“Lord, Soften My Heart!”

The Lord has a unique ability to soften and change hearts.

When one confesses one's sins and transgressions to God, it is not for God to know – He already knows our sins. The confession process is for us.

In the act of opening our hearts, He says "thank you, now I can enter into your heart by My influence."

No matter how evil we think we are, if we discuss openly and honestly our imperfections with God, we are opening the door for Him to influence our hearts.

The individual who desires improvement but does not open his own heart to God is forfeiting the only power that can change him eternally.

This is why Alma counselled his son Helaman:

“Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever. Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good.”
- Alma 37:36-37

One of my favourite examples of this heart-changing process is the story of Sharon in one of the addiction recovery program videos.

If and as you watch note how her choice to open up to God didn't change her at first, but led her to having her heart influenced by God – specifically in this case, by a teaching from God.

https://youtu.be/8nPEnB2dv9o

I love the words of Nephi.

“And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers.”
- 1 Nephi 2:16

I take a few things away from this verse.

First, it seems to me that Nephi struggled to believe in his father's words. Many of us know what it's like to be a younger brother. We tend to follow our older siblings and their points of view, even if we are following blindly. Also, such a declaration that their home city would be destroyed, and that God told them to leave would have been a real jaw-gaper.

Nephi says that the Lord softened his heart. Before that occurred, how un-softened was Nephi's heart?

Secondly, Nephi says “wherefore, I did not rebel against [my father] like unto my brothers.”

“Wherefore” can be replaced with, “because of this” so the verse reads, “[because of this experience of having my heart softened], I did not rebel against [my father] like unto my brothers.”

If I am reading and interpreting correctly, Nephi would have rebelled, had he not opened up his heart to God.

Like Sharon in the addiction recovery video, and Nephi with his father's prophecies, we may encounter doctrine, prophecies, truths that are hard to believe. Much of the time they are hard to believe because our hearts are not right before God.

Whatever the state of our heart, let us turn to Him. Whatever our perspective and understanding of our circumstances, let us discuss it with God.

I have been told that the marriages that endure have, among many other qualities, a level of communication that is open in heart and understanding, not bottling things up inside.

I think it is the same with God – no matter how imperfect we are, openly discussing things with God can ensure that He who knows all and sees all will bless us in changing our hearts for the better.

https://youtu.be/2w49_1a9X0Q

For those who do feel the process of heart softening from God almost daily, here are some quotes of the brethren, raising the bar for us.

George Q Cannon spoke of his preparation whenever he was about to enter into any church meeting:

“I should enter that assembly with my mind entirely free from all influence that would prevent the operation of the Spirit of God upon me. I should go in a prayerful spirit, asking God to write upon my heart His will; not with my own will already prepared, and determined to carry out my will … , regardless of everyone else’s views. If I were to go, and all the rest were to go, with this spirit, then the Spirit of God would be felt in our midst, and that which we would decide upon would be the mind and will of God, because God would reveal it to us. We would see light in the direction where we should go, and we would behold darkness in the direction we should not go” (Deseret Semi-Weekly News, 30 Sept. 1890, 2; emphasis added).

President Eyring hits the nail on the head for me:

“...guidance will come only when the Lord is sure you will obey. To know His will you must be committed to do it. The words “Thy will be done,” written in the heart, are the window to revelation.

“The answer comes by the Holy Spirit. You will need that guidance often. To have the Holy Ghost as your companion you must be worthy, cleansed by the Atonement of Jesus Christ. So, your obedience to the commandments, your desire to do His will, and your asking in faith will determine how clearly the Master can guide you by answers to your prayers.

“Often the answers will come as you study the scriptures. They contain accounts of what the Lord did in His mortal ministry and the guidance He has given His servants. They have doctrine in them which will apply in every time and every situation. Pondering the scriptures will lead you to ask the right questions in prayer. And just as surely as the heavens were opened to Joseph Smith after he pondered the scriptures in faith, God will answer your prayers and He will lead you by the hand.”

(Rise to Your Call, General Conference Address.)

And finally, what role does revelation play in the eternal scheme of our existence?

Joseph Smith paints the picture for us:

“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.”

(History of the Church, 3:381; from a discourse given by Joseph Smith on June 27, 1839, in Commerce, Illinois; reported by Willard Richards.)