After Jesus Christ’s ascension into heaven, some may have assumed that the Lord stopped speaking to His people. However, in the Book of Amos, we read, “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets”. From the time when Adam and Eve left Heavenly Father’s presence to this day, the Lord continually speaks to His people through His prophets.

We are sent here on earth to be tried and tested but we are not sent here alone. God has provided the help necessary for our salvation. One of the help that we need is instruction from God. This instruction is given through the prophets.  A prophet is called of God to testify of Him and to lead mankind through continuous revelation. He receives revelations even on the things that will yet come to pass.

We have a living prophet in our day by the name of Thomas S. Monson. The living prophet is the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who has the authority to lead the Church and all its affairs, including the building of the kingdom of God here on earth (Doctrine & Covenants 132:7). He also has been conferred the power and keys of the Holy Priesthood. His words does not only inspire many souls to come unto Christ, but his life, even more, speaks so much of how much he loves the Lord by following His commandments.

Sustaining the prophets of God does not only happen when members of the Church raise their hands during general, stake and ward/branch conferences. It happens more often than we think. We sustain him when we pray and fast for him, when we listen and study his words, and when we follow his counsel.

President Wilford Woodruff, one of the previous leaders of the Mormon Church, once said, “The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as President of this Church to lead you astray. It is not in the programme. It is not in the mind of God. If I were to attempt that, the Lord would remove me out of my place.” President Woodruff’s statement is a testimony that the Lord is at the head of the Church and that His purposes are always for the welfare of His people.

The blessings of following the counsels of the prophets of God may not seem very evident sometimes. There are times that it may conflict with what we feel and what we desire, but they can see what we can’t see. Most often, they see the dangers that lie ahead of a certain decision so they forbid us to make it. They also see the blessings that lie ahead when we do not do what they forbid.  We have been promised that “the gates of hell shall not prevail against [us]; yea, and the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before [us], and cause the heavens to shake for [our] good, and his name’s glory” if we obey the prophets (Doctrine and Covenants  21:6).

When we are clouded with doubts whether or not we should follow the prophets of God, we can be comforted by the Lord’s words, “What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same” (Doctrine & Covenants 1:38).

Prophets of God—the living prophet today and all the prophets that lived before us—are men of God. They are seasoned men whose faith have been tried and tested through adversities over time. They are men foreordained to lead the Church even when they were still spirits. They were chosen to come to earth at a time that they will be needed by the Lord to lead His people. They have been prepared since the foundation of the world. However, becoming a prophet is also a summation of the righteous choices that they made in their mortal journey. These men, like us, are not perfect, but they have been qualified by the Lord when they were called to stand as the representatives of the Lord here on earth. Following the prophets is following the Lord Jesus Christ.