2024 April General Conference, Saturday Morning Session

Motions of a Hidden Fire

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Summary

• In his talk “Motions of a Hidden Fire,” Elder Jeffrey R. Holland reflects on personal trials, including the loss of his wife and his own serious illness. He emphasizes the power of prayer, recounting his gratitude for the prayers offered on his behalf. He underscores the importance of earnest prayer, the example set by Jesus Christ, and the need for faithfulness and covenant-keeping. Holland encourages a deeper commitment to discipleship, trusting in God’s timing and the power of prayer to bring about divine intervention and personal growth.

Gospel Doctrine & Principles taught

The Atonement of Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, Prayer, The Plan of Salvation, The Holy Ghost 

Scriptures

Doctrine and Covenants 112:4–5, 14; Luke 18:1–8, 2 Nephi 4:35, Luke 21:36, Alma 13:28 & 34:27; Doctrine and Covenants 23:6, Alma 34:27, 2 Thessalonians 1:11, Alma 34:21, James 5:16, Psalm 55:17, Mosiah 24:10–12, Alma 34:27, 3 Nephi 20:1, Doctrine and Covenants 19:28, 3 Nephi 18:19–21, Alma 33:3, Matthew 14:23 & 18:19–20, 3 Nephi 18:16, 21–24, 30; Helaman 3:35, Matthew 6:13; Luke 22:40; 3 Nephi 18:15; Doctrine and Covenants 10:5, 2 Nephi 32:8; Joseph Smith—History 1:15–16, Romans 8:26; 3 Nephi 19:24; Doctrine and Covenants 50:30, Matthew 5:44, Matthew 14:23, Matthew 17:2; Mark 9:3; Luke 9:29; 3 Nephi 19:25, Matthew 17:2; Luke 9:29; 3 Nephi 19:25, Matthew 26:39, Mark 14:35, Luke 22:44, Matthew 7:23, Joseph Smith Translation, Matthew 7:33 (in Matthew 7:23, footnote a), Doctrine and Covenants 76:66, Hebrews 4:16, Job 42:3

Other Sources

K. Chesterton, A Short History of England (1917), 72.
“Prayer Is the Soul’s Sincere Desire,” Hymns, no. 145.
“Sweet Hour of Prayer,” Hymns, no. 142.

Helps

From the Oxford Dictionary: ex·pi·a·tion /ˌekspēˈāSH(ə)n/, noun
the act of making amends or reparation for guilt or wrongdoing; atonement.
“an act of public expiation”

Look for Jesus Christ:

• Testimony of Christ.
  • But it has always been intriguing to me that Jesus felt the need to pray at all. Wasn’t He perfect? About what did He need to pray? Well, I have come to realize that He too, with us, wanted to “seek [the Father’s] face, believe his word, and trust his grace.”
  • Against that backdrop of Christ’s victory over death and His recent gift to me of a few more weeks or months in mortality, I bear solemn witness of the reality of eternal life and the need for us to be serious in our planning for it.
• Description of His Life.
  •  Ultimately, we can look to the example of the Savior, who prayed so very, very often.
• Description of His Atonement.
  • Luke describes Jesus’s descent into His expiation as requiring Him to pray “more earnestly.” How does one who was perfect pray more earnestly? We assume that all of His prayers were earnest, yet in fulfilling His atoning sacrifice and through the pain that attended its universal reach, He felt to pray ever more pleadingly, with the weight of His offering finally bringing blood from every pore.
• Words of Christ
  • Thou shalt bear record of my name … [and] send forth my word unto the ends of the earth. … Morning by morning; and day after day let thy warning voice go forth; and when the night cometh let not the inhabitants of the earth slumber, because of thy speech. … Arise[,] … take up your cross, [and] follow me.
  • “I never knew you”
  • “[You] never knew me”

Inspiring Words & Phrases

• My beloved sisters and brothers, since that experience, I have tried to take up my cross more earnestly, with more resolve to find where I can raise an apostolic voice of both warmth and warning in the morning, during the day, and into the night.
• Brothers and sisters, I testify that God hears every prayer we offer and responds to each of them according to the path He has outlined for our perfection.
• It is for reasons known only to God why prayers are answered differently than we hope—but I promise you they are heard and they are answered according to His unfailing love and cosmic timetable.
• …If there be any time we feel not to pray, we can be sure that hesitancy does not come from God, who yearns to communicate with His children at any and all times. Indeed, some efforts to keep us from praying come directly from the adversary.
• When we don’t know how or exactly for what to pray, we should begin, and continue, until the Holy Spirit guides us into the prayer we should be offering. This approach may be the one we have to invoke when praying for our enemies and those who despitefully use us.
• But it has always been intriguing to me that Jesus felt the need to pray at all. Wasn’t He perfect? About what did He need to pray? Well, I have come to realize that He too, with us, wanted to “seek [the Father’s] face, believe his word, and trust his grace.”
• Against that backdrop of Christ’s victory over death and His recent gift to me of a few more weeks or months in mortality, I bear solemn witness of the reality of eternal life and the need for us to be serious in our planning for it.

Lists

Three recent experiences that Elder Holland has had:

• The death of his wife, Patricia, and an increased value on their sealing.
• A near-death experience which left Elder Holland with a conviction that he must return to his ministry, and he has made changes and found new resolve from that experience.
• gratitude for the prayers and faith of others on his behalf.

Some things about prayer:

• We are to “ask not amiss”
• there are no limits to when, where, or about what we should pray
• We are to pray always
• We are to pray for those around us
• We are to believe that sincere prayer of the righteous makes a difference
• Our prayers should be vocal when there is privacy
• Silent, heartfelt prayer is also appropriate
• Prayers are described in the hymn as “motion of a hidden fire”
• Prayers are always to be offered to God our Father in the name of Jesus Christ

We should pray:

• Individually
• in our families
• in congregations of all sizes
• as a shield against temptation

If there are times we ‘feel not to pray’:

• we can be sure that hesitancy does not come from God
• some efforts to keep us from praying come directly from the adversary
• We should begin to pray and continue until the Holy Spirit guides our prayer

Ways that Jesus prayed:

• He retreated from society to be alone
• He prayed in the company of a few companions
• He would seek heaven on behalf of multitudes
• Sometimes prayer glorified His clothing
• Sometimes it glorified His countenance
• Sometimes He stood to pray
• Sometimes He knelt to pray
• At least once He fell on His face in prayer.

We need to believe in:

• Angels
• Miracles
• The promises of the holy priesthood
• The gift of the Holy Ghost
• The influence of good families 
• The influence of good friends
• The power of the pure love of Christ
• Revelation
• Prophets, seers, and revelators and President Russell M. Nelson 
• That we can be exalted

Things we can do to be exalted:

• Pray 
• Plead 
• Be personally righteousness

Invitations/Challenges

• Against that backdrop of Christ’s victory over death and His recent gift to me of a few more weeks or months in mortality, I bear solemn witness of the reality of eternal life and the need for us to be serious in our planning for it.
• I bear witness that when Christ comes, He needs to recognize us… as thoroughly committed, faithfully believing, covenant-keeping disciples.

Warnings

• I bear witness that when Christ comes, He needs to recognize us—not as nominal members listed on a faded baptismal record but as thoroughly committed, faithfully believing, covenant-keeping disciples. This is an urgent matter for all of us, lest we ever hear with devastating regret: “I never knew you,” or, as Joseph Smith translated that phrase, “[You] never knew me.”

Blessings/Promises

• Fortunately, we have help for this task—lots of help.
• Brothers and sisters, as we repent of our sins and come boldly to the “throne of grace,” leaving before Him there our alms and our heartfelt supplications, we will find mercy and compassion and forgiveness at the benevolent hands of our Eternal Father and His obedient, perfectly pure Son. Then, with Job and all the refined faithful, we will behold a world “too wonderful” to understand.

Stories:

• Brothers and sisters, I have learned a painful lesson since I last occupied this pulpit in October of 2022. That lesson is: if you don’t give an acceptable talk, you can be banned for the next several conferences. You can see I am assigned early in the first session of this one. What you can’t see is that I am positioned on a trapdoor with a very delicate latch. If this talk doesn’t go well, I won’t see you for another few conferences.
• Elder Jeffrey R. Holland shares the deeply personal and painful experience of losing his beloved wife, Pat. He describes her as the greatest woman he has ever known, highlighting her purity, gift of expression, and spirituality. He recounts a talk she gave titled “Fulfilling the Measure of Your Creation,” expressing that she did so more successfully than anyone could have imagined. Elder Holland reflects on the blessing of their 60-year marriage and the hope of being reunited with her for eternity through their sealing.
• Elder Jeffrey R. Holland recounts a medical crisis he faced just 48 hours after his wife’s burial. Hospitalized and in and out of consciousness for weeks, he had a profound experience that felt like a journey to the edge of eternity. He received an admonition to return to his ministry with greater urgency and focus on the Savior. Inspired by a revelation given to the Twelve Apostles nearly 200 years ago, he resolved to more earnestly take up his cross and raise an apostolic voice of warmth and warning continually.

Application Ideas

1. Elder Holland invites us to “look to the example of the Savior” and ways that He prayed. Carefully read this section of Elder Holland’s talk (paragraphs 16 and 17), and read the scriptures Elder Holland references. Write in your study journal any thoughts or ideas that come into your mind as you study. Prayerfully choose one aspect of Christ’s prayers that you would like to emulate and make a plan to focus your personal study and prayer on that aspect in the coming week.
2. Elder Holland warns us that when Christ comes, He needs to recognize us as individuals. He also invites us to become recognizable to Christ by our being “thoroughly committed, faithfully believing, covenant-keeping disciples.” In your study journal or journal, write each of those three items at the top of a column, and number 1-10 below each one. Brainstorm 10 ideas that would help Christ recognize you as thoroughly committed, faithfully believing, and covenant-keeping. Set a goal to do one of those ideas every week. Write your experiences in your journal.
3. Elder Holland instructs us to “employ prayer as a shield against temptation.” Think about the things you find tempting. Prayerfully read Ether 12:27. As you recognize your own temptations and weaknesses, make those a subject of prayer. Keep in mind this instruction from Wendy Ulrich: “Even when we sincerely repent of our sins, obtain forgiveness, and become clean again, we remain weak. We are still subject to illness, emotion, ignorance, predispositions, fatigue, and temptation. But limitations and inadequacies are not sins and do not keep us from being clean and worthy of the Spirit.” (Wendy Ulrich, “It isn’t a Sin to Be Weak,” April 2015 Ensign)
4. Read the list “We need to believe in:” (found in the talk here). Over the course of the next week, choose one of those items listed before each of your prayers. Spend a few moments as you compose yourself to prayer, pondering that item. Follow Elder Holland’s advice as you pray about these aspects of testimony: When we don’t know how or exactly for what to pray, we should begin, and continue, until the Holy Spirit guides us into the prayer we should be offering. 

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