I'm realizing that part of being a writer is reusing old material in a new context. So, here it is, folks. My talk from this Sunday with some very familiar real life examples from my last talk in November!
Today I have been asked to speak on the topic “How to receive and act upon revelation and inspiration.” I’d like to answer this question and then share few example of this in my life.
The Holy Ghost communicates important information from Heavenly Father that we need to guide us in our mortal journey. When it is crisp and clear and essential, it warrants the title of revelation. When it is a series of promptings and we are guided step by step to a worthy objective…it is inspiration. We only receive revelation and inspiration when we ask for it.
Elder Richard G. Scott has given many beautiful talks focused on receiving revelation and inspiration and urges us to sanctify ourselves. That means to obey the commandments. He says “Communication with our Father in Heaven is not a trivial matter. It is a sacred privilege. It is based upon eternal, unchanging principles. We receive help from our Father in Heaven in response to our faith, obedience, and the proper use of agency.”
Specifically, he gives the following practical principles to enhance receiving answers through revelation and inspiration by maintaining the spirit:
Do not yield to emotions such as anger, hurt, defensiveness. They drive way the spirit.
Be cautious with humor, as loud, inappropriate laughter will offend the spirit, while a good sense of humor helps revelation.
Exaggeration also drives away the spirit– careful, quiet speech will favor the receipt of revelation
Good health practices enhance the spiritual communication – exercise, sleep, good eating habits
We need to fill our days with non-distracting activities.
We need to be humble
We need to think about others.
Elder Scott also has come up with a formula we can use to invite the spirit into our lives and increase our communication with the Lord. In his talk entitled “How to obtain revelation and inspiration for your personal life”
He shares a cyclical process outlined here:
- first you pray about the questions you have
-second, fast and ponder
-third, pray to find and understand scripture that will help you discover your answer
-then you read the scripture
-ponder what you’ve read and the question you have
-pray for The Holy Ghost to reveal the answer for you
-ponder god’s response
-pray once more write it down and ask “Did I capture all god had to say?” Often more impressions will come with increased understanding of the doctrine
As we continually do these things our ability to understand God’s reponses to our questions will be enhanced and we will receive the truth clearly and even more quickly.
Revelation can also be given in a dream when there is an almost imperceptible transition from sleep to wakefulness. If you strive to capture the content immediately, you can record great detail, but otherwise it fades rapidly. Inspired communication in the night is generally accompanied by a sacred feeling for the entire experience. The Lord uses individuals for whom we have great respect to teach us truths in a dream because we trust them and will listen to their counsel. It is the Lord doing the teaching through the Holy Ghost. However, He may in a dream make it both easier to understand and more likely to touch our hearts by teaching us through someone we love and respect. I frequently have dreams that teach me about gospel truths and frequently it is my Grandpa who teaches me or it is a former teacher, people I know personally and trust.
Once you have obtained an answer, you will know it comes from God because it will produce in your heart peace and a quiet warm feeling. I find it helpful to write down my experiences and feelings to help myself realize when and how I feel the sprit so next time I can recognize it faster. I write the specifics of my question, the process I went through to receive my answer and what the answer and the “extras” I receive in clarification are. Most importantly I write in extreme detail the feelings I had during that process and the feelings or words that guided me to my final conclusion. I then refer back to that log of feelings whenever I am confused about where an answer came from. While the Lord can recall anything to our minds, it is up to us to record the direction we receive. Inspiration carefully recorded shows God that His communications are sacred to us. Recording will also enhance our ability to recall revelation. Such recording of direction of the Spirit should be protected from loss or intrusion by others.
Sometimes in this process of questioning, pondering, reading, and repeating, we can get frustrated by the time and effort it takes to receive what the Lord has for us. We need to remember that “Our Heavenly Father did not put us on earth to fail but to succeed gloriously. It may seem paradoxical, but that is why recognizing answers to prayer can sometimes be very difficult. Sometimes we unwisely try to face life by depending on our own experience and capacity. It is much wiser for us to seek through prayer and divine inspiration to know what to do. Our obedience assures that when required, we can qualify for divine power to accomplish an inspired objective.”
Next, I will give some examples of how these practices have influenced my life in my attempts to receive revelation and inspiration from God as well as the other truths the journey to my answers has taught me.
I recently lived an Elder Uchtdorf quote in relation to a gospel question. The quote is – “When we choose to believe, exercise faith unto repentance, and follow our Savior, Jesus Christ, we open our spiritual eyes to splendors we can scarcely imagine. Thus our belief and faith will grow stronger, and we will see even more.…We can choose to believe.”
Now, I have always wondered about the doctrine of plural marriage. I was first aware when I was probably 10 or 11 and wondered about it my whole life. I’ve read family descriptions of the ways in which my family carried out this commandment when it was given to them and how it affected their lives. I’ve read between the lines of these women and men and been so embarrassed and confused for them. About 3 years ago my questions where starting to bubble up and I talked to a lot of people about them and prayed a lot to understand why this was required of these people. I picked apart every mention of marriage in the scriptures, especially the Doctrine and Covenants.
As I continued to go through Elder Scotts outlined process to receive revelation, I was lead during Christmas break that year to a scholarly collection of firsthand accounts of the women, wives, men, and children who were asked to live this law as well as witness accounts. I read letters and journal entries of Emma Smith’s reaction, which reached every height of repulsion and joy. I read her children’s, maids’, and friends’ accounts of how this affected her and other families’ lives. It was a very thorough account of the times and the lives of these people. Most of my undergraduate education was spent looking at primary resources and analyzing the experiences and meanings of the words of different people across the ages so for me, this collection of accounts was a gold mine of information and it definitely was not very pretty.
Fortunately, at this same time I was given the gift of extreme sickness for three weeks. I contracted pneumonia and was just well enough to read and ponder for three weeks as I studied the stack of accounts. It was all I did day and night while my body healed, as I could not even care for my children. I even lost my voice for two of those weeks and couldn’t talk about what I was learning or voice questions I still had to others around me. After these three weeks of almost complete silence, reading accounts, pondering, praying, and rereading the Doctrine and Covenant and praying again to understand the context more fully, I came out with a beautiful understanding and acceptance of plural marriage. I actually wrote out my acceptance of the topic, signed, dated, and marked the time – January 12, 2014 11:20pm. It was sweet and precious to me as in the beginning it was repugnant.
Now, I’m not saying I would in any way be at all happy to participate in that calling, but I came to a point of peace about the doctrine and the context in which God required certain families to live it. I sought God out with my questions and He found me space, time, and material to provide my answers.
There are countless quotes by prophets telling us to investigate our questions, research them even. If we give up seeking an answer before it comes we will almost definitely fall away. But if we can endure, the answer will proceed with more light and glory, bolstering our faith more than we could ever imagine. I am so grateful I didn’t stop reading when the accounts got ugly. I am so grateful I kept my heart open to my Heavenly Father so he could speak to me and I could receive my answer. I am grateful for the Spirit I was worthy of that clarified so many of my questions and helped me sort out my feelings.
After this experience I was prompted to seek out more information on an even more sacred and private gospel topic. I was blessed with a new awareness of this certain topic throughout all scripture books – Old and New Testaments, the Book of Mormon the Pearl of Great Price, Doctrine and Covenant, and all the tiny book therein. I became so excited to read each day because I would find complete gems simply by reading straight through the scriptures in order. It was like I had on glasses that had me reading the entire scriptures through the lens of this one topic. I’ve looked over my study journals from this time, as I starred and highlighted each passage of scripture that I felt answered a new aspect of this questions, and for six months I had almost daily responses from Heavenly Father through scripture. Even now, 2.5 years later I get weekly insights into this topic. The Lord has so much to teach me here and it all started with my questioning the old practice of plural marriage! Through my questions and bits of inspiration I received, I have discovered that even the most sacred and precious topics are falling out of each page of our gospel books. The answers to our questions are screaming from the pages!
Last year there was a policy change in the church that was very confusing for me. I didn’t know how to move forward with what, at least for the moment looked and felt like a contradiction to my beliefs. I turned to Heavenly Father to guide my understanding and to lead me to know what to do. I was prompted first, to read words of our prophets that helped me rediscover that faith is an action. After praying about my dilemma, I was prompted to go and read many inspired talks and articles. I am happy to report that by now I have reached a place of peace and patience with regards to my question.
I rediscovered through my Spirit lead reading that if we choose to do nothing about the questioning our weaker areas of testimonies we are not acting in faith, we are even acting unfaithfully in our neglect. Sister Carole M. Stephens of the general Relief Society presidency said “This is exactly where the adversary would like us to stay—so disabled by fear that we are unable to act or refuse to act. But faith is a principle of action.”
Knowing this, I decided to take action. I started by doing what Elder Uctdorf Suggested in his talk entitled “It Works Wonderfully.”
He asked us to ponder these questions:
Does my life have meaning?”
Do I believe in God?”
Do I believe that God knows and loves me?”
Do I believe that God hears and answers my prayers?”
Am I truly happy?”
Are my efforts leading me to the highest spiritual goals and values in life?
And for me, the most startling question at the time: “Is my experience in the Church working for me? Is it bringing me closer to Christ? Is it blessing me and my family with peace and joy as promised in the gospel?”
These last questions startled and scared me because they imply that there are more answers than just “yes.” I was so overwhelmed and confused by my question that I couldn’t see beyond it - I immediately thought, what if I DON’T feel like this church is meeting my needs? What do I do if I have a serious concern, problem, or flaw in my relationship with Christ? What if I’ve been ignoring it and am becoming numb and distant in the process?
Once again I asked what to do and where to go for guidance. The Spirit lead me to a talk by Neil L Answersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles where he asks: “How do you remain ‘steadfast and immovable’ during a trial of faith? You immerse yourself in the very things that helped build your core of faith: you exercise faith in Christ, you pray, you ponder the scriptures, you repent, you keep the commandments, and you serve others. When faced with a trial of faith—whatever you do, don’t step away from the Church! Distancing yourself from the kingdom of God during a trial of faith is like leaving the safety of a secure storm cellar just as the tornado comes into view.”
At this time, with the policy change, the questions and confusions I faced seemed so big that there was little room for faith in anything related to the topic I questioned. However, with this last inspired talk, I was able to ponder on the words and the spirit brought to my remembrance that in the past when I have had a trial of faith, when I step back and look at the barebones of my testimony, I find that my faith in my Savior, love of Heavenly Father, and testimony of the prophets far out-weighed the whatever concern I have. In the past I’ve found that if I stick to what I know is true, continue to patiently seek answers through prayer and scripture study, all will be made right. So that is what I did. I studied the words of our prophets.
From Elder Andersen I learned that I have the power to choose whether I let my concern become a doubt or a question. He said “faith … is a decision.” From there I also read a wonderful article written by Adam Kotter in the March 2015 Ensign entitled “When Doubts and Questions Arise.” He reminds us that questions are good and bring us closer to God when pursued God’s way; doubt on the other hand does not come from God. He asks “What, then, is the difference between a question and a doubt? Questions, when asked with a sincere desire to increase one’s understanding and faith, are to be encouraged. Many ancient and modern revelations have come as the result of a sincere question. The scriptural injunction to seek and to ask in order to find is among the most frequently repeated. Sincere questions are those asked with the ‘real intent’ (Moroni 10:4) to better understand and more fully obey the will of the Lord. A sincere questioner continues to be obedient while searching for answers. By contrast, I have seen that when people doubt their beliefs, they often suspend their commitment to commandments and covenants while waiting for answers. The doubter’s posture is generally to withhold obedience or limit it, pending resolution of the doubts. The power of doubt to destroy faith, hope, and even family is diminished the minute one sincerely says, ‘I will do the things the Lord has commanded, whether my questions are resolved quickly or ever, because I have covenanted to do so.’ The difference between a faithful ‘I will keep the commandments because …’ and a doubtful ‘I will keep the commandments if …’ is of powerful and eternally import. From this I determined to proceed in faith and obedience no matter what, all the while still asking God all my questions.
I realized that frequently the concerns I have are a result to a gut reaction I feel at the discovery of my question. I feel hurt, confused, even angry maybe. That’s okay; it’s normal. Maybe more natural man than Godly being, but it’s okay to have an initial response. It’s what we do afterwards that determines how weak this will make us. We can allow our concerns to become doubts that fester and grow in darkness, or we can proceed with faith while seeking an answer or even simply peace with the topic of concern through revelation or inspiration.
I am still in the process of completing that cyclical process Elder Scott outlined earlier. I am still obtaining inspiration along my path to understanding my answer. I do not yet have my ultimate answer, but my faith has been so completely bolstered along the way that my fears have all vanished. I’ve learned that labeling something as a question and proceeding on with faith does not mean boxing up our question and ignoring it. It means enduring the process of the unknown, the time of acting on faith rather than knowledge. It means having patience with ourselves and trusting the Lord’s timing. We have the power to do these things.
Like a muscle, each time we choose to cling to the faith we do have while sorting out the unknown we grow stronger and give ourselves freedom from the doubt the adversary may bring into our lives. I trust the Lord to continue to guide me and strengthen me even in my questioning. I know I can rely on my Heavenly Father to respond to my questions and enlighten me with revelation and inspiration. I trust his process and do my best to follow through with reading, fasting, prayer and continually seeking clarification and further knowledge.
Heavenly Father already knows what you are scared of, what you worry about, the discomforts and weak areas of your faith – acknowledge them and find the revelation and answers he has for you!
Be worthy of the Holy Ghost and keep seeking the desired inspiration or revelation. Cling to the doctrine you KNOW. Strip off all the manmade layers that may or may not be relevant to you now and when you doubt, go back to the basics that support your faith.
I end now with a beautiful compilation of scriptures found in Doctrine and Covenants 76:5-10 (my own paraphrasing) – “To those who fear me and serve me, I will reveal all mysteries, wonders of eternity, even the things of many generations. Their wisdom will be great, their understanding reach into heaven. By My spirit will I enlighten them and by my power will I make known the secrets of my will.”
I testify of the truthfulness of the words I have written and quoted. I pray that each of us can patiently work with the Lord to receive our answers, that we may choose to question rather than doubt, and never stop living the truth we DO know. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
