"We thank thee, O God, for a prophet, to guide us in these latter days."

That sentiment in a much beloved hymn expresses the gratitude that Latter-day Saints have for President Gordon B. Hinckley and those prophets who have preceded him.

The role of a prophet is to communicate the will of the Lord Jesus Christ, the head of the Church, not only to Latter-day Saints but also to all who will listen.

How wonderful it is to have someone who can address the problems of today — and tomorrow — under the direction and authority of the Lord.

Gordon B. Hinckley is such a man.

That was very much in evidence during a fireside for young men and women ages 14-25 on Sunday, Nov. 12. President Hinckley counseled them to use six gospel principles to help them overcome today's challenges.

"I hope that you are studying diligently and that your great ambition is to get A grades in your various courses. . . . Let your teachers give you the A's that I hope you earn. I want to talk about some B's. Be grateful, be smart, be clean, be true, be humble, be prayerful." President Hinckley then elaborated on each of the six B's.

Prophets are needed in every dispensation to provide direction and to express the will of the Lord. As noted in Amos, "Surely the Lord God will do nothing but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." (Amos 3:7.)

Without prophets, man is left on his own to try to deal with the world's problems.

This is a reason for the Age of Apostasy. Without guidance from on high, man is left to work things out on his own. From the time of Adam, whenever mankind has turned its collective back on God the whole world has suffered.

Each dispensation or era brings its own challenges, hence the need for a living prophet. Only a living prophet can provide appropriate counsel for a specific time.

For example, President Hinckley has wisely urged the saints to avoid improper movies, videos and Internet sites — things that didn't exist at the time of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Those who succeed President Hinckley will have different issues that need to be addressed in order to provide guidance and comfort for the saints. They will be guided by the Lord as to what those issues are and as to what they should say about them, for that is how the kingdom functions.

President James E. Faust, second counselor in the First Presidency, noted in the August 1996 Ensign: "The principal qualifications of a prophet in any age are not wealth, title, position, physical stature, scholarship or intellectual attainment. The two qualifications are, first, a prophet must be called as such by God and ordained by one known to have legal and spiritual authority (see D&C 42:11), and second, he must receive and declare revelation from God. No man knows the ways of God except they be revealed unto him." (See Jacob 4:8.)

President Faust continued: "For some strange reason, it seems easier for many to believe the words of dead prophets rather than those of living prophets.

"We now move forward nobly and boldly, with courage and conviction, led by our prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley. He is in every respect entitled to our sustaining action. . . . He is the senior Apostle on the earth. He has been ordained and set apart as the prophet, seer and revelator to the world. He alone holds and exercises all the keys of the kingdom under the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the head of this Church and is the chief cornerstone. President Hinckley is leading this work forward and is assisted by two counselors and sustained by the Quorum of the Twelve."

As stated in the Ninth Article of Faith, "We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God."

The Lord is revealing His will now through President Gordon B. Hinckley and will continue to do so. Church members and the honest in heart will wisely heed His counsel, for therein lies their safety in these great, yet challenging, times.

Those who will allow themselves to be touched by the Spirit will know with surety that when Gordon B. Hinckley speaks they are listening to a prophet.