Finding Answers: From Sister to Sister
How Do I Recognize Revelation from God?
Answering these four questions helped me get better at recognizing personal revelation.
While serving as a missionary in New Zealand, I was concerned about the lack of spiritual guidance that I felt from day to day. Most days seemed void of personal revelation, even when I prayed and specifically asked for guidance from Heavenly Father.
When I did recognize a prompting, it was often only in hindsight (after I had failed to act) that I could see it for what it was.
I remember one particular preparation day when I had the thought to buy ingredients to make cookies as my companion and I walked through the aisles of a grocery store. I dismissed the idea, and we finished up shopping.
Hours later we visited with a less-active member who had experienced a difficult week. As I thought about how we could comfort her, I remembered something she had once told me: her favorite treat was chocolate chip cookies.
I left this member’s house feeling angry and confused. Was the thought I had at the store a prompting I had failed to recognize?
I had every desire to be led by the Spirit, but I felt incapable of recognizing the messages that I received from the Holy Ghost.
Learning about Revelation
Sister Julie B. Beck, former Relief Society General President, said that “the ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life.”1 I’ve found that turning to the scriptures to answer a few important questions has helped me learn how to recognize when the Spirit is speaking to me. Learning the answers to these four questions may help you be more receptive to the voice of the Spirit too.
1. What qualifies me to receive personal revelation?
As children of God, we are entitled to receive personal revelation from on high. Heavenly Father wants to speak to you because He loves you.
Through the scriptures, I learned that although we are entitled to receive revelation, there are some things we can do to make it easier. One of those things is keeping the commandments (see Doctrine and Covenants 63:23). When we are baptized, we covenant to obey God’s commandments, and in turn we are promised that the Spirit will always be with us. With the Spirit as our constant companion, we are better prepared to receive revelation from God.
2. How does the Spirit communicate with me?
In order to hear the promptings of the Spirit, I need to know what to listen for. From the scriptures, I learned that when the Holy Ghost communicates, He reaches out in quiet but powerful ways (see 3 Nephi 11:3; Helaman 5:30). I also learned that the Spirit can speak to me not only through thoughts in my mind but also through feelings in my heart (see Doctrine and Covenants 8:2–3).
When I had the thought to buy sugar and flour at the grocery store, I didn’t hear a loud voice in my head. Instead, I felt in my heart that I might soon have a use for those items. I believe this was the Spirit communicating with me about how I could serve someone that week.
3. What does revelation feel like to me?
I used to fall into the trap of expecting to hear a voice in my ear or have things be made known clearly to me all at once. While this sometimes happens, I’ve learned that revelation most often comes softly, slowly, and bit by bit over time.
As Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles put it: “Most frequently, revelation comes in small increments over time. … Such communications from Heavenly Father gradually and gently ‘distil upon [our souls] as the dews from heaven’ (Doctrine and Covenants 121:45).”2
I felt this type of revelation as I prepared to serve a mission. Throughout high school, I had no desire to serve. It just wasn’t something I was interested in. Soon after I graduated, a friend opened her mission call to Auckland, New Zealand. I had heard about plenty of dazzling mission destinations, but in that moment a feeling of amazement entered my heart, and I couldn’t figure out why.
I moved away to college soon after and forgot all about the experience until I opened my own mission call months later. During my first semester at university, I was surprised when I felt prompted to serve a mission. I was hesitant at first but soon felt strongly that it was the right next step for my life. As soon as I read the words “New Zealand Auckland Mission,” I remembered the feeling I had when my friend opened her mission call. Memories of sacred personal revelation flooded my mind, and I was able to see how the Spirit had helped me recognize bit by bit that a mission was an important step for me to take in my life.
4. How can I prepare to receive personal revelation?
Elder Robert D. Hales (1932–2017) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught that we can prepare to receive revelation the same way the prophets do: “Studying the scriptures, fasting, praying, and building faith.”3
You can also prepare to receive personal revelation by making sure that you live worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost. President Russell M. Nelson has said that “as we take ‘the Holy Spirit for [our] guide’ (Doctrine and Covenants 45:57), we qualify for personal revelation.”4
If you have sinned, choose to change and repent. After all, “repentance allows us to open the door so we can hear the voice of the Lord more frequently and clearly.”5
“Never Suppress a Generous Thought”
Reading scriptures about revelation and living worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost have helped me get better at recognizing promptings. But the thing that helped me most of all was taking action (see Doctrine and Covenants 58:26).
Whenever I’m not sure if a thought is revelation from God, I think of Susan, who lived in the same ward as President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985). One Sunday, Susan had the thought to make President Kimball a tie to go with his new suit. When she later went to his house to deliver the tie, however, she second-guessed herself and thought, “Who am I to make a tie for the prophet?” As Susan turned to leave without giving her gift, Sister Kimball opened the door. After learning why Susan was visiting, she convinced Susan to give President Kimball the tie and offered an important piece of counsel: never suppress a generous thought.6
Was Susan’s idea to make a tie for the prophet a prompting from the Spirit? Was my thought to buy ingredients to make cookies revelation from God? Instead of asking myself questions like these, I now ask myself: does this thought inspire goodness?
I have found that my ability to discern revelation from God has increased as I have stopped wondering if a thought or feeling is revelation and instead started exercising my faith by acting.
As I’ve studied and learned more about discerning revelation, I’ve found that Heavenly Father is ready and waiting to bless us with opportunities to hear Him. Sometimes all we have to do is ask! (See Matthew 7:7–8.)
Learning to discern revelation isn’t something that happens overnight. But through practice, prayer, and study, it can become easier to recognize the voice of the Lord when it comes. It is worth the effort to learn how God communicates with you.