Principles of Revelation

So I have been going through an old study journal and I found this little list of thoughts that I wanted to capture on my blog.  This won’t be a polished blog post, mostly a list of references for future use.  In any case, it was apparent that I was trying to understand a little more about the principles that govern personal revelation and here are my notes:

1. The Lord works through prophets and will not reveal something to you contrary to what the prophets are saying (see Amos 3:7; D&C 1:38)
2. Fasting and caring for the needy enhances revelation (see Isaiah 58:6-11; Alma 17:3)
3. Humility enhances revelation (see D&C 112:10; D&C 3:4)
4. Obeying the Word of Wisdom and physical health help with revelation (see D&C 89:19)
5. If ye seek, ye shall find; knock and it will be opened unto you (see D&C 4:7; Matthew 7:7-12; D&C 6:5; 3 Nephi 14:7-11)
6. Personal righteousness is important (see Helaman 10:4-5; Alma 22:16)
7. Recognizing the hand of God in your life helps with revelation (Proverbs 3:6)
8. We can seek answers from God without fear of reprisal but we need to seek in faith (see James 1:5-6)
9. We need to seek the Lord, early (see D&C 88:83; Hebrews 11:6; D&C 6:7,11; Psalms 34:4,6,10; Lamentations 3:25)
10. We need to “inquire of the Lord”, be open to revelation (no hard hearts), ask in faith (what does that mean?), and keep the commandments in order to receive knowledge (see 1 Nephi 15:8-11)
11. We need to follow what is already in the scriptures (the Lord won’t reveal to us anything contrary to what is already recorded) (see Alma 17:2; 2 Nephi 32:3)
12. The Sons of Mosiah had the spirit of revelation because they had studied the scriptures and had given themselves to much prayer and fasting.  Oftentimes, revelation is spiritual work! (see Alma 17:2-3)
13. We need to counsel with the Lord (perhaps this is similar to counseling with a lawyer, your parents, or a school counselor where we seek counsel on a specific course of action and they are qualified to give an authoritative answer) (see Alma 37:37; Jacob 4:10)
14. The OliverCowdery principle:
    • Ask in faith, with an honest heart, believing you will receive then the Spirit will tell you in your mind and in your heart (thoughts and feelings) (see D&C 8:1-3; Moroni 10:3-5)
    • When we inquire of the Lord we receive by the Spirit.  For example, we experience an enlightened mind or peace in our mind (also revelation is private) (see D&C 6:14-16, 22-23)
    • We need to put forth an effort beyond simply asking (we need to study it out in our mind) and then ask for confirmation.  If you receive a “burning in the bosom” then the things you have studied or the course of action you are contemplating is correct; otherwise you will feel a “stupor of thought” to let you know it is wrong (see D&C 9:7-9)
15. We need to ask, believing that we will receive (see Matthew 21:22; Mark 11:24; Moroni 10:4; Enos 1:15; Mosiah 4:21; Alma 22:16; 3 Nephi 18:20; Moroni 7:26)
16. There are many different manifestations of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23; Moroni 7:15-18)

When I shared these thoughts with my young men, our bishop made the following comment (more or less, this isn’t a direct quote, more of a note on what I thought I heard) which I really also liked:

The Spirit is like a sixth sense (next to sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing).  We have a hard time describing to a blind man what it is like to see and everyone experiences sight in their own way, just like it is hard to describe the Spirit.  The scriptures do a good job explaining the feelings associated with Spirit but it is hard to describe just like trying to describe your senses.

In any case, I hope these notes are helpful.  Until next time, have a marvelous day!