The Holy Ghost and Revelation, Promptings, etc

Receiving Personal Revelation

“When you seek inspiration to help make decisions, the Lord will give gentle promptings that require you to think, to exercise faith, to work, to struggle at times, then to act.  It is a step-wise process to finally reach an inspired conclusion.  It is unlikely that the whole answer will come all at once.  The Lord’s pattern allows you to grow.”  (Elder Richard G. Scott, Making the Right Choices, CES Fireside, January 13, 2002)
“Put difficult questions in the back of your minds and go about your lives.  Ponder and pray quietly and persistently about them.  The answer may not come as a lightning bolt.  It may come as a little inspiration here and a little there, ‘line upon line, precept upon precept’ (D&C 98:12).  Some answers will come from reading the scriptures, some from hearing speakers.  And occasionally, when it is important, some will come by very direct and powerful inspiration.”  (President Boyd K. Packer, Ensign, November 1979, 21)
“Only with revelation can we do the Lord’s work according to His will in His way and according to His timing.”  (Elder Neal A. Maxwell, “Revelation”, Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting, January 2003, 5)

Promptings/Warnings

“The promptings that come to us to flee evil reflect our Heavenly Father’s understanding of our particular weaknesses and his awareness of the unforeseen circumstances of our lives.  When these promptings come, they will not generally stop us in our tracks, for the Spirit of God does not speak with a voice of thunder.  The voice will be as soft as a whisper, coming as a thought to our minds or a feeling in our hearts.  By heeding its gentle promptings, we will be protected from the destructive consequences of sin.
“But if we ignore those promptings, the light of the Spirit will fade.  Our agency will be limited or lost, and we will lose the confidence and ability to act.  We will be ‘walking in [spiritual] darkness at noon-day’.  Then how easy it is to wander into strange paths and become lost.”  (Elder Robert D. Hales, Ensign, May 2006, 7)
“The gift of the Holy Ghost, if you consent, will guide and protect you and even correct your actions. It is a spiritual voice that comes into the mind as a thought or a feeling put into your heart….It is not expected that you go through life without making mistakes, but you will not make a major mistake without first being warned by the promptings of the Spirit. This promise applies to all members of the Church.”  (President Boyd K. Packer,  Counsel to Youth, General Conference, October 2011)

Stirs The Soul

“Some do not own up even to the small spiritual stirrings within them….  When in the later Judgment there is access to the seismographs of the soul, I predict there will be some very interesting recordings that can be introduced as evidence.  Agrippa had such a moment.  Probably Pilate also.  We are often in the presence of a good and powerful person, or truth.  Sometimes it is not until later that we remember our hearts burned within us, but the record will so show.”  (Elder Neal A. Maxwell, Deposition, p.18)