Study Guide for "Spiritual Capacity"

In her talk "Spiritual Capacity", Michelle Craig, First Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency, discusses four ways to increase our spiritual capacity to receive revelation. She shares personal experiences and teachings from prophets to illustrate the importance of being intentional about creating time and space for God, acting without delay on spiritual promptings, seeking errands from the Lord, and having faith and trust in His guidance.

Before Reading

Before reading or listening to the talk, consider the following questions:

What does it mean to increase your spiritual capacity?
How can we distinguish between our own thoughts and the gentle impressions of the Spirit?
What are some ways to create time and space to hear God's voice?
What is the importance of acting without delay when receiving spiritual promptings?
How can we seek errands from the Lord?
How can we develop trust in God's unique guidance for us?

Topics

Creating Time and Space for God's Voice

We need to be intentional about creating time and space in our lives to hear God's voice. This can be achieved by setting aside time each day to draw close to God, particularly through the study of the Book of Mormon. Avoiding distractions and noise that can cloud our minds and hearts is also important.

As you use your agency to carve out time every day to draw close to God’s voice, especially in the Book of Mormon, over time His voice will become clearer and more familiar to you.

Just imagine what would happen if we were as intent on staying connected with heaven as we are on staying connected to Wi-Fi!

What does it mean to create time and space for God's voice?
Why is it important to stay connected with heaven?
How can we avoid distractions and noise that can make it difficult to hear God's voice?
How can you create more time and space in your life to hear God's voice?
What distractions do you need to minimize or eliminate in order to better hear God's voice?
How can you make your study of the Book of Mormon more effective?

Acting without Delay on Spiritual Promptings

When we receive spiritual promptings, it's important to act on them without delay. The more we act on these promptings, the more familiar we become with the voice of the Spirit. Delaying action can lead to missed opportunities to serve others and fulfill God's will.

When you receive promptings and then act with intention, the Lord can use you.

If you delay, you might forget the prompting or miss the chance to help someone for God.

Why is it important to act without delay on spiritual promptings?
How does acting on spiritual promptings help us become more familiar with the voice of the Spirit?
Can you recall a time when you acted immediately on a spiritual prompting? What was the outcome?
How can you improve your responsiveness to spiritual promptings?

Seeking Errands from the Lord

We can seek revelation by asking God who we can help for Him. This aligns us with His will and qualifies us for the gift of the Holy Ghost. God can use our ordinary skills to accomplish His extraordinary work.

The prayer Heavenly Father seems eager to answer is our plea to be led to someone who needs our help.

You can pray and ask the Lord for an errand. As you do, He can use your ordinary skills to accomplish His extraordinary work.

What does it mean to seek an errand from the Lord?
How can our ordinary skills be used to accomplish God's extraordinary work?
What are some ways you can seek errands from the Lord?
How can you use your ordinary skills to serve others and fulfill God's work?

Believing and Trusting in God's Guidance

As disciples of Jesus Christ, we each have unique missions and roles to perform. God provides us with personal inspiration and revelation, consistent with His commandments, that is tailored to us. It's important to trust in His guidance, even if it looks different than we expected or is different from others.

The Spirit spoke to my heart: each of us has a different mission to perform, and at times the Spirit may call us in “another way.”

Trust God to lead you, even if that way looks different than you expected or is different from others.

Why is it important to trust in God's unique guidance for us?
How can we reconcile when God's guidance is different from what we expected or different from others?
Can you recall a time when God's guidance was different from what you expected? How did you respond?
How can you cultivate greater trust in God's unique guidance for you?