Listening, Two Way Prayer–For the Intellectual Mormon Too

On the way to have my car oil changed the other day, and being in a hurry, without really looking, I reached for a book to pass the time. I took it off of a book shelf where my wife had been sorting old books. The one I took turned out to be by Stephen R. Covey, Spiritual Roots of Human Relations.

I came across a couple of paragraphs that I thought were meaningful, especially to those who think of themselves as intellectually blessed and therefore don’t really need much in the way of “the things of the Spirit”. Most of us who are less blessed in things of the intellect have a hard time believing that anyone would see themselves that way. However, they do exist and on occasion will say so. Apparently, brother Covey had such individuals in mind when he wrote the following:

Few things will inspire self-honesty and humility more than genuine, listening, two-way prayer. It brings us into living contact with the light and Spirit of Christ. In this attitude of perfect honesty, humility, reaching out, and dedication, we can literally have the Holy Ghost as our guide and companion; and he will bestow upon us a witness of the divinity of Jesus Christ.

However intelligent and knowledgeable we may be, unless we have a real and personal experience with the Spirit of God, we will know no more about Christ than the man blind from birth knows about light and sight, however glib he may be in describing the anatomy of the eye or the properties of light. P. 60.

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