Learning To Listen to the Voice of The Lord

1 Kings 19:1–18
Jezebel seeks the life of Elijah—An angel sends him to Horeb—The Lord speaks to Elijah, not in the wind nor the earthquake nor the fire, but in a still, small voice—Elisha joins Elijah

 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the ^agods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.

 3 And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.

 4 ¶But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a ^ajuniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.

 5 And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an ^aangel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.

 6 And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again.

 7 And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee.

• What did Jezebel want to do about Elijah? Jezebel was planning on killing Elijah just as he had done to all the prophets.
•  Where did Elijah go, and why? Elijah fled for his life, first to Beersheba and then continuing one day into the wilderness and rested under a juniper tree. I really like how in these verses it shows how Elijah's needs were taken care of by the Lord in a time when he was not able to fulfill those needs on his own. The Lord strengthened him physically and then went on to encourage him emotionally. We learn about that in the next few verses.
• What did the Lord teach Elijah about revelation? Revelation comes in a still small voice rather than in a big and showy way.

1 Kings 19:11-12 

And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord;but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake:  

And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a ^astill small ^bvoice.

Other scriptures about receiving revelation:

1 Nephi 17:45

 45 Ye are ^aswift to do iniquity but slow to remember the Lord your God. Ye have seen an ^bangel, and he spake unto you; yea, ye have heard his voice from time to time; and he hath spoken unto you in a still small voice, but ye were ^cpast feeling, that ye could not feel his words; wherefore, he has spoken unto you like unto the voice of thunder, which did cause the earth to shake as if it were to divide asunder.

Moroni 10:5
5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may ^aknow the ^btruth of all things.      

Doctrine and Covenants 8:2–3

 2 Yea, behold, I will ^atell you in your mind and in your ^bheart, by the ^cHoly Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart.

 3 Now, behold, this is the spirit of revelation; behold, this is the spirit by which Moses ^abrought the children of Israel through the Red Sea on dry ground.

Luke 24:31–32

 31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.

 32 And they said one to another, Did not our ^aheart ^bburn within us, while he ^ctalked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?

Acts 2:37

 37 Now when they heard this, they were ^apricked in their ^bheart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, ^cwhat shall we do?

Revelation in my life:

These verses give us some insight into how the Spirit of the Lord might speak to us. We hear it in our mind and feel it in our heart. We feel a warm feeling in our heart. Our hearts may be pricked causing us to pay attention, this is important!

On occasion the Lord might share his word in a dramatic way, but most of the time it is a still small voice and we need to learn how to recognize it in our own lives. It is a skill we have to learn in order to have it be a conscious part of our lives. For me, I feel the guiding direction of the Spirit every day of my life. Depending on the purpose, it can be a slightly different experience. It can be a feeling of confidence that I am going the right direction and doing the right thing even when circumstances try to hedge the way. It can be an "ah-hah" moment as ideas and inspiration just seem to come together and click into place and forever change my view of a situation. This can happen with a wide variety of subjects and situations. It may be something I am learning in school, things I am studying just for personal interest, things I need to know for my personal life, health, emotional sanity, relationships, etc. It can happen when I have been really struggling to write or express my thoughts and then all of a sudden the words start to flow. When I am done I know it is good and just exactly what I wanted to say. Many times I also learn in the process things I didn’t know or understand before. It can be a witness of knowing what someone else had said is the truth or what I have read is the truth. It can be an answer to prayer through someone else’s words, a TV commercial, a book. Sometimes those answers come in the strangest places, but when I hear it, I know it is my answer. It can be a feeling that I need to make a phone call or do something, or prioritize one activity over something that I originally thought was more important. The spirit has also brought me feelings of comfort and peace in times of loss, hurt, and fearful situations. It also brings overwhelming feelings of joy in special times for myself or others that I get to witness or be a part of. It can be a voice of warning, or a knowing that I have been protected. The conscious awareness of the voice of the Spirit in my daily life brings a greater sense of gratitude and remembrance of the Lord in my life.