Receiving Personal Revelation
Worldwide Devotional for Young Adults
Sunday, November 19, 2023
Thank you, Elder and Sister Gilbert, for your excellent counsel.
The final question is both doctrinal and profound. How am I blessed by personal revelation and prophetic guidance?
The great introductory vision in the Book of Mormon is Lehi’s prophetic dream of the tree of life.1 This vision starkly describes the challenges to faith that exist in our day and the great divide between those who love, worship, and feel accountable to God and those who do not. Lehi explains some of the conduct that destroys faith. Some are proud, vain, and foolish. They are only interested in the so-called “wisdom of the world.”2 Others have some interest in God but are lost in worldly mists of darkness and sin.3 Some have tasted of the love of God and His word but feel ashamed because of those mocking them and fall away into forbidden paths.4
We acknowledge that there are members who are less interested and less faithful to some of the Savior’s teachings. Our desire is for these members to awaken fully to faith and increase their activity, commitment, and efforts to obtain personal revelation. God loves all His children. He wants all of them to return to Him. He desires everyone to be in tune with the sacred music of faith. The Savior’s Atonement is a gift for everyone. Personal revelation is available to everyone.
The message, ministry, and Atonement of Jesus Christ, our Savior, is our essential curriculum for receiving personal revelation. No scripture characterizes a proper quest for faith more than 2 Nephi 25:26: “And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.”
The Book of Mormon is of seminal importance.5 It has a significant role in receiving personal revelation. There will, of course, always be those who underestimate the significance of or even disparage this sacred book. Some have used humor. Before I served a mission, a university professor quoted Mark Twain’s statement that if you took “and it came to pass” out of the Book of Mormon, it “would have been only a pamphlet.”6
A few months later, while serving a mission in London, England, a distinguished Oxford-educated professor at the University of London, an Egyptian expert in Semitic languages, read the Book of Mormon, corresponded with then-President of the Church David O. McKay, and met with the missionaries. He informed them he was convinced the Book of Mormon was indeed a translation of the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians for the periods described in the Book of Mormon.7 One example among many he used was the conjunctive phrase “and it came to pass,” which he said mirrored how he would translate phraseology used in ancient Semitic writings.8 The professor was informed that while his intellectual approach based on his profession had helped him, it was still essential to have a spiritual testimony. Through study and prayer, he gained a spiritual witness and was baptized. So what one famous humorist saw as an object of ridicule, a scholar recognized as profound evidence of the truth of the Book of Mormon, which was confirmed to him by the Spirit.
The essential doctrine of agency requires that a testimony of the restored gospel must be based on faith rather than external or scientific proof. Ultimately, Moroni’s counsel to read and ponder and then ask God in all sincerity of heart with real intent to confirm scriptural truths by the witness of the Spirit is the answer.9 Clearly, a dividing line between those who hear the music of faith and those who are tone deaf or off-key is the active study of the scriptures and following the counsel of the Lord’s prophet.
Personal revelation is the profound blessing received following baptism when we are “sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost.”10 The Holy Ghost is the revealer and testifier of all truth, especially of the Savior. For our day, that revelatory guidance is essential. President Nelson has taught, “In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.”11
Please understand that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and keeping His commandments is and always will be the defining test of mortality. Above all else, each of us must realize that when one is tone deaf to the music of faith, he or she is out of tune with the Spirit. As the prophet Nephi taught, “Ye have heard his voice; … and he hath spoken unto you in a still small voice, but ye were past feeling, that ye could not feel his words.”12 Scriptures make it clear that the Holy Ghost can communicate in many ways. Sometimes He speaks peace to your mind.13 Sometimes He prompts thoughts or ideas that occupy your mind.14 Sometimes He enlightens your mind.15 Sometimes He causes your hearts to be filled with joy.16
I appreciate the social media responses I have received to my post of how you receive revelation. One noted that we need to be humble and accept spiritual impressions that we receive. Then we need to hearken to the impressions instead of the world.
President Russell M. Nelson has taught, “You don’t have to wonder about what is true. 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.”17
Our doctrine is clear; we are to be positive and of good cheer. I loved that President Dallin H. Oaks and Sister Kristen M. Oaks emphasized being of good cheer at their exceptional worldwide devotional last May. We always emphasize our faith, not our fears. We rejoice in the Lord’s assurance that He will stand by us and give us guidance and direction.18 The Holy Ghost testifies to our hearts that we have a loving Father in Heaven whose merciful plan for our redemption will be fulfilled in every aspect because of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.