Revelation: Personal
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What is revelation?
Joseph Smith
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He has caused us to forget everything we once knew before our spirits entered within this veil of flesh. For instance, it is like this: when we lie down to sleep, our minds are often as bright and active as the mind of an angel, at least they are as active as when our bodies are awake. They will range over the earth, visit distant friends, and, for aught we know, the planets, and accomplish great feats; do that which will enhance our happiness, increase to us every enjoyment of life, and prepare us for celestial glory; but when we wake in the morning, it is all gone from us; we have forgotten it. This illustration will explain in part the nature of the veil which is over the inhabitants of the earth; they have forgotten that they once knew. This is right; were it different, where would be the trial of our faith? In a word, be it so; it is as it should be.
President Brigham Young
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Of the Seventy
Elder Graham W. Doxey
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of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles “This,” President Romney said, “is a very common means of revelation. It comes into one’s mind in words and sentences. With this medium of revelation I am personally well acquainted.” We do not seek for spectacular experiences. President Spencer W. Kimball spoke of the many who “have no ear for spiritual messages … when they come in common dress. … Expecting the spectacular, one may not be fully alerted to the constant flow of revealed communication.”
Elder Boyd K. Packer
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The Lord’s way also puts limits on how often he will speak to us by his Spirit. Not understanding this, some have been misled by expecting revelations too frequently. Commenting on the workings of the Spirit, Elder Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said: “I have learned that strong, impressive spiritual experiences do not come to us very frequently” (That All May Be Edified [1982], 337). Revelations from God—the teachings and directions of the Spirit—are not constant. We believe in continuing revelation, not continuous revelation. We are often left to work out problems without the dictation or specific direction of the Spirit. That is part of the experience we must have in mortality. Fortunately, we are never out of our Savior’s sight, and if our judgment leads us to actions beyond the limits of what is permissible and if we are listening to the still, small voice, the Lord will restrain us by the promptings of his Spirit. To illustrate that point, consider what happened to our first parents after they were cast out of the Garden of Eden and shut out from the presence of the Lord. The Lord had given Adam a commandment that he should sacrifice the firstlings of his flocks for an offering unto the Lord. Adam obeyed. Did the Lord communicate with him immediately? The scripture says: “And after many days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam” (Moses 5:6; emphasis added). William E. Berrett, one of our finest gospel teachers, said this about the matter of continuous revelation: “Those who pray that the Spirit might give them immediate guidance in every little thing throw themselves open to false spirits that seem ever ready to answer our pleas and confuse us. … The people I have found most confused in this Church are those who seek personal revelations on everything. They want the personal assurance from the Spirit from daylight to dark on everything they do. I say they are the most confused people I know because it appears sometimes that the answer comes from the wrong source” (quoted in The Holy Ghost, 29–30). I also agree with the following comment: “There are great dangers associated with those who profess a constant outpouring of the spirit of revelation. Frequently, those so professing place themselves above the need to listen to the counsel and direction of their priesthood leaders. Often they are above correction. It is natural for those who suppose they are having regular conversations with angels and diverse exalted beings to be a little bemused at the counsel of bishops and stake presidents. With but a bit of polish, such an attitude ripens into the cultist’s mentality in which one is above the laws of both church and state” (The Holy Ghost, 31). Visions do happen. Voices are heard from beyond the veil. I know this. But these experiences are exceptional. And those who have these great and exceptional experiences rarely speak of them publicly because we are instructed not to do so (see D&C 63:64) and because we understand that the channels of revelation will be closed if we show these things before the world. Most of the revelation that comes to leaders and members of the Church comes by the still, small voice or by a feeling rather than by a vision or a voice that speaks specific words we can hear. I testify to the reality of that kind of revelation, which I have come to know as a familiar, even daily, experience to guide me in the work of the Lord. Not understanding these principles of revelation, some people postpone acknowledging their testimony until they have experienced a miraculous event. They fail to realize that with most people—especially those raised in the Church—gaining a testimony is not an event but a process. That was the description of Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who observed: “Being born again is a gradual thing, except in a few isolated instances that are so miraculous that they get written up in the scriptures. As far as the generality of the members of the Church are concerned, we are born again by degrees, and we are born again to added light and added knowledge and added desires for righteousness as we keep the commandments” (“Jesus Christ and Him Crucified,” 1976 Devotional Speeches of the Year [1977], 399).
Elder Dallin H. Oaks
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Therefore, my first recommendation is to learn for yourselves
Russell M. Nelson
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I am a witness by being present, and I’m a witness by being absent, that the Lord indeed instructs His prophet. ... Sometimes the Lord has me stay close to my husband when he is receiving instructions. My husband will say during the night, “OK dear, it’s happening.” I just remain quiet and then soon he's sitting up at the side of the bed writing, now with a lighted pen that someone gave him. It’s pretty cute. The number of nighttime messages to him, since becoming President of the Church, have increased exponentially. It's incredible. It was an early Saturday morning, and I could feel I was supposed to get out of bed. I wasn't finished sleeping, I didn't want to get out of bed, but I could feel, “Move out of bed now.” So I went down and did some family history research. Two hours later, my husband emerged from our bedroom and said, “Wendy, you won't believe what’s been happening for two hours. The Lord has given me detailed instruction about a process I am to follow.” Sometimes it's just two lines, I never look at it, he’ll just hold it up and show me. I just think, those are private messages to him and I would never look.
Sister Wendy Nelson
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