girl on phone

Why Does God Talk to Us?

Elder Oaks explains that whether it’s to comfort, uplift, restrain, or inform, God communicates with his children through revelation.

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You’ve decided to take a job offer, but before your first day you suddenly feel terrible about your decision. Why do you feel this way?

God might not text or call on the phone, but he wants to communicate with us. Sometimes that communication might be through an uneasy feeling about a decision—a negative feeling that restrains us from making a mistake.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles gave a BYU devotional address in which he outlines why and how God sends his thoughts and feelings to his children.

According to Elder Oaks, some of the purposes behind God’s revelations are to testify, prophesy, give comfort, uplift, inform, restrain, confirm, and impel.

Illustrating each of these points with personal experiences, Elder Oaks says that when you understand the reasons behind the thoughts and feelings you’re experiencing, you will recognize that “communication from God to men and women is a reality.”

Even when it feels like you’re walking in the dark, don’t worry. God is always there to send you help when you need it.

“Where a choice will make a real difference in our lives—obvious or not—and where we are living in tune with the Spirit and seeking its guidance, we can be sure that we will receive the guidance we need to attain our goal,” Elder Oaks says. “The Lord will not leave us unassisted when a choice is important to our eternal welfare.”


Read Elder Oaks’s full address, “Revelation.”

Source: BYU’s Religious Studies Center

—Angela Marler, Mormon Insights

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One Comment

  1. I love this article! God talks to us in so many ways. This article mentions that we can know God is talking to us through negative feelings. But what are some other ways that we can recognize that God is talking to us?

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