I’ve been attending some ward conferences lately and listening to our Stake President’s message to the youth. He challenges them to pray, really pray, two times a day. He encourages them to get their rote prayers out of the way and then ask “What should I have done differently today?” and then review their day step-by-step with the Lord. Then after repenting for mistakes they see they’ve made, ask “What should I do tomorrow?” and then listen.
This is a fascinating concept for me and one I’m getting up my courage to try. So this week, I’ve chosen the talk “Ask, Seek, Knock” by Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He gave this talk during the Sunday morning session, where he proclaimed that “Every Latter-day Saint may merit personal revelation.”
“To access information from heaven, one must first have a firm faith and a deep desire.”
“For each of you to receive revelation unique to your own needs and responsibilities, certain guidelines prevail.”
“Patience and perseverance are part of our eternal progression.”
You can read the talk here. You can also watch it here or listen to it here.
What are some things that help you prepare for, ask for, receive, and recognize personal revelation?
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p.s. Join us in the Winter Poetry contest. Entries due by Tuesday night.
Diapers and Divinity 
I have been interested in how to receive personal revelation for the last 30 years or so. I have learned some great things over the years from talks like Elder Nelson’s. It’s wonderful to get a new slant on the subject. I love Elder Nelson’s talks – actually I love them all.
btw, I have a thought relating to your last post. I hope you don’t take offence or feel bad by what I say. I love 99.9 % of the things about your cute and spiritual blog but there is one thing that has bothered me. It is that you talk about snot sometimes, not often, but when you do it’s a shock to me. It seems out of place, in a crude way, in a blog that is trying to put forward uplifting and spiritual thoughts along with cute things about being a young mother.
I know you wipe your babies noses but you also wipe your babies bottoms and you never talk about sh_t.
Think about it and then pray about it…
Keep up the good work!
I appreciate your genuine concern about my choice of words. I do the best I can, and my main readership are young moms who are elbow deep in a lot of the things you’ve described as crude. I never swear and try to never make light of sacred things. I do my best to express myself in a way that shows understanding of what moms are dealing with, and I offer encouragement. I can sincerely say that I would not be ashamed if the prophet read my blog (except for maybe some of the pictures of my laundry room!). I’m actually quite pleased that I’ve somehow managed to garner 99.9% of your approval (wink), but no matter what, I’m sure I’ll often disappoint someone somewhere since the “rules” for my own blog may differ from what they’ve chosen for themselves.
Great talk. Certainly a subject that I always want more insight on. I loved the challenge your stake president is giving the youth. It is a bold assignment, but I love that he is helping them to look at their prayers in a bigger way.
I have to comment also on the first commenter today. I love what you are doing 100%. Yes, I think there is a definite spiritual tone to your blog. However, life in general (and certainly life with small kids) is not a non-stop spiritual experience. I think including some of the less-than-lovely elements of your real life help us to see that you are hip-deep in reality just like the rest of us.
It’s your blog and you can do what you want. My vote would be to not change a thing. I like you just as you are, snotty noses and all.
I think Corilee comes from the same school I do — the old school. We were taught that words like “snot, butt, suck,” etc were words used by the unrefined. It is shocking to us to hear the irreverence that these words connote to us. The younger generation has a new vocabulary that seem to us older folk to disregard “proper” social norms. My mother used to tell us we could say anything we heard her say. I would like to extend that a little farther — you can say anything you hear the prophet say. There is safety in following the prophet. Another measuring stick might be if you would say these things in the presence of the Savior. Just a thought!
Now on to Elder Nelson’s wonderful talk. I liked the following quote.
“Revelation from God is always compatible with His eternal law. It never contradicts His doctrine. It is facilitated by proper reverence for Deity. The Master gave this instruction:” ‘I, the Lord, am merciful and gracious unto those who fear me, and delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness and in truth unto the end.” ‘Great shall be their reward and eternal shall be their glory.” ‘ To them will I reveal all mysteries [and] my will concerning all things pertaining to my kingdom’ (D&C 76:5–7).”
Elder Scott’s talk reminded me of the importance of writing down revelation. I am slowly getting better with this.
How do I prepare to receive revelation? I have so much to learn regarding this. Preparation involves work and, well, I am often too lazy to make such an attempt. Of course, it could also be that I have not needed to make huge decisions…until now. As a mother, I am realizing my importance in shaping my children’s future. To prepare for this type of revelation, I do as Sister Beck counseled–I pray and read my scriptures daily.
Right now, with a new baby, I am finding when is the best time to set apart for scripture reading. Each day is a challenge. It will continue to be until my routine becomes habit.
What does this have to do with Elder Scott’s talk? He mentions receiving unique revelations for my situation. He also mentions perseverance. That is what I am doing. I am making small steps toward receiving the revelation I desire. I am making changes to how I ask. I am persevering.
I love this talk. I think personal revelation is something none of us (especially mothers!) can get lax about. There were three things I most took from this talk:
(1) To access information from heaven, one must first have a firm faith and a deep desire. One needs to “ask with a sincere heart [and] real intent, having faith in [Jesus] Christ.”2 “Real intent” means that one really intends to follow the divine direction given.”
I think one of the biggest stumbling blocks for me is the real intent part of asking. I want the answer to be what I want and need to work at being willing to do what the Lord wants.
(2)”Some of His timeless truths are applicable generally” How often are we trying to seek revelation proving our situation is a unique exception to the Law? I know there are exceptions (but by definition those would not be the norms).
(3) “Personal revelation can be honed to become spiritual discernment” I think this is the heart of what I am seeking. I want the spiritual discernment I need to navigate through life. I loved how he talked about what needs to be done to move in this direction!
Right now I feel very unsure of where our family needs to head (in a very real- where should we live- manner). This talk has helped me change (very slightly but significantly) the way I am seeking for answers to that question.
I listened to this talk the other night, when I couldn’t sleep. 🙂 It was around 4 am, so I didn’t take notes or anything. But one part that really stood out was how he said praying with real intent means you REALLY intend to follow through with it.