How to Receive More Personal Revelation - Record Promptings

As a parent and an individual, I realize on a daily basis that life goes better if I can hear the promptings Heavenly Father is trying to help me with. I have gathered and studied conference talks on how to improve personal revelation and one of the suggestions that I have tried to implement is recording the promptings/feelings I get. One of the lessons I have learned the hard way is that it is much easier to record the prompting accurately if I record it right when I feel it, otherwise the memory of the details dims.

The first talk I studied that taught me to record promptings was back in 1998 when Elder Richard G. Scott gave the talk, "Helping Others to Be Spiritually Led." He goes into great detail with specific suggestions, so I included more of his talk down below after the main quotes.

1)     “It is through the repeated process of feeling impressions, recording them and obeying them, that one learns to depend on direction of the Spirit.  We often leave the most precious personal direction of the Spirit unheard because we do not record and respond to the first promptings that come to us when the Lord chooses to direct us, or when impressions come in response to urgent prayer. 

After each powerful impression was recorded, I pondered it, seeking to confirm that I had accurately expressed the feelings I had received. I then prayed, expressing to the Lord what I thought I had been taught by the Spirit. Feelings of peace confirmed the appropriateness of what I had recorded.  --Richard G. Scott, Helping Others to Be Spiritually Led 

2)     “Write down impressions or thoughts that you feel came from God. … Think carefully about whether the truth you received requires action. It is by obedience to commandments that we qualify for further revelation of truth and light” --Elder Henry B. Eyring “A Life Founded in Light and Truth,” Ensign, July 2001

3)     I see you sometimes reading a few verses, stopping to ponder them, carefully reading the verses again, and as you think about what they mean, praying for understanding, asking questions in your mind, waiting for spiritual impressions, and writing down the impressions and insights that come so you can remember and learn more. --Elder D. Todd Christofferson, 2004 “When Thou Art Converted”

4)    Just as I got to the door, I heard in my mind—not in my own voice—these words: “I’m not giving you these experiences for yourself. Write them down.” I wrote down a few lines every day for years. I never missed a day no matter how tired I was or how early I would have to start the next day. Before I would write, I would ponder this question: “Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?” As I kept at it, something began to happen. As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done.

More than gratitude began to grow in my heart. Testimony grew. I became ever more certain that our Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. I felt more gratitude for the softening and refining that come because of the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ. And I grew more confident that the Holy Ghost can bring all things to our remembrance—even things we did not notice or pay attention to when they happened.

--Pres. Henry B. Eyring, 2007 “O Remember, Remember”

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. 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.”  -Pres. Nelson

President Russell M. Nelson, “True Millennials: Do the Impossible,”

Great power lies in learning who you really are. Ask your Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, how He feels about you and your mission here on earth. If you ask with real intent, over time the Spirit will whisper the life-changing truth to you. Record those impressions and review them often, and follow through with exactness. 

Elder David A Bednar, “Receiving, Recognizing, and Responding to the Promptings ofthe Holy Ghost,” 1999

Have you ever received and recognized a prompting from the Holy Ghost, and then decided to respond to it "later"? And then when later arrived, you found that you could not remember the prompting. I have learned that acting upon promptings quickly greatly increases our capacity to receive and recognize the influence of the Holy Ghost. I have also learned that properly recording spiritual impressions demonstrates to the Savior how much I treasure His direction. The simple practice of writing down spiritual thoughts and feelings greatly enhances the likelihood of receiving and recognizing additional promptings from the Holy Ghost.

Other Excerpts: Richard G. Scott, Helping Others to Be Spiritually Led

The Savior said, “I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost” (D&C 8:2; italics added). I would explain to the students that an impression to the mind is very specific.

Detailed words can be heard or felt and written as though the instruction were being dictated.

A communication to the heart is a more general impression. The Lord often begins by giving impressions. Where there is a recognition of their importance and they are obeyed, one gains more capacity to receive more detailed instruction to the mind. An impression to the heart, if followed, is fortified by a more specific instruction to the mind. …

… Let’s discuss different ways of learning from the scriptures.

You’ve had the experience of when something urgent is needed to be resolved, you pray, you ponder, you pray more, you formulate commitments and decisions, you present them to the Lord, you pray more and get feelings of guidance from Him. 

One way is to read, ponder, and pray about the meaning of specific verses. Another is to analyze and unite related scriptures. Then on a separate sheet of paper, prepare a statement of principle that embodies the truths contained in those scriptures. When these two things are carefully and consistently done, then you can be instructed through inspiration as you search the scriptures. …

The Lord chose that moment to answer my pleadings. I began to receive distinct direction regarding how to help the leaders and members overcome false traditions. There were other impressions intended for me personally. As each impression came, I faithfully recorded it. I was given precious truths that were greatly needed to be a more effective servant of the Lord.

While the details of the communication are sacred, like a patriarchal blessing—for the benefit of the recipient—I will share some of the insight gained and the unfolding of other truths that occurred that day. It is an example of the inspired direction from the Lord through the Holy Ghost that anyone can receive when the doctrines we have discussed are conscientiously applied.

The specific counsel began with this statement: “You are to continue to build the Church on a foundation of true principles, but with increased expression of love and appreciation you have been blessed to understand and feel for the great Lamanite people.” There followed specific directions, instructions, and conditioned promises that have altered the course of my life.

I began to write the instructions given directly to my mind. Some of the paragraphs begin with phrases such as these: “Teach and testify to instruct, edify, and lead others to full obedience, not to demonstrate anything of self. All who are puffed up shall be cut off.”

Another entry reads, “You are nothing in and of yourself, Richard.” That was followed by some specific counsel on how to become more effective as an instrument of the Lord. Then later a section begins, “Through qualification by obedience, self-restraint, and the power of faith.” That phrase is followed by further promises conditioned upon those requisites.

In this experience there came such an outpouring of personal impressions that I felt inappropriate to record in the midst of a Sunday School class. In a more private location I continued to write the feelings that flooded into my mind, as accurately as possible. After each powerful impression was recorded, I pondered it, seeking to confirm that I had accurately expressed the feelings I had received. I then prayed, expressing to the Lord what I thought I had been taught by the Spirit. Feelings of peace confirmed the appropriateness of what I had recorded.

I was impressed to ask if there were more I should receive. There came further impressions and the process was repeated until I received some of the most precious, specific direction that anyone could ever hope to obtain in this life.

This is not an isolated experience. I know that sincere, righteous individuals who follow the principles we have discussed will enjoy such direction from the Lord. Please help your students to understand these principles and to receive confirmation from your own testimony of the reality of spiritual direction that will encourage them to seek such guidance. Prayerfully help them understand that such guidance is as real as are the five physical senses.