Mormon Musings

The idea that scripture reading can lead to inspiration and revelation opens the door to the truth that a scripture is not limited to what it meant when it was written but may also include what that scripture means to a reader today. Even more, scripture reading may also lead to current revelation on whatever else the Lord wishes to communicate to the reader at that time. We do not overstate the point when we say that the scriptures can be a Urim and Thummim to assist each of us to receive personal revelation.   Dallin H. Oaks

We shall, at last, come to this conclusion, whatever we may think of revelation, that without it we can neither know nor understand anything of God. Joseph Smith

How can we become the men and women--the Christlike servants--the Lord needs us to be?  How can we find answers to questions that perplex us? If Joseph Smith's transcendent experience in the Sacred Grove teaches us anything, it is that the heavens are open and that God speaks to His children.   The Prophet Joseph Smith set a pattern for us to follow in resolving our questions.  Drawn to the promise of James that if we lack wisdom we may ask of God, the boy Joseph took his question directly to Heavenly Father.  He sought personal revelation, and his seeking opened this last dispensation. In like manner, what will your seeking open for you?  What wisdom do you lack? What do you feel an urgent need to know or understand? Follow the example of the Prophet Joseph.  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.   Pres...

Search the Scriptures and ask your Heavenly Father, in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, to manifest the truth unto you;...you will then know for yourselves and not for another.  You will not then be dependent on man for the knowledge of God; nor will there by any room for speculation.  Joseph Smith

There is a way by which persons could keep their conscience clear before God and man, and that is to preserve within the spirit of God, which is the spirit of revelation to every man and woman.  It will reveal it to them even in the simplest of matters, what they shall do, by making suggestions to them.  We should try to learn the nature of this spirit, that we may understand its suggestions, and then we will always be able to do right.  This is the grand privilege of every Latter-day Saint.  We know that it is our right to have manifestations of the spirit every day of our lives. ...From the time we receive the Gospel, go down into the waters of baptism and have hands laid upon us afterwards for the gift of the Holy Ghost, we have a friend, if we do not drive it from us by doing wrong.  That friend is the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost which partakes of the things of God and shows them unto us. This is a grand means that the Lord has provided for us, that we may k...

  “The Lord can't reveal to you and I [what] we can't understand;…for instance when Joseph first received revelation, The Lord could not tell him what he was going to do. He didn't tell him he was going to call him to be a prophet, seer, revelator, high priest and founder of [the] Kingdom of God on the earth. Joseph would have said… ‘just what does that mean? You are talking that I can't understand.’ He could merely revealed to him that the Lord is pleased to bless him and forgive his sins and there was a work for him to do on the earth… The first time He sent [an] angel to visit him, he could lead his mind a little further. He could reveal to him that there were certain records deposited on in the earth to be brought forth for the benefit of [the] inhabitants of the earth. He could reveal after this that Joseph could get them; then he could reveal that he should have power to translate the records from the language and characters in which it was written and give it t...

No revelation can be other than partial. If for true revelation a man must be told all the truth then farewell to revelation… Relatively to a lower condition of the receiver, a more partial revelation might be truer than that which would be constituted a fuller revelation to one in a higher condition; for the former might reveal much to him the latter might reveal nothing… I believe God is ever destroying concealment ever giving all that he can all that men can receive at his hands .   George McDonald, “The Consuming Fire,” Unspoken Sermons: Series 1, II and III, 2016, 19-21)

Revelations are not reserved for a limited few or for those called to positions of importance in the Church...Rather, it is personal righteousness; it is keeping the commandments; it is seeking the Lord while He may be found.  God is no respecter of persons.  He will give revelation to me and to you on the same terms and conditions.  I can see what Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon saw in the vision of the degrees of glory--and so can you.  I can entertain angels and see God, I can receive an outpouring of the gifts of the Spirit -- and so can you. Bruce R. McConkie, October 1969 General Conference

"The fundamental truths of the restored gospel were not delivered to the Prophet Joseph Smith all at once in the Sacred Grove. These priceless treasures were revealed as circumstances warranted and as the timing was right." —David A. Bednar, " The Spirit of Revelation ",  Ensign , May 2011 Topics:  Revelation

Help from the Lord generally comes in increments. He can immediately cure serious illnesses or disabilities or even allow the dead to be raised. But the general pattern is that improvement comes in sequential steps. That plan gives us an opportunity to discover what the Lord expects us to learn. It requires our patience to recognize His timetable. It provides growth from our efforts and trust in Him and the opportunity to express gratitude for the help given. Often we have difficulty mastering lessons the Lord wants us to learn when things are going too well in our lives. When there is suffering or pain, we ask ourselves a lot of questions. Some of them ought to be: What does the Lord want me to learn from this experience? What do I need to do? What do I need to change? Whom do I need to serve? Or what characteristic must I improve? Pondering and prayer will help us understand what we are to learn from the challenges we are asked to overcome.

​ What reason concludes are impassable mountains, revelation shows to be rolling hills over which we can pass if we press forward. Sitting and staring at the slopes can make them into stern Sierras.  Elder Neal A. Maxwell (Wherefore, Ye Must Press Forward, p. 43.).

Promptings often come in short, crisp phrases, impressing upon us a certain duty. They come in other ways to each of us. We know what’s happening to us, but we don’t know all the implications of it. But God knows. It’s a sacred process. We know more than we can tell other people—not only for reasons of confidentiality but for what I will call “contextuality.” Those who are not a part of the process are not likely to value and understand its significance. They’re not apt to appreciate fully. The whole process of subtle inspiration and revelation is like this metaphor: An inspired painter working on a large canvas does not report to or ask patrons or friends to react to each brushstroke. Nor does he exclaim after each stroke of his paintbrush well before the canvas reflects any emerging pattern. Yet each stroke the painter registers on the canvas is a part of an inspired whole. Without those cumulative, individual strokes, there would be no painting. But each stroke, if examined by its...

Shortly after the Prophet Joseph Smith’s death, Brigham Young told of a dream in which Joseph visited and instructed him: “Joseph stepped toward us, and looking very earnestly, yet pleasantly, said: ‘Tell the people to be humble and faithful, and be sure to keep the spirit of the Lord and it will lead them right. Be careful and not turn away the small still voice; it will teach them what to do and where to go; it will yield the fruits of the Kingdom. … Tell the brethren that if they will follow the spirit of the Lord, they will go right’” (JH). https://www.lds.org/manual/ teachings-brigham-young/ chapter-6?lang=eng

In the second chapter of Ether, the Lord teaches the brother of Jared important principles about receiving answers to prayer.   Since we are to “liken all scriptures unto us,” we can learn much by pondering the story and the lessons taught therein.   The Lord commanded the Jaredites to build barges (boats), after the manner that they had previously built barges and “according to the instructions of the Lord.” [1]   These barges were to carry the Jaredites across the ocean to the “land of promise.” [2]   It is significant that they followed the Lord’s instructions in building the barges.   Among other things, it shows that the Lord fully intended the tutoring experience that followed.   It is also important to note that, just as with Noah, Nephi and others, the Lord did not do for them what they could do for themselves, He did not build the ships for them.   After the barges were completed, according to the instructions the Lord had given them, ...

"Let us acknowledge that most often gaining a testimony is not a task of a minute, an hour, or a day. It is not once and done. The process of gathering spiritual light is the quest of a lifetime. Your testimony of the living Son of God and His restored Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, may not come as quickly as you desire, but I promise you this: if you do your part, it will come. And it will be glorious." —Dieter F. Uchtdorf, " Receiving a Testimony of Light and Truth "

"Human judgment and logical thinking will not be enough to get answers to the questions that matter most in life. We need revelation from God." President Henry B. Eyring, November 2014 General Conference

Sometimes you need to go to the edge of the light. The Lord will test your faith. The Lord gives us knowledge and inspiration line upon line. We must   hearken , or   act upon  what He says to demonstrate our faith.  He said, “I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom: for unto him that receiveth I will give more” (2 Nephi 28:30)  One of the marvelous things about President Hinckley and the General Authorities I’m acquainted with is their great courage to step forward into unchartered paths.  They’re courageous leaders because they know how to move forward in faith. They can see to a point, and then they must move forward. President David O. McKay told a story about a train engineer. He said: “The engineer pulled his train into a station one dark night.  A timid p...

"The Holy Ghost communicates with the spirit through the mind more than through the physical senses. This guidance comes as thoughts, as feelings, through impressions and promptings. It is not always easy to describe inspiration. The scriptures teach us that we may “feel” the words of spiritual communication more than hear them, and see with spiritual rather than with mortal eyes." —Boyd K. Packer, " Revelation in a Changing World "

"The spirit of revelation is available to every person who receives by proper priesthood authority the saving ordinances of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost—and who is acting in faith to fulfill the priesthood injunction to “receive the Holy Ghost.” This blessing is not restricted to the presiding authorities of the Church; rather, it belongs to and should be operative in the life of every man, woman, and child who reaches the age of accountability and enters into sacred covenants. Sincere desire and worthiness invite the spirit of revelation into our lives." —David A. Bednar, " The Spirit of Revelation " Topics:  Revelation