“Seek Diligently and You Will Find,” Liahona, Jan. 2024.
Seek Diligently and You Will Find
The Lord has revealed how we can seek truth and direction in our lives.
When my wife, Regina, and I returned home to Brazil after serving in the Angola Luanda Mission from 2016 to 2019, we had an important decision to make. We had sold our house before our mission. A year after returning home, we had to choose between buying or renting a house. How would we choose what was right for us?
This kind of decision is among the many tasks, activities, and worries of everyday life that come to all of us. At times, they can distract us from the glorious blessings and privileges that only the restored gospel of Jesus Christ offers us. In the face of so many commitments and responsibilities, it can be challenging to know what is true or which direction we should take. This can cause us to suddenly feel overwhelmed by immense demands.
Thankfully, our loving Heavenly Father has not left us on our own to figure out what is true or what we should do.
The Source of All Truth
Before leaving this earth, our Savior, Jesus Christ, promised His disciples that the Father would send the Comforter, or the Holy Ghost, to bless them. The Comforter, Jesus said, “shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance” (John 14:26).
A key role of the Holy Ghost is to be the revealer of truth (see John 16:13). Our Heavenly Father is the source of all revealed truth, whether it comes through prophets, seers, and revelators or to us individually through the Holy Ghost. As we strive to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost, our Heavenly Father will guide us through even the most challenging of times.
Ask, Seek, and Knock
Because our Heavenly Father wants to inspire, teach, instruct, and build us up, we are invited to “ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Matthew 7:7; see also Luke 11:9; 3 Nephi 14:7).
When Nephi heard the words of his father, Lehi, concerning Lehi’s vision of the tree of life, Nephi said he “was desirous also that I might see, and hear, and know of these things, by the power of the Holy Ghost, which is the gift of God unto all those who diligently seek him” (1 Nephi 10:17).
Seeking for truth demands diligence. When we are diligent, we strive consistently, sincerely, and vigorously to know the truth and the Lord’s will for our lives. Diligence in seeking truth from the Lord draws us closer to Him in all phases of our lives.
The Prophet Joseph Smith learned early in his life that one of the most effective ways to find truth is to faithfully seek answers to questions (see Joseph Smith—History 1:10, 18). We may ask the following questions while seeking for truth. The answers present a pattern we can follow to come to know the truth.
Whom Do We Turn to for Truth?
At the end of the Book of Mormon, the prophet Moroni invites everyone to ask God with a sincere heart, with real intent and faith in Christ, “if these things are not true.” Moroni testifies that God “will manifest the truth of [the Book of Mormon] unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things” (Moroni 10:4–5).
God, our Eternal Father, has established a practical and accessible way His children can ask of Him (see James 1:5) and draw close to Him every day, every hour—even at all times. This simple yet powerful way is prayer.
Alma’s teachings to his son Helaman fully apply to us: “Cry unto God for all thy support.” In “all thy doings … and whithersoever thou goest … , let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever” (Alma 37:36). Alma also taught, “Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good” (Alma 37:37). We do not need a specific time or place to pray. Though we may not always be able to pray out loud, we can always have a prayer in our hearts (see Alma 34:27).
The answers we receive to our prayers may not always be what we expect. Sometimes, it may even be contrary to our will. Our prayers may also take longer to be answered than we wish. Sometimes they might be met with silence for a while. But Heavenly Father is mindful of our needs. His answers will always be for our good. We just need to move forward with faith in Jesus Christ. (See Luke 11:9–13.)1
Our Savior and Redeemer has declared that we will never reach Heavenly Father unless it is through Him. “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” Jesus said. “No man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). This eliminates any other alternative, or even any obstacle, in our communication with God. This is why all the prayers, talks, testimonies, classes, and so many other things we do—at church, at home with our families, or on our own—are done in the name of Jesus Christ.
What Should Our Attitude Be?
To find truth, we have to be sincere and have true intentions. When we humbly call upon Heavenly Father, we make ourselves available to act according to answers we receive and expand our capacity to do so.
Sincerity and real intent move us to do things Heavenly Father would have us do, not what we want to do. We clearly show Heavenly Father our trust in Him when we are “submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon [us]” (Mosiah 3:19). Through these attributes, we come to understand and trust that Heavenly Father will always do what is best for us.
Photograph by Lee Michael Ragsdale
How Will Answers Come?
In deciding whether to buy or rent a house, my wife and I prayed, pondered, and talked a lot about it. Eventually, the feeling came to our minds and hearts that we should not buy a house. We followed in faith according to the answer we received, not knowing what was about to happen in our lives.
About 18 months later, in April 2022, I was called as a General Authority Seventy. After the April 2022 general conference, we had only three weeks to leave Brazil for our first assignment. Living in a rented house at that time made the process of moving much easier. Today, Regina and I can clearly see that the Lord guided us in our decision.
Nephi also received according to his desire. By diligently seeking truth and believing and trusting that Heavenly Father would reveal truth to him, Nephi was blessed to behold the things his father saw. He beheld the tree of life, which represents the love of God—the love that “is the most desirable above all things” and “the most joyous to the soul” (1 Nephi 11: 22, 23).
Through the Holy Ghost, our Heavenly Father reveals truth that is available to all His children. The Lord revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith that the Holy Ghost may speak to our minds and our hearts (see Doctrine and Covenants 8:2), “press … upon [our] feelings” (Doctrine and Covenants 128:1), cause our bosom to “burn within [us]” (Doctrine and Covenants 9:8), fill our souls with joy, enlighten our minds, or speak peace to our troubled hearts (see Doctrine and Covenants 11:13; 6:14–15, 22–23).
I testify that God’s truth dispels doubt and fear and strengthens our testimonies. With Nephi, I declare, “For he that diligently seeketh shall find” (1 Nephi 10:19). God will reveal truth if we diligently seek it, for He “is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). And He will do so clearly that it will leave no doubt that His hand guides our lives.