10 Ways to Prepare for Personal Revelation
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints come to know truth for themselves through personal revelation. As we seek truth we must prepare ourselves to receive personal revelation. Personal preparation is necessary if we are to be ready and worthy of God's help. We can prepare ourselves through faith, scripture study, obedience, sacrifice, and prayer.
After reading through each item share your experiences with us in this poll: How have you prepared for personal revelation?
Preparing for personal revelation involves many aspects, but I believe the first is to prepare ourselves to ask before we actually ask. The Lord said:
When seeking personal revelation we must have faith in God and His Son, Jesus Christ. We must have faith that God loves us and will answer our prayers.
Taking sufficient time to search the word of God is paramount to receiving personal revelation. Through his prophets, God has already given us many words. They are available for us to search through as we seek His help.
After Christ's resurrection, He visited the people on the American Continent, which was recorded in the Book of Mormon. During His visit He taught the people to prepare themselves by taking time to ponder His words.
There are two parts to obedience, the first is to be worthy by being obedient to God's commandments right now, in the present. The second is to be willing to obey God's commands in the future. When seeking personal revelation if we're not willing to accept God's will, whatever it may be, we are less likely to receive an answer.
In preparing to receive personal revelation we can make a covenant with God. Our covenant could be to promise obedience to a specific commandment and then do it. James taught:
Fasting helps us put aside the temporal and focus on the spiritual, as well as help us humble ourselves before the Lord, which is necessary as we seek personal revelation. In the Bible we see an example of this when Daniel sought the Lord through prayer and fasting:
As we seek personal revelation we must offer sacrifice to the Lord. This is what he asks of us:
Attending church and visiting the temple (if applicable) will help us to be more in tune with God's spirit as we seek personal revelation. This vital step not only shows our obedience but blesses us with additional understanding and guidance.
We can also ask God for help in preparing ourselves to receive personal revelation. When we are prepared we must then seek God's help by asking for it- and we will receive.
After reading through each item share your experiences with us in this poll: How have you prepared for personal revelation?
1. Prepare to Ask
Preparing for personal revelation involves many aspects, but I believe the first is to prepare ourselves to ask before we actually ask. The Lord said:
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:Included in God's promise that if we ask we will receive, is that if we seek, we will find. We should ask ourselves some questions, such as: "What is it I am seeking?", "What do I need to know?", "How can I learn more?", "Am I willing to do God's will?" There are many ways we can prepare ourselves to receive personal revelation, including having faith and being obedient.
"For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened," (Matthew 7:7-8).
2. Faith
When seeking personal revelation we must have faith in God and His Son, Jesus Christ. We must have faith that God loves us and will answer our prayers.
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.If we don't have this faith we can have hope and develop our faith by learning about Jesus.More »
"But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed." (James 1:5-6)
3. Search the Scriptures
Taking sufficient time to search the word of God is paramount to receiving personal revelation. Through his prophets, God has already given us many words. They are available for us to search through as we seek His help.
"Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me," (John 5: 39).Often God uses His written word to answer our prayers. As we seek knowledge we must not only read His word, but diligently study it, and then ponder what we have learned.More »
"Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do," (2 Ne. 32: 3).
4. Ponder
After Christ's resurrection, He visited the people on the American Continent, which was recorded in the Book of Mormon. During His visit He taught the people to prepare themselves by taking time to ponder His words.
"Behold, now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words he looked round about again on the multitude, and he said unto them: Behold, my time is at hand.
"I perceive that ye are weak, that ye cannot understand all my words which I am commanded of the Father to speak unto you at this time.
"Therefore, go ye unto your homes, and ponder upon the things which I have said, and ask of the Father, in my name, that ye may understand, and prepare your minds for the morrow, and I come unto you again," (3 Nephi 17:1-3).
5. Obedience
There are two parts to obedience, the first is to be worthy by being obedient to God's commandments right now, in the present. The second is to be willing to obey God's commands in the future. When seeking personal revelation if we're not willing to accept God's will, whatever it may be, we are less likely to receive an answer.
"Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God," (Jeremiah 11:4).As we obey God's commands, including having faith in Christ and repenting, we will be worthy to receive His spirit.
"Blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it," (Luke 11:28).
6. Covenant
In preparing to receive personal revelation we can make a covenant with God. Our covenant could be to promise obedience to a specific commandment and then do it. James taught:
"Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.Making a covenant with the Lord does not mean that we tell Him what to do, but shows our willingness to obey his commandments by doing them.
"But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed," (James 1:22,25).
The Lord has also promised: "I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise," (Doctrine and Covenants 82:10).
7. Fast
Fasting helps us put aside the temporal and focus on the spiritual, as well as help us humble ourselves before the Lord, which is necessary as we seek personal revelation. In the Bible we see an example of this when Daniel sought the Lord through prayer and fasting:
"And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes," (Daniel 9:3).More »
Alma from the Book of Mormon also sought personal revelation through fasting: "Behold, I have fasted and prayed many days that I might know these things of myself. And now I do know of myself that they are true; for the Lord God hath made them manifest unto me by his Holy Spirit; and this is the spirit of revelation which is in me," (Alma 5:46).
8. Sacrifice
As we seek personal revelation we must offer sacrifice to the Lord. This is what he asks of us:
"And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost," (3 Nephi 9:20).Fasting and covenanting to be more obedient are some of the ways in which we can humble ourselves before the Lord. We can also give of ourselves in other ways. We can offer sacrifice by changing a bad habit into a good one, or starting something righteous we hadn't been doing before.
"Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD," (Psalms 4:5).
9. Church and Temple Attendance
Attending church and visiting the temple (if applicable) will help us to be more in tune with God's spirit as we seek personal revelation. This vital step not only shows our obedience but blesses us with additional understanding and guidance.
"And those who did belong to the church were faithful; yea, all those who were true believers in Christ took upon them, gladly, the name of Christ, or Christians as they were called, because of their belief in Christ who should come," (Alma 46:15).More »
"Come ye, and let us ago up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem," (Isaiah 2:3).
10. Ask in Prayer
We can also ask God for help in preparing ourselves to receive personal revelation. When we are prepared we must then seek God's help by asking for it- and we will receive.
"Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.More »
"And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart," (Jeremiah 29:12).
Nephi from the Book of Mormon also taught this principle: "Yea, I know that God will give liberally to him that asketh. Yea, my God will give me, if I ask not amiss; therefore I will lift up my voice unto thee; yea, I will cry unto thee, my God, the rock of my righteousness. Behold, my voice shall forever ascend up unto thee, my rock and mine everlasting God. Amen," (2 Nephi 4:35).