Please describe yr "burning of the bosom" or "yes" in prayer

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Bananikka
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Please describe yr "burning of the bosom" or "yes" in prayer

Post by Bananikka »

Could any body tell me how they feel when they believe they have recieved a "yes" from our Heavenly Father in prayer? Thank you!!
Also, how long do you wait in silence after asking a question to hear or feel an answer?
If we feel unsure of an answer, does He become angry if we ask the same thing over and over? (For example when you want to be sure the answer is from Him or that you're understanding correctly) Thanks!!
Sorry guys I'm
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Infant hoping to grow a little here... Thanks for your input! :)

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DPeterson
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Re: Please describe yr "burning of the bosom" or "yes" in pr

Post by DPeterson »

Great questions!!
Bananikka wrote: Could any body tell me how they feel when they believe they have recieved a "yes" from our Heavenly Father in prayer? Thank you!!

I think it will be different for everybody to some degree or another. I personally don't "feel" anything like a burning of the bosom". Mind is more like another description Joseph Smith gave, he said, "A person may profit by noticing the first intimation of the spirit of revelation; for instance, when you feel pure intelligence flowing into you, it may give you sudden strokes of ideas, so that by noticing it, you may find it fulfilled the same day or soon; (i.e.) those things that were presented unto your minds by the Spirit of God, will come to pass; and thus by learning the Spirit of God and understanding it, you may grow into the principle of revelation, until you become perfect in Christ Jesus.

Also, how long do you wait in silence after asking a question to hear or feel an answer?

Most of my prayers aren't "formal" get on your knees type prayers. I usually just have a conversation with Him throughout the day. So I will get replies as we talk. When I do kneel for a more "formal" prayer I don't usually wait in silence for an answer, because it's probably something that will take some time to receive. So I get up and go on about my business and just make sure I'm in-tune enough to recognize an answer when I get it. It took me four years to get a partial answer to a question and two more to get some stuff added to it. So I don't usually wait.

If we feel unsure of an answer, does He become angry if we ask the same thing over and over? (For example when you want to be sure the answer is from Him or that you're understanding correctly) Thanks!!

My opinion? Absolutely not!! He knows us and our strengths and weaknesses better than we do. And I think He's way more patient and understanding with them than we are. So no, I don't think He get's angry. Just see if there's maybe something you can do to be more in-tune. A longer fast, study your scriptures (I believe they are the "springboard" to revelation), go to the temple or ponder the symbols there, etc. Those things will help you connect with Him better. Trust what you feel though. It is impossible to avoid mistakes. They'll happen so don't fear them. Just correct course when they do.

Sorry guys I'm
A spiritual
Infant hoping to grow a little here... Thanks for your input! :)

No apologies necessary! :D

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SpeedRacer
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Re: Please describe yr "burning of the bosom" or "yes" in pr

Post by SpeedRacer »

Bananikka wrote:Could any body tell me how they feel when they believe they have recieved a "yes" from our Heavenly Father in prayer? Thank you!!
Also, how long do you wait in silence after asking a question to hear or feel an answer?
If we feel unsure of an answer, does He become angry if we ask the same thing over and over? (For example when you want to be sure the answer is from Him or that you're understanding correctly) Thanks!!
Sorry guys I'm
A spiritual
Infant hoping to grow a little here... Thanks for your input! :)
I feel to share this even though it is deeply personal. I am also a spiritual infant, but have overcome my unbelief on whether or not God hears and answers prayers. I will begin with a caveat, that sometimes God makes you wait for an answer, BUT, I have found that he want to answer you immediately most of the time. The biggest issue is learning to listen. Stop thinking that he does not hear you and will not answer. Stop thinking that he is some aloof being with no real concern for you. He loves you more than you love Him. He is more interested in answering your prayers that you are interested in praying and asking.

Understand that you are permanently connected to God through the Holy spirit and he is literally keeping you alive every moment of your life. Then know that intelligence is transferred from the heart and mind to and from God. Something you ask can come to the mind, others to the heart, it depends on the subject and substance. When you open yourself up and believe God will answer you, listen for the simple yes/no in your brain. I have found that the scriptures are true, that many times in the process of asking, even before the question is asked, the simple yes or no will come. When the feeling/desire is developed and begun to put into question, the Lord is telling me he knows my heart and intent and concerns and is there for me, even as I begin to ask. Other times it is a moment after I ask. Other times, there is nothing. I figure I am not prepared and the Lord will begin to prepare me, and that is generally how it has been. I see the answer some months later after learning through scriptures or life experience, generally a trial.

On major things, where something must be learned, and as we say have a testimony of something. The answerer comes by the Holy Ghost as pure intelligence. This usually comes through pondering, then the truth of the matter distills on the soul and infuses in a way you know you cannot deny it.

This is my experience.

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DarthVernacular
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Re: Please describe yr "burning of the bosom" or "yes" in pr

Post by DarthVernacular »

For me, it's all very hard to describe. The burning in the bosom is a real thing. To me it's almost like butterflies, but warm and comforting, not nervous-making or worry-causing. It often comes with weeping, especially when it's very strong (I have my Mom's tear ducts, you see). This warm, comforting feeling comes with a sense of assurance or certainty, and it washes away doubt and I feel a portion of the love of the Savior. At times I have experienced this so strongly that felt I could barely breathe, but I felt no distress, only comfort and assurance. If affects not only my physical being, but my intellect, too. Although I have never heard an audible voice, I have heard the voice of the Spirit speaking directly with my spirit where sometimes I have been reminded of a passage of scripture I thought I had forgotten, and I laugh to myself that the answer was so obvious and other times I receive a command, such as "go talk to your daughter about so-and-so." I have also received enlightenment about an individual, usually a family member, or one of my direct reports at work that they are struggling with a certain problem, but about random ward members when I served in a bishopric--that extra portion of the Spirit was awesome.

I find as I wait for an answer I do best to ponder. President Eyring once said something like "pondering is the gateway to revelation." I believe to ponder on an issue is definitely a great way to open oneself to the voice of the Spirit.

I think the Lord is patient enough with us to understand we need assurances, and He appreciates our efforts. Think of Gideon and how many tests he had to know the Lord truly had a work for him. I also think He knows when we have received our answer and there is a point at which He expects action rather than questioning. As we go about the task we have been assigned, it is good to remain open to additional instruction.

taliesin
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Re: Please describe yr "burning of the bosom" or "yes" in pr

Post by taliesin »

Before you start, be aware that this is not a short post, but if you ask me, it is a good one :)

This is my process and mindset to get a yes-no answer to prayer. I have been doing this now for several weeks, so I am still going down a learning curve, but I have experimented and practiced and learned a few things. I begin by getting into the right frame of mind. You could call it 'tuning in'. I do this by saying a silent prayer of gratitude and I also recognize God and Christ and my relationship with them. I may also think about God's love or review a hymn in my mind. I usually ask for or command all evil and unclean influences and beings to be removed from myself and the area where I am praying, and then I ask (but do not command) for the spirit to be with me and to sanctify or consecrate the space around me and for holy angels and even Christ himself to attend. There are many ways to 'tune in'. If you read some of the Psalms or especially Nephi's Psalm (the last half of 2 Nephi 4), you will see that prayers alternate between speaking directly to God, speaking to your own heart and soul (some sort of self-programming technique), contemplating spiritual things, or reciting scripture, which are all good techniques for tuning in as well. Sometimes I start this process by doing some sit-ups or pushups (maybe 10 of each) in order to get my blood flowing and my energy moving. At some point I will usually do some controlled, deep breathing, 3 to 10 deep breaths. After a minute or two or three of “tuning in”, I move on, trusting and believing that I am sufficiently in tune to get answers to my questions.

The “channel of my belief” includes the following – God hears and answers every prayer, or has authorized servants in the spirit world (ministering angels) to hear my prayers and answer them; my prayers will most likely be answered immediately; phrasing a question so that the answer is either yes or no shows that you have taken thought for the answer to the question and is an expression of faith (like what Oliver Cowdery was counseled to do in D&C 9) and will be answered. I like this passage from Psalm 65 – “O thou that hearest prayer . . . By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us, O God of our salvation” (Psalm 65:2 and 5).

Now for the crux of the matter – how to recognize the yes or no answer. You should expect to get an answer to your questions immediately or within a few seconds, so the issue is not whether or not the answer has come, it is whether or not you have recognized it. Since I expect an answer, I go out and get it in a way. I provide the spirit one of a handful of ways to deliver the answer to my conscious mind. One way is by some variation of muscle testing my own self. The preferred method I have devised is to hold both my hands out, palms up, in front of me. I program myself so that if the answer is yes, then my left hand will drop, as if an imaginary “yes-stone” has been placed there by an angel or by Christ himself, causing it to be weighed down and drop, and my right hand will get lighter and raise up. My right hand would drop and my left hand would rise for a no answer. It may take several seconds before my hands move, and sometimes I will consciously push one hand up very slightly and the other down to feel if the answer is there. Sometimes while doing this I will wonder if I’m making it all up, but I catch myself and remind myself that I am acting in faith and to trust that I am getting accurate answers and to move forward. There are other ways to muscle test yourself that can be easily found on YouTube or through a Google search. The book “The Emotion Code” happens to describe two or three ways to muscle test yourself. My wife likes the sway test, which apparently comes from Native Americans. Look up the sway test if you are unfamiliar. I would say that muscle testing is a beginner’s tool, but can still be used once you get more advanced when an answer is particularly difficult to detect. However, there is a lot of energy and spiritual significance to hands and arms and communicating with the Lord with hands and arms, such as is evidenced in the temple and also in this scripture - “seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand.” (Jacob 4:10). Another method I use in faith to get a yes or no answer is to ask the question and then to imagine the answer being yes and then to imagine the answer being no. I go through that a few times until I settle on the answer that just feels true. One of the two answers will assert itself as the dominant answer. Sometimes I like to think of a yes or no answer being like a magnet, where one side is a positive pole and the other side is a negative pole. The true answer will cause the correct pole to flip up or to reveal itself. Here’s another mental method I have devised to get a yes or no answer. I will “program” or define a yes answer to be a mental image of YES in blue letters on a white background and a no answer to be a mental image of NO in red letters on a black background. I figure this is a good way to develop spiritual sight or to see with the eye of faith. Note that answers can come fast. You could very possibly ask questions and receive answers at a rate of several questions per minute.

Here’s something I did to test the accuracy of my answers. I was driving home one day and said a silent prayer to God saying that I wanted to test the accuracy of my answers by asking some trivial questions. I asked four questions about what some conditions would be when I got home, such as whether or not one child had changed out of his pajamas, whether or not my kids would be watching TV, or if they would be watching a particular show. These were all things that had about a 50-50 chance of being true, so I couldn’t easily guess the answer using my own reasoning. I asked four questions. I used the method where I asked the question and then thought of the answer being yes, then of it being no, and then repeated until one of the two answers asserted its dominance. I found that every answer I got was correct when I got home and observed the conditions.

One thought about “the spirit of Jesus Christ” that is promised in the sacramental prayers (“. . . that they may have his spirit to be with them. Amen.”). I wonder if the spirit promised is like a hologram image of Christ to be with you personally, always. My initial effort to ask if that is an accurate way to think about it is yes. If so, then one could have great faith in asking for Christ himself to come and be with you to give you answers to your prayers, whether it is by placing a “yes-stone” in your hand, activating the still, small voice within, putting an image in your mind, etc.

Often I will ask God to point me to a scripture that he wants me to read that has a special message from him to me at that moment. Sometimes I will have a particular question in mind that I want answered and sometimes it will be just a general request for any information God wants to give me. I will start by asking the question, "is it in the Bible" (a yes, or a no would indicate the triple combination)? If it is in the triple combination, I will ask if it is in The Book of Mormon, yes or no. If no, I will move on and ask if it is in the Doctrine and Covenants, yes or no. If no, I can assume that it is in the Pearl of Great Price, but I still ask just to verify that I have the right book of scripture. If the scripture that God wants me to read is in the Book of Mormon, I will then ask if it comes from the small plates (1 Nephi through Omni) or the large plates (Words of Mormon through Moroni). Then I will narrow it down to the right book, then to the right chapter. For example, if the right book is Mosiah, I will ask if I should read in the first 15 chapters, or in chapters 16 to 29 (roughly the first half or the second half). Then I narrow it down until I get the correct chapter. Then I will ask for the correct verse or verses or portion of the chapter (first half, middle, end).

Remember that the spirit is a still, small voice. The word 'still' means quiet, but it also means stable. I take that to mean that if you ask the same question multiple times, you will get the same answer each time, which is a good way to verify an answer. The voice is small, which means one of two things in this context. One is that it occupies a small amount of space within you, as if it were a tiny ball of energy. It would be good to find exactly where that space is within you, whether it is in the middle of your head, deeper down in your chest, or even down in the navel area. A useful exercise would be to identify the location within you of the still, small voice. Another meaning of the word small is “thin” (both in English and in Hebrew as found in 1 Kings 19:12). So the still, small voice could occupy a space that is more like a thread or a rod (like the iron rod?). I imagine it running from the crown of my head down into the center of my chest and into my belly and even all the way down past the waist. So you could feel the voice at any point along that pole. Personally, I sense answers in two separate locations within - the center of my head, the area from about half-way down my sternum down to my navel. Finally, a voice is a vibration or a frequency. The still, small voice is a frequency of spirit energy or light (the light of Christ). Scriptures and science give us this equation: energy = light = truth = spirit = voice.

Like many people who are likely reading this post, I have read and wondered about the truthfulness of the information in “A Greater Tomorrow” by Julie Rowe (and the interviews she has given on the Mills Crenshaw radio show), specifically the information about places of refuge and tent cities, because that would be a huge deal to how I plan my life over the next year or two. I first learned about a call-out and tent cities from AVOW sources, and had come to the conclusion that it wasn’t for me, it was just some crazy AVOW thing. But then this lady Julie Rowe was saying the same thing, supposedly independent of any group think at AVOW. So I took notice and would ask in prayer if that part (the call-out) was true. I was a little afraid to actually go through the process of getting an answer. So it was a general question on my mind. One morning a couple weeks ago, I woke up and while still lying in bed, I “tuned in” and asked for a scripture that God would like me to read. At that moment the question of a call-out was not on my mind, so I was not specifically asking for an answer to that question, I was just asking in general. Using my narrow-it-down method, I came up with Mosiah 23:1-10. Although I am quite familiar with the contents of the chapters of the Book of Mormon, I was drawing a blank on the contents of that passage. So I had to actually open it up and read it. Here it is:

1 Now Alma, having been warned of the Lord that the armies of king Noah would come upon them, and having made it known to his people, therefore they gathered together their flocks, and took of their grain, and departed into the wilderness before the armies of king Noah.
2 And the Lord did strengthen them, that the people of king Noah could not overtake them to destroy them.
3 And they fled eight days’ journey into the wilderness.
4 And they came to a land, yea, even a very beautiful and pleasant land, a land of pure water.
5 And they pitched their tents, and began to till the ground, and began to build buildings; yea, they were industrious, and did labor exceedingly.
6 And the people were desirous that Alma should be their king, for he was beloved by his people.
7 But he said unto them: Behold, it is not expedient that we should have a king; for thus saith the Lord: Ye shall not esteem one flesh above another, or one man shall not think himself above another; therefore I say unto you it is not expedient that ye should have a king.
8 Nevertheless, if it were possible that ye could always have just men to be your kings it would be well for you to have a king.
9 But remember the iniquity of king Noah and his priests; and I myself was caught in a snare, and did many things which were abominable in the sight of the Lord, which caused me sore repentance;
10 Nevertheless, after much tribulation, the Lord did hear my cries, and did answer my prayers, and has made me an instrument in his hands in bringing so many of you to a knowledge of his truth.

It seemed to be an answer to my question that I had been asking about the truthfulness of a call-out. Now that I think of it, I should put the effort into getting a yes or no confirmation of connecting that passage of scripture to the truthfulness of a call-out to places of refuge. So, I did ask, and the initial answer that I got back was that my understanding is correct.

Occasionally when I get into a prayerful frame of mind and I’m asking yes-no questions, after asking a few questions, I will get into more of a conversation with full sentences back and forth and I don’t have to work as hard to get answers, the conversation just flows.

At work I query databases by write queries (using SQL). The query has to be written perfectly to get the data desired. I imagine asking questions in prayers to be similar. The wording of the prayer is like querying a database, where the database is actually “given to abide in you; the record of heaven; the Comforter; the peaceable things of immortal glory; the truth of all things; that which quickeneth all things, which maketh alive all things; that which knoweth all things, and hath all power according to wisdom, mercy, truth, justice, and judgment.” (Moses 6:61).

Here’s a rough order of the spectrum of revelation/communication from God (or “workings of the spirit” as the Book of Mormon puts it) as I understand it today:
- A good feeling about something in general (God, Christ, the gospel, the church, etc.)
- An internal answer to a specific binary question (yes or no)
- Messages coming in sentences to more open-ended questions
- Messages coming in as mental images
- Dreams
- Open visions
- Physical angelic visitations
- Physical visitation from Christ

I hope at least one part of this post helps someone in their journey to recognize the spirit and answers to prayers.

e-eye
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Re: Please describe yr "burning of the bosom" or "yes" in pr

Post by e-eye »

I read this speech just today from Stephen R Covey. I found if profound. I at times find discernment of the spirit a struggle. This one is worth reading the entire speech.

http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=948" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: Please describe yr "burning of the bosom" or "yes" in pr

Post by creator »

The experiences I've had where there is no doubt in my mind it was the Holy Ghost giving me a message from the Lord - the message was clear, it was not a "yes" or "no" but was more like Joseph Smith described regarding the Holy Ghost having "no other effect than pure intelligence" and "expanding the mind, enlightening the understanding, and storing the intellect with present knowledge". There has also always been an accompanying "burning" that is hard to describe.

I should also add that the most profound experiences like this did not come during a prayer but as a result of seeking truth and during the process of studying, searching and seeking - - - it was as if the Lord wanted to see that I was willing to put in the effort first and then he delivered His message to me.

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marc
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Re: Please describe yr "burning of the bosom" or "yes" in pr

Post by marc »

Some answers have been a powerful burning not only in my bosom, but my entire being. Many answers have come as pure intelligence (knowledge). Some answers have not yet come. The Lord never angers at us asking, even if we have been asking for over twenty years.

We have been given the pattern.

Enter in at the way. Repent and be baptized. This is the doctrine of Christ.
2 Nephi 32:5 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.
6 Behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and there will be no more doctrine given until after he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh. And when he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh, the things which he shall say unto you shall ye observe to do.
7 And now I, Nephi, cannot say more; the Spirit stoppeth mine utterance, and I am left to mourn because of the unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of men; for they will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be.
You've entered in. Now what?
2 Nephi 32:8 And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray, ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.
9 But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.
Do I faint? Do I give up? Or do I continue to pray? Am I continually drawn out in prayer? Do I fast? What lack I yet?
D&C 101:81 Now, unto what shall I liken the children of Zion? I will liken them unto the parable of the woman and the unjust judge, for men ought always to pray and not to faint, which saith—
82 There was in a city a judge which feared not God, neither regarded man.
83 And there was a widow in that city, and she came unto him, saying: Avenge me of mine adversary.
84 And he would not for a while, but afterward he said within himself: Though I fear not God, nor regard man, yet because this widow troubleth me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.
85 Thus will I liken the children of Zion.
86 Let them importune at the feet of the judge
Pray always? As in all the time? You mean like constantly? What does the word Importune mean?

Lecture on Faith 2, Question 146:
Question: How do men obtain a knowledge of the glory of God, his perfections and attributes?

Answer: By devoting themselves to his service, through prayer and supplication incessantly, strengthening their faith in him, until like Enoch, the brother of Jared, and Moses, they obtain a manifestation of God to themselves (See 2:55).
Lecture 2:55 Let us here observe, that after any portion of the human family are made acquainted with the important fact that there is a God who has created and does uphold all things, the extent of their knowledge, respecting his character and glory, will depend upon their diligence and faithfulness in seeking after him, until like Enoch the brother of Jared, and Moses, they shall obtain faith in God, and power with him to behold him face to face.
Hmmm....

Devotion. Service. Diligence. Faithfulness. Praying. Supplication. Always. Incessantly. Importune...

:-? Hopefully this helps a little.

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gruden2.0
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Re: Please describe yr "burning of the bosom" or "yes" in pr

Post by gruden2.0 »

I have had the burning in the bosom, and it is unmistakable - and powerful. I have heard/read others who have experienced it suddenly wonder if they were having a heart attack. It can be a little frightening at first as it radiates out from your heart where it almost feels aflame. For me it wasn't in response to a prayer, but the first time I was at Hill Cumorah pondering Joseph Smith receiving the plates there it suddenly came upon me to testify powerfully of the truth of that event. That was the beginning of my testimony of the Restoration that day.

If you've had this experience, you know it. If you're not sure, you haven't. It is not a garden-variety manifestation of the spirit, but intensely powerful and engulfs your whole torso in a physical sensation. It fades after a few minutes, but you can feel it in your heart for the rest of the day as the sensation lingers.

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Reggie
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Re: Please describe yr "burning of the bosom" or "yes" in pr

Post by Reggie »

In general I am not a very emotional person. I don't cry a lot. So, if something comes over me and I get emotional, start crying I know it is the Spirit. I have had water start running out of the sides of my eyes and me not feel the emotional impact. I have learned that is a sign of the Spirit for me. If ever I've presented something to the Lord for a yes or no and I get something contrary to what I wanted to do, I know that is from the Spirit. This little bit has taken years of praying and observing for me to get this far. The good news is that it does get easier as time goes by and experience gives insight. I strongly suggest keeping a prayer journal. Write down everytime you have an experience with the Spirit. When you go back and read it, you will begin to see how He communicates with you personally. You will also see where you've been deceived and stuff got in there that was not of the Spirit. May God Bless you on your journey with the Spirit.

boo
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Re: Please describe yr "burning of the bosom" or "yes" in pr

Post by boo »

gruden2.0 wrote:I have had the burning in the bosom, and it is unmistakable - and powerful. I have heard/read others who have experienced it suddenly wonder if they were having a heart attack. It can be a little frightening at first as it radiates out from your heart where it almost feels aflame. For me it wasn't in response to a prayer, but the first time I was at Hill Cumorah pondering Joseph Smith receiving the plates there it suddenly came upon me to testify powerfully of the truth of that event. That was the beginning of my testimony of the Restoration that day.

If you've had this experience, you know it. If you're not sure, you haven't. It is not a garden-variety manifestation of the spirit, but intensely powerful and engulfs your whole torso in a physical sensation. It fades after a few minutes, but you can feel it in your heart for the rest of the day as the sensation lingers.
Thanks. Interestingly my son describes his first discernible answer to his prayers about the existence of God as a very powerful burning so much so as he thought quite literally that he was having a heart attack. Prior to that experience he had decided there was no God and he was going to quit going to church. Now he is sure of the restoration and God and is submitting his missionary papers. God does answer prayers

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RyanK
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Re: Please describe yr "burning of the bosom" or "yes" in pr

Post by RyanK »

I always had trouble explaining it until Elder Packer described it this way:
“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.” (D&C 9:7-8)

This burning in the bosom is not purely a physical sensation. It is more like a warm light shining within your being.
In a way, I assimilate that description to sunbathing at a pool, for instance, when clouds, at first, are in front of the sun then give way. Compare how your skin feels before to when the direct sunlight hits and warms your skin so comfortably. For me, that's how I sense it--like a spiritual beam of light, unshrouded by any cloud, shining on my core (or as Elder Packer puts it--"within your being"). Meanwhile, infused with this feeling, a truth is written in my mind such that is it undeniable. This is not a self-manufactured feeling; the Holy Ghost bears its witness of truth to me.

Keep in mind that this come after a trial of faith--after studying, pondering, praying--after an accepting of the Lord's will--believing that you will and can worthily claim this manifestation of truth.

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Rose Garden
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Re: Please describe yr "burning of the bosom" or "yes" in pr

Post by Rose Garden »

Bananikka wrote:Could any body tell me how they feel when they believe they have recieved a "yes" from our Heavenly Father in prayer? Thank you!!
Also, how long do you wait in silence after asking a question to hear or feel an answer?
If we feel unsure of an answer, does He become angry if we ask the same thing over and over? (For example when you want to be sure the answer is from Him or that you're understanding correctly) Thanks!!
Sorry guys I'm
A spiritual
Infant hoping to grow a little here... Thanks for your input! :)
I can't describe the feelings that I used to get from prayer except to say that a "yes" was a happy, peaceful feeling and a "no" was a dark feeling, like the withdrawal of light.

I always waited as long as I felt I needed to after a prayer. At times, I received no answer at all and that was okay. But one time I felt it was very important to receive an answer and yet I received none. I pondered on the dilemma for a while and finally decided that I needed to go do my work, trusting that the Lord would answer my prayer at some other time in a way that I understood. He did. When the answer came, it was indisputably from God and precisely what I needed to hear. It was a great lesson for me and has formed the foundation of my faith in receiving answers from the Lord.

Initially, it didn't work to ask the same thing over and over. It seemed like I needed to trust the first answer I received. But as my relationship with the Lord increased, that changed. I found that the Lord wanted me to ask him again and again. He has never become angry with me about it.

Really, I should say he has likely never been angry at me at all, even when he's corrected me. He is always loving and always lifts me up, never puts me down.

That's just my two cents from one infant to another.

Zathura
Follow the Prophet
Posts: 8801

Re: Please describe yr "burning of the bosom" or "yes" in pr

Post by Zathura »

For me,I didnt begin to recieve answers through a burning in my bosom until the last time i had experienced the baptism by fire. For a time,i was very close to God,and as i prayed and read,i would ask very specific questions,and sometimes i felt nothing,other times,right after i had asked a yes or no question,a very very hot but painless feeling filled my chest and spread kind of to my shoulders. That´s the best i can explain the feeling. These answers are like mini versions of The Huge manifestations i have recieved.

ElectLady
captain of 100
Posts: 132

Re: Please describe yr "burning of the bosom" or "yes" in pr

Post by ElectLady »

Usually I feel the answer before I can finish forming the words in my prayer. "Yes" feels exhilarating or hopeful; kinda like receiving good news. If I feel the answer is "no," it ranges from thoughts (ie: I'm sorry, not this time), to a warning or caution; or even just neutral.

I have a hard time making decisions, and I often have to re- ask several times. This is a problem on my part of the conversation, and I try to be as succinct as possible so I can interpret the answer without playing 20 questions with Him. I have had a few very strong answers, and they can feel like butterflies sweeping through the body, and once it lasted at least a half hour.

When I was younger, I had one such experience, but continued to pray regarding the issue anyway. I troubled over it for another 6 months or so, until I read D&C6:22-23:

22 Verily, verily, I say unto you, if you desire a further witness, cast your mind upon the night that you cried unto me in your heart, that you might know concerning the truth of these things.
23 Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?

At which point I cracked up laughing and closed the book and haven't asked about that issue again. I know He has a great amount of patience with us, and He knows how our minds work. He seems to have enough patience with poor me and all my second guessing so far. I keep learning from grace to grace, so I guess as long as I'm moving forward, I'm good.

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Bananikka
captain of 100
Posts: 738
Location: Utah

Re: Please describe yr "burning of the bosom" or "yes" in pr

Post by Bananikka »

Thank you so much for all of te great responses guys.

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