Question: Donny, I am curious about how one knows they are a prophet. You have said that "these special men who have been sent to the earth throughout the ages have been called of God to fulfill their rolls as prophets, seers and revelators. They speak from inspiration directly from God and learn His will in guiding His people." Are all prophets men? Can they ever be women? How does that person know? How do you really KNOW that they are a prophet? When they get inspiration directly from God ~ how do they get it? Do they "hear" it or "feel" it? I sincerely want to know the answers. I have a feeling you are going to say something to do with faith. I have always had a hard time with that. I really want to have "faith" in things that I cannot prove! Thanks for any help you can provide on this topic!
Response: First of all let's refer to Jeremiah 1:4-5 "Then the word of the Lord came unto me saying, Behold, before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." With that scripture in mind, let's now turn to Abraham chapter 3:22-23, which says " Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones; And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born." You can go from there and examine the teachings and lives of Noah, Moses, Isaac, Jacob, Samuel and others, and see similar sayings about their divine calling. Suffice it to say, they were all known to God our Father before they ever came to this earth. It was there that they were set apart and called to become His prophets on the earth.
You asked, are all prophets men? The answer is that the prophets on the earth today who lead and guide His church are all men. However, we are aware that in ancient times there were prophetesses, or women.
You asked how I really know that a prophet is a prophet? I know it by the sweet, peaceful whisperings of the spirit. The scripture says "By their fruits you shall know them." When a prophet speaks by the gift of the power of God it touches the hearts and minds of the righteous in a way that they know that they have heard the truth. On the other hand, those who are not honest in heart do not have such feelings.
You asked "When they get inspiration directly from God, how do they get it? Do they hear it or feel it?" You have said it right. Not only do they hear the word of the Lord, but they feel the inspiration and prompting of the Lord by the Holy Spirit. You must realize that this is not something where a prophet sits before a congregation and answers questions about how he knows anything, but they have made it perfectly clear to us that they have been guided and directed by the Lord to speak His mind and will.
I have a question for you. If you have not yet had an opportunity to carefully and prayerfully study the Book of Mormon, I would surely do it if I were you. It is there that you will come to know all of the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you are a sincere individual with real intent on knowing the truth, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ will manifest the truth of it unto you by the power of the Holy Ghost. Once you’ve done that, you will know that the book is true and when you know that the book is true you will then know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that he saw and heard exactly what he said that he saw and heard. I leave it to you to determine how much you really want to know, but I would be interested to know what you learn after you have gone through that process. Please email me back.
