Editor’s note: To support elders quorum and Relief Society classes, the Church News is publishing lesson resources on messages from October 2024 general conference. These are meant to be a starting point and not a strict lesson plan.
About this talk
- “Seek Him With All Your Heart”
- by Bishop L. Todd Budge | Second counselor in the Presiding Bishopric
- Sunday morning session of October 2024 general conference.
- Theme: Those who return often to the Lord with stillness and full purpose of heart better come to know Him and feel His love.
Read the full message here.
Read a summary of Bishop Budge’s message here.
Outline
- While Bishop Budge was serving with his wife as mission leaders in Tokyo, Japan, then-Elder Russell M. Nelson told missionaries that just as a body will die if not nourished, so will a spirit if not nourished by the good word of God. Being too busy to nourish one’s spirit can lead to spiritual death.
- Although salvation depends on returning often to the Lord and resting from the cares of the world, many do not. Believers can make time for the Lord and be still to receive personal revelation and peace.
- Being still requires letting go of doubtful and fearful thoughts and focusing one’s heart and mind unfailingly on the Lord. “Being still is an act of faith and requires effort.”
- For Bishop Budge, the Japanese word “mui” is a reminder to slow down and live with greater spiritual awareness. While serving in the Asia North Area presidency, Bishop Budge asked Sister Naomi Wada, an accomplished Japanese calligrapher, to draw the characters for “mui.” She approached this calligraphy with full purpose of heart and real intent by pondering on the concept and the characters.
- When God’s children approach time with Him with heartfelt devotion, worship becomes an expression of their love for Him. He yearns for His children to commune with Him, but He will not force them to.
- The gospel of Jesus Christ gives opportunities to return to Him often, such as through daily prayer, the sacrament ordinance and temple worship. What’s needed in sacred opportunities is not necessarily more time but rather more awareness and focus on God during times already set aside for Him.
- When focus is less on doing and more on strengthening covenant connection, sacred moments are enriched, and needed guidance is given.
- Christ sought quiet time to commune with God and be strengthened by Him, and the Savior is an example to do likewise. Concentrating one’s heart and mind on Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ brings greater clarity, deeper compassion, rest and strength.
- Those who return often to the Lord with full purpose of heart will come to know Him in quietness and confidence, and they will feel His infinite covenantal love for them.
Discussion questions
How have you made time on busy days to nourish your spirit?
What does it look like to “return often to the Lord with full purpose of heart”?
How can we focus more on God during times we already set aside for Him?
How might “being still” be an act of faith that requires effort?
When will you make time this week for quiet time with the Lord?
Notable quotes
- “God desires that we approach our time with Him with ... heartfelt devotion. When we do so, our worship becomes an expression of our love for Him. He yearns for us to commune with Him.”
- “What may be needed is not necessarily more time but more awareness of and focus on God during the times we already set aside for Him.”
- “Even the Savior took time from His ministry to be still. The scriptures are replete with examples of the Lord retreating to a solitary place — a mountain, the wilderness, a desert place or going ‘a little way off’ (3 Nephi 19:19) — to pray to the Father. If Jesus Christ sought quiet time to commune with God and to be strengthened by Him, it would be wise for us to do the same.”
Key scriptures
- “For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not. But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.”
- “Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”
- “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”
Invitations and promises
- “When our focus is less on doing and more on strengthening our covenant connection with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, I testify that each of these sacred moments will be enriched, and we will receive the guidance needed in our personal lives.”
- “As we concentrate our hearts and minds on Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and listen to the still, small voice of the Holy Ghost, we will have greater clarity about what is most needful, develop deeper compassion, and find rest and strength in Him.”
- “I testify that as we return often to the Lord with full purpose of heart, we will in quietness and confidence come to know Him and feel His infinite covenantal love for us.”
Stories
- While Bishop Budge was serving with his wife as mission leaders in Tokyo, Japan, then-Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles visited the mission. A missionary asked him how to respond to people who say they’re too busy to listen to missionaries. Elder Nelson responded, “I would ask if they were too busy to eat lunch that day and then teach them that they have both a body and a spirit, and just as their body will die if not nourished, so will their spirit if not nourished by the good word of God.” Being too busy to nourish one’s spirit can lead to spiritual death.
- The two characters of the Japanese word “mui” (無為) combine into “non-doing.” For Bishop Budge, it’s a reminder to slow down and live with greater spiritual awareness. He asked accomplished Japanese calligrapher Sister Naomi Wada, wife of Elder Takashi Wada, to draw the characters for “mui.” To do so, she had to “ponder and meditate on the concept and the characters until she understood the meaning deeply in her soul and could give expression to these heartfelt impressions with each stroke of her brush.” Similarly, God desires His children to approach time with Him with the same heartfelt devotion.
- After Bishop Budge gave the invocation in a meeting with the First Presidency, President Nelson said, “While you were praying, I thought how much God must appreciate when we take time from our busy schedules to acknowledge Him.” This reminded Bishop Budge how much it must mean to Heavenly Father when His children pause to commune with Him.
Notable footnotes
- 3. 2 Nephi 10:24 invites us to re-con-cile our will to God’s will. “Re” means “again,” “con” means “with,” and “cile” is a chair or throne. To reconcile our will to God’s can mean to literally sit again with God.
- 14. “A healthy, functioning heart is central to the health and well-being of each of us. However, what I have learned as a servant and witness of Jesus Christ is that a healthy physical heart is only half of our challenge. I take seriously the injunction to love God with all our hearts, because loving Him is what keeps us vibrant” (President Russell M. Nelson, “The Heart of the Matter: What 100 Years of Living Have Taught Me” [2023]).
- 20. Commenting on how his prayers have evolved over time, Desmond Tutu stated: “I think [I am] trying to grow, in just being there. Like when you sit in front of a fire in winter — you are just there in front of the fire. You don’t have to be smart or anything. The fire warms you” (“Desmond Tutu, Insisting We Are ‘Made for Goodness’” [NPR interview by Renee Montagne, Mar. 11, 2010], npr.org).
Additional resources
- Related image: “Christ Praying in the Garden of Gethsemane” by Hermann Clementz
- Related video: “The Soul’s Sincere Desire”
- Related hymn: No. 129, “Where Can I Turn for Peace?”
Recent conference talks on seeking Christ
- Elder José A. Teixeira: “Bonded to Jesus Christ: Becoming the Salt of the Earth” (October 2024)
- Elder Taylor G. Godoy: “Call, Don’t Fall” (April 2024)
- Elder Robert M. Daines: “Sir, We Would Like to See Jesus” (October 2023)
Who is Bishop Budge?
- Bishop L. Todd Budge was sustained as a General Authority Seventy in April 2019, then as second counselor of the Presiding Bishopric a year and a half later in October 2020. In his career in banking, Bishop Budge became the first foreigner to become president of a Japanese bank.
