not open his mind. Translating the Book of Mormon did not open his mind. He clarifies in his history the point at which his mind did open up. He writes of it: “so soon as I had been baptized by him, I also had the spirit of prophecy, when, standing up, I prophesied concerning the rise of this Church, and many other things connected with the Church, and this generation of the children of men. We were filled with the Holy Ghost, and rejoiced in the God of our salvation. Our minds being now enlightened, we began to have the scriptures laid open to our understandings, and the true meaning and intention of their more mysterious passages revealed unto us in a manner which we never could attain to previously, nor ever before had thought of.” (JS-H 1: 73-74.) This was the moment of greatest change. At that moment Joseph’s mind greatly expanded (DS Blog – Joseph Smith History, Part 5; 2012.05.04).

If the Holy Ghost is pure intelligence and if you have the Holy Ghost, then the content within the scriptures will begin to “speak” to you. They will come alive and become completely applicable in your daily life because you now share the same spirit that possessed those who authored them.  When you are connected to heaven to such a degree that you become in possession of a “holy spirit,” the fruit of this spirit will manifest in your daily interactions – love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.

Joseph could understand the meaning of the scriptures because he acquired access to the same source of intelligence which animated the authors when they composed the scriptures. He did not need to seek an “interpretation” or study the methods of Biblical exegesis. He knew what they meant because the enlightenment from God laid open to his understanding the true meaning and even the intentions of things that before were merely “mysterious” (DS Blog – Joseph Smith History, Part 5; 2012.05.04).

The same pattern for receiving the Holy Ghost is repeated when Alma is teaching – humility, repentance, and standing watch waiting for every command the Lord gives. After Alma taught these things, the people who believed his words were baptized. The account says that many of them believed what he said and then “began to repent and study the scriptures,” implying that part of their repentance was, in fact, studying the scriptures.

Please humble yourselves before the Lord, call upon His holy name, and watch and pray continually, so you aren’t tempted more than you can resist. Then you can be led by the Holy Spirit, becoming humble, meek, submissive, patient, full of love and all long-suffering. I ask you to have faith in the Lord, and hope to receive eternal life, and have God’s love always in your hearts, so you can be lifted up on the last day and enter His rest (Alma 10:4). 

And again we are reminded that someone in possession of the Holy Spirit will display humility and meekness in their conduct. They will be submissive, patient, full of love and long-suffering. If someone does not display these attributes, are they without the Holy Ghost?

When Abinadi was calling King Noah to repentance, his priests responded with reassurances that because of their prosperity, the king assuredly could not be condemned by God.

This verse is the advice the priests give King Noah to quiet his fears about the prophetic warning. Using their flawed logic, they take Nephi’s original promise and turn it on its ear. They reason backward, from their current prosperity and security, into the conclusion it must represent favor from God. They proclaim: “Thou has prospered in the land, and thou shalt also prosper.” The use of this kind of reasoning often happens when religious people go astray. They no longer take insight from the scriptures through the light of the Holy Ghost. Rather, they search the scriptures for proof to justify their own ambition and to ease their troubled minds. Without the Holy Ghost they cannot see these things in a proper light. The Holy Ghost only gives insight to those whose lives are lived in obedience to the Lord or who are sufficiently humble and repentant to be willing to listen to the Spirit (Eighteen Verses; Pg. 169).

What we learn here is that King Noah’s priests started at a position of defense, justifying the way they were conducting themselves and working backwards in an attempt to fit their beliefs into the scriptures. Those who go astray search for justification within the scriptures to reason their way out of change – they wish to justify their sins, because to become what God commands us to become is an impossible task in their minds. And obtaining the attributes and characteristics laid out in the scriptures do seem impossible until you begin to keep the Lord’s commandments and with enough humility and repentance, you tap into the Holy Ghost within you which tells you how to achieve what seems so daunting. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 1:16).

The Holy Ghost “grows” in light as we give heed and diligence to the light. (These are all paraphrases of TPJS and D&C.)

Ask yourself:

-Do you believe you understand better now than before your journey began?

-Do you believe you can see more clearly what you need to do next?

-Do the scriptures reveal more to you now than before you began this process?

-Is there any more “intelligence” or light and truth in your life today than before?

If you can answer any of these “yes” then do not doubt, but press on. I have labored decades to learn what I have learned, and I spend some time daily now studying, praying, contemplating and pondering. Although I have had remarkable experiences, I continue to study because the the things of God are deep, and require careful, patient, solemn and ponderous thought to acquire some of what He has made available. I believe He will not give an original revelation to reveal what He has already revealed to us in scripture. Instead He requires us to first study His words, then when scripture becomes unable to answer the inquiry, He shows us by revelation how to see what is there before us. Some of the greatest things I have beheld by revelation I have then found to be already described in scripture. I just did not have the eyes yet to see it (DS Blog – What’s Wrong; 2014.10.09).

This experience is explained in the testimony of St. John:

If you love me, stand ready, watching for every communication I will send to you [How will Christ communicate with you? Through the Holy Ghost.]. Remember that I will ask the Father, and he will provide to you another Comforter, that he may be by your side endlessly. You will obtain the record of Heaven, the truth of all things which is denied to the world because the world refuses my Father, and therefore they do not know him. But you know him, for he is with you, and shall provide answers to guide you. I will not leave you comfortless. I will stand at your side also (Testimony of St. John 10:11).

You need the Holy Ghost to be able to come to know Christ and the Father.

This is Christ’s doctrine—nothing more and certainly nothing less. This is His doctrine. This is the power of redemption. This is the means by which the Holy Ghost is given. And it is the Holy Ghost which, when given, bears record of all things. It is the Holy Ghost by which you learn. Believe in Christ, repent, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, and become as a little child. There is no more inquisitive a creature on the planet than a little child. That’s who you’re to become. You should hunger and search for understanding. This is all of the doctrine. There is no more doctrine. This is not all of the teachings; this is not all of the tenets; these are not all of the precepts; this is not all of the covenants; this is not all of the commandments; and this is not all of the principles. But it’s all of the doctrine. There is no more doctrine than this (Lecture 10: Preserving the Restoration, RE; Pg. 4).

No man can offer you salvation. When the Lord says “I am the way,” other ways, or paths, offered by others will not lead you to Him. Your salvation comes only from God. Those who obtained theirs have written accounts in the scriptures. Following anyone other than God neglects the effort and work each of us are to put forth to obtain the Holy Ghost, that is in a sense God’s voice because it receives intelligence from Christ, within us. It is the heavenly record each of us comes with which bestows light, truth, and knowledge throughout our daily lives. After baptism, “one must ‘receive’ it by finally listening to that inner truth of all things or record of the Father and the Son (Genesis 4:9–10)” (Glossary – Holy Ghost).

Joseph Smith proved the pattern true. He investigated all the religions. He attended their meetings, spoke with the ministers, and paid attention to their claims. He could not determine the truth. Then he “labored” over the scriptures. “At length” he finally decided to do as James asks and prayed. His prayer was answered because he did the preliminary work, the required study, and put in the necessary labor.

For three decades I studied and taught the scriptures. Each week between 10 and 40 hours were invested as I prepared to teach a 50 minute class. I labored, the scriptures yielded to study, and I learned more and more about God. The Vision of the Redemption of the Dead found in Section 138 was likewise obtained by study and prayer.

The scriptures are a Urim and Thummim designed to provoke revelation. You cannot divorce the process of getting revelation from necessary scripture study. God made no such thing known to Laman, Lemuel or us when we do not search the scriptures and invest our heart and mind in learning His ways.

I have studied the scriptures for years. By now, they inform most every thought. Fill yourself with scripture and see what the Holy Ghost can do then. Read them now and see how they open to you. If you take no thought except to ask and expect God to do the work, you do not understand the difference between “magic” and salvation. We are saved no quicker than we gain knowledge (DS Blog – What’s Wrong; 2014.10.09)

You cannot effectively utilize the scriptures to change your life without the Holy Ghost. So if, after reading, one is left thinking “Now what? How do I implement these principles?” the fault lies not within the scriptures, but within the person’s ability to complete the effort of connecting to the Holy Ghost which bears record of all things so you can know the truth of all things.

And inasmuch as you were born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit whom I have made, and so became of dust a living soul, even so, you must be born again into the kingdom of Heaven of water, and of the spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of my Only Begotten, that you may be sanctified from all sin and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come, even immortal glory. For by the water you keep the commandment, by the spirit you are justified, and by the blood you are sanctified. Therefore, it is given to abide in you: the Record of Heaven, the Comforter, the keys of the kingdom of Heaven, the truth of all things, that which quickens all things — which makes alive all things, that which knows all things, and has all power according to Wisdom, mercy, truth, justice, and judgment (Genesis 4:9).

Stagnation is not resolved by a checklist like we found ourselves utilizing within the LDS church. Rather, progress forward is renewed by remembering the Record of Heaven within ourselves and tapping into the source that knows all things. As this spirit informs our daily decisions, most of which are intuitively made, Wisdom, mercy, truth, justice, and judgment will begin to light the path of our individual journey back into God’s presence. There is no other way by which this is accomplished.