I have a couple of questions I feel like I have been praying about for the past 3 or 4 years. I try to be sincere in my prayers and listen intently, and I have fasted and prayed and attended the temple about them throughout this time. I have tried to study about receiving revelation during my gospel study time in hopes of understanding what I am doing wrong.
I have studied both of the talks listed below before, but finally this month I am beginning to understand that these quotes might apply to my situation. The main principle is that the Lord is teaching us to act on our own and not be commanded in all things. He trusts us to make choices. Here are the key points from the talks below that are helping me understand how the Lord is working in this instance of my life:
- Elder Bednar: In many of the uncertainties and challenges we encounter in our lives, God requires us to do our best, to act and not be acted upon (see 2 Nephi 2:26), and to trust in Him.
- Elder Bednar: We frequently may press forward hoping and praying—but without absolute assurance—that we are acting in accordance with God’s will.
- Elder Scott: For us to grow, we need to trust our ability to make correct decisions. We need to do what we feel is right. In time, He will answer.
- Elder Scott: That confirmation generally comes through packets of help found along the way. We discover them by being spiritually sensitive.
- Elder Scott: We are expected to assume accountability by acting on a decision that is consistent with His teachings without prior confirmation. We are not to sit passively waiting or to murmur because the Lord has not spoken. We are to act.
- Elder Scott: If, in trust, we begin something which is not right, He will let us know before we have gone too far. We sense that help by recognizing troubled or uneasy feelings.
I have had the "packets of help" along the way and other small confirmations, even though I was hoping for a more definitive answer from the Lord, like a stronger prompting or feeling. I have also felt peace.
When we explain a problem and a proposed solution, sometimes
He answers yes, sometimes no. Often He withholds an answer, not for lack of
concern, but because He loves us—perfectly. He wants us to apply truths He has
given us. For us to grow, we need to trust
our ability to make correct decisions. We need to do what we feel is right. In time, He will answer.
He will not fail us.
Oliver
did not recognize the evidence of answers to prayers already given by the Lord.
To open his, and our, eyes, this revelation was given through Joseph Smith:
“Blessed
art thou for what thou hast done; for thou hast inquired of me, and behold, as
often as thou hast inquired thou hast received instruction of my Spirit. If it had not been so,
thou wouldst not have come to the place where thou art at this time.
“Behold,
thou knowest that thou hast inquired of me and I did enlighten
thy mind; and now I
tell thee these things that thou mayest know that thou hast been enlightened by
the Spirit of truth.” (D&C 6:14–15;
italics added.)
If
you feel that God has not answered your prayers, ponder these scriptures—then
carefully look for evidence in your own life of His having already answered
you.
To
help each of us recognize answers given, the Lord said: “If you desire a
further witness, cast your mind upon the night that you cried unto me in your
heart, that you might know concerning the truth of these things.
When
He withholds an answer, it is to have us grow through faith in
Him, obedience to His commandments, and a willingness to act on truth. We are expected to assume accountability by
acting on a decision that is consistent with His teachings without prior
confirmation. We are not to sit passively waiting or to murmur because the Lord
has not spoken. We are to act.
Most
often what we have chosen to do is right. He will confirm the correctness of
our choices His way. That confirmation
generally comes through packets of help found along the way. We discover them
by being spiritually sensitive. They are like notes from a loving Father as
evidence of His approval. If, in trust,
we begin something which is not right, He will let us know before we have gone
too far. We sense that help by recognizing troubled or uneasy feelings.
Another common experience with light
helps us learn an additional truth about the “line upon line, precept upon
precept” pattern of revelation. Sometimes the sun rises on a morning that is
cloudy or foggy. Because of the overcast conditions, perceiving the light is
more difficult, and identifying the precise moment when the sun rises over
the horizon is not possible. But on such a morning we nonetheless have
sufficient light to recognize a new day and to conduct our affairs.
In many of the uncertainties and challenges we
encounter in our lives, God requires us to do our best, to act and not be acted
upon (see 2 Nephi 2:26),
and to trust in Him. We may not see angels, hear
heavenly voices, or receive overwhelming spiritual impressions. We
frequently may press forward hoping and praying—but without absolute
assurance—that we are acting in accordance with God’s will. But as we honor our
covenants and keep the commandments, as we strive ever more consistently to do
good and to become better, we can walk with the confidence that God will guide
our steps. And we can speak with the assurance that God will inspire our
utterances. This is in part the meaning of the scripture that declares, “Then
shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God” (D&C 121:45).
As you appropriately seek for and apply unto the
spirit of revelation, I promise you will “walk in the light of the Lord” (Isaiah 2:5; 2 Nephi 12:5).
Sometimes the spirit of revelation will operate immediately and intensely,
other times subtly and gradually, and often so delicately you may not even
consciously recognize it. But regardless of the pattern whereby this blessing
is received, the light it provides will illuminate and enlarge your soul,
enlighten your understanding (see Alma 5:7; 32:28),
and direct and protect you and your family.
Elder Robert D. Hales, "Personal Revelation," Oct. 2007
Revelation comes on the Lord’s
timetable, which often means we must move forward in faith, even though we
haven’t received all the answers we desire. As a General Authority, I was
assigned to help reorganize a stake presidency under the direction of Elder
Ezra Taft Benson. After praying, interviewing, studying, and praying again,
Elder Benson asked if I knew who the new president would be. I said I had not
received that inspiration yet. He looked at me for a long time and replied he
hadn’t either. However, we were inspired to ask three worthy priesthood holders
to speak in the Saturday evening session of conference. Moments after the third
speaker began, the Spirit prompted me that he should be the new stake
president. I looked over at President Benson and saw tears streaming down his
face. Revelation had been given to both of us—but only by continuing to seek
our Heavenly Father’s will as we moved forward in faith.
By
design, most miracles are spiritual demonstrations of God’s power—tender
mercies gently bestowed through impressions, ideas, feelings of assurance,
solutions to problems, strength to meet challenges, and comfort to bear
disappointments and sorrow.
“If I ask him to give me wisdom concerning any requirement in life, or in regard to my own course, or that of my friends, my family, my children, or those that I preside over, and get no answer from him, and then do the very best that my judgment will teach me, he is bound to own and honor that transaction, and he will do so to all intents and purposes.”
“In the past I have tried to
figure out whether I should go into business or into teaching or into the arts
or whatever. As I have begun to proceed along one path, having more or less gathered
what facts I could, I have found that if that decision was wrong or was taking
me down the wrong path—not necessarily an evil one, but one that was not right
for me—without fail, the Lord has always let me know just this emphatically:
‘That is wrong; do not go that way. That is not for you!’
“On the other hand, there may have
been two or three ways that I could have gone, any one of which would have been
right and would have been in the general area providing the experience and
means whereby I could fulfill the mission that the Lord had in mind for me.
Because he knows we need the growth, he generally does not point and say, ‘Open
that door and go twelve yards in that direction; then turn right and go two
miles …’. But if it is wrong, he will let us know—we will feel it for sure. I
am positive of that. So rather than saying, ‘I will not move until I have this
burning in my heart,’ let us turn it around and say, ‘I will move unless I feel
it is wrong; and if it is wrong, then I will not do it.’ By eliminating all of
these wrong courses, very quickly you will find yourself going in the direction
that you ought to be going, and then you can receive the assurance: ‘Yes, I am
going in the right direction. I am doing what my Father in Heaven wants me to do
because I am not doing the things he does not want me to do.’ And you can know
that for sure. That is part of the growth process and part of accomplishing
what our Father in Heaven has in mind for us”
