Nephi asked his brothers, "Have ye inquired of the Lord?"

And they answered, "We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us."  (1 Nephi 15:8-9).  Which demonstrates that if you know that the Lord won't speak to you, you're right  The opposite is also true.  If you purposely don't speak to someone, what's the chance that they'll speak to you?

I have been to several gatherings at which a certain woman was also in attendance.  In former days we knew each other well, so I have marveled that at these gatherings the woman has been unable to see me, and very pointedly has avoided speaking to me.  I have asked myself why, because I am certain that I have never done anything which could have offended her.

The answer came to me one day.  It was a feeling of guilt on her part.  Way back when I was serving as a bishop, this woman, who was not a member of my ward, suddenly unloaded on me a confession of a moral sin that she had committed as a teen-aged girl.  I was not the one who should have heard that confession, and told her so.

I think that I've probably forgotten every other similar confession that was made to me as a bishop, but for whatever reason, this one I have not.  I don't want to retain it, but there it is.  This woman looks at me, and knows that I know.  She has probably never gone to her own bishop and properly confessed her sin, so it still hangs over her.  She has probably never even told her husband.  She is still steeped in guilt and, therefore, can't see me or speak to me.  What a shame.  She is now wealthy, and views herself as a person of prominence.  She's also a good church member, but this unforgiven sin hangs over her, and I'm a reminder.

This woman won't speak to me, so I can't speak to her.  That situation is a metaphor for the relationship that many people in the world have with God.  They don't bother to speak to God, so He can't speak to them.

Why don't they speak to Him?  It may stem from their ignorance about His existence, but it is also often because of their feelings of guilt.  Just like the woman, they know that they've done wrong, are embarrassed to admit their mistakes and repent, and rather choose to ignore Him.

The Lord stands ready to speak to us whenever we ask.  He implores us over and over again to ask, knock, and seek.  He usually replies through the Holy Ghost.  Jarom said that "as many as are not stiffnecked and have faith, have communion with the Holy Spirit."  (Jarom 1:4).

I was recently asked to speak to the stake youth in a fireside.  I pondered over what to say.  I prayed to know what the Lord would have me teach the youth of the stake.  I then went to sleep.  I had a dream.  At the end of the dream were these words:  "To this end was I born."  I instantly came wide awake because I knew that was the starting point for my talk.  I was excited.  I puzzled over where I'd heard that phrase before.  It was some minutes before I realized that they were the words of Christ as He stood before Pilate.

I'm grateful to have communion with the Holy Spirit.  I love it when I'm spoken to in this way, and I fully recognize that such communication depends upon me speaking first.