We are living in a time when personal revelation is more important than ever. The way you hear His voice may be different than your neighbor’s. Are you familiar enough with His voice to trust His message for you, even if His counsel or direction may be different than your family or neighbors?
President Russell M. Nelson’s critical counsel is, that you must know how to identify the Lord’s course of action for you. (Excerpts from talks he has given)
“In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.”
“It has never been more imperative to know how the Spirit speaks to you than right now. Do whatever it takes to increase your spiritual capacity to receive personal revelation.”
“Refining our ability to recognize the whisperings of the Holy Ghost and increasing our capacity to receive revelation requires worthiness. Worthiness does not require perfection, but it requires that we strive for increased purity.”
“Pray in the name of Jesus Christ about your concerns, your fears, your weaknesses—yes, the very longings of your heart. And then listen! Write the thoughts that come to your mind. Record your feelings and follow through with actions that you are prompted to take. As you repeat this process day after day, month after month, year after year, you will “grow into the principle of revelation.”
“The Lord expects daily effort, daily improvement, daily repentance. Worthiness brings purity, and purity qualifies us for the Holy Ghost. As we take ‘the Holy Spirit for [our] guide’ (Doctrine and Covenants 45:57), we qualify for personal revelation.”
“We also hear Him more clearly as we refine our ability to recognize the whisperings of the Holy Ghost. It has never been more imperative to know how the Spirit speaks to you than right now. In the Godhead, the Holy Ghost is the messenger. He will bring thoughts to your mind which the Father and Son want you to receive. He is the Comforter. He will bring a feeling of peace to your heart. He testifies of truth and will confirm what is true as you hear and read the word of the Lord.”
“I renew my plea for you to do whatever it takes to increase your spiritual capacity to receive personal revelation.”
“If we are to have any hope of sifting through the myriad of voices and the philosophies of men that attack truth, we must learn to receive revelation.”
He told of experiences that helped him learn how to receive revelation. Whether it was when he, as a young boy, was drawn to the gospel while living in a home led by parents who were not active in the Church, as a young man in medical school marrying Dantzel White, as a father to their 10 children, or, after his wife passed away, marrying Wendy Watson, he said that “each of these blessings has come as a result of seeking and heeding the promptings of the Holy Ghost.”
“Brothers and sisters, how can we become the men and women—the Christlike servants—the Lord needs us to be?” he asked. “How can we find answers to questions that perplex us? If Joseph Smith’s transcendent experience in the Sacred Grove teaches us anything, it is that the heavens are open and that God speaks to His children.”
“All have the ability to receive personal revelation.”
“Follow the example of the Prophet Joseph,” he said. “Find a quiet place where you can regularly go. Humble yourself before God. Pour out your heart to your Heavenly Father. Turn to Him for answers and for comfort.”
President Nelson invited members of the conference congregation to pray about concerns, fears, weaknesses, and “the very longings of your heart.”
To those wondering if God wants to speak to them, President Nelson said, “Yes!”
“You don’t have to wonder about what is true,” he said. “You do not have to wonder whom you can safely trust. Through personal revelation, you can receive your own witness that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, that Joseph Smith is a prophet, and that this is the Lord’s Church. Regardless of what others may say or do, no one can ever take away a witness borne to your heart and mind about what is true.”
President Nelson invited listeners to stretch beyond their current spiritual abilities to receive personal revelation.
REVELATION NEEDED TO SURVIVE AND THRIVE
The Lord is bringing forth Zion, and we can be part of it: a people who are pure in heart and of one mind and one heart. Doing so will help us to thrive in a world going awry.
Develop our revelatory abilities to come to know our infinitely loving Heavenly Father and Mother and our Beloved Savior. Coming to know them is Eternal Life (John 17:3) and the path to a fullness of joy. (Read Christ’s great High Priest’s prayer just before He brought about the infinite atonement in John Chapter 17.)
I share what is hidden to most, a very important parable: “Behold, this I give unto you as a parable, and it is even as I am. I say unto you, be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine (D&C 38:27).” The Savior’s great High Priest’s prayer was answered with the Nephites, as recorded in 3 Nephi 19, and they became one with Him. Thus, the Bride will be ready to meet the Bridegroom and greatly rejoice. Thus, we can THRIVE, as we become one with Elohim.
I pray that we may be one with Heavenly Father and Mother and their Beloved Son. And may we be numbered amongst those who are pure in heart—of one mind and heart. In ZION, the Savior will be dwelling in our midst as with the Nephites of old, as beautifully described in Third Nephi Chapter 19: “…and his countenance did smile upon them, and the light of his countenance did shine upon them, and behold they were as white as the countenance and also the garments of Jesus (verse 25).” Indeed, they were thriving in His light, as they were purified by Him. May we be full recipients of His FULL INFINITE ATONEMENT.
David W. Allan (30 July 2024)