Revelation rarely just comes to us without our asking. We must actively seek revelation. God will never force revelation upon us, even if it is very important revelations!
“Obtaining revelation is not a passive experience. We don’t just toss off a prayer, then sit back and wait for the answer to come. We must choose to actively participate in the revelatory process. Asking is how the process begins, but it is not how it ends.” We must also seek and knock. “Seeking implies a higher level of involvement… [It] implies an earnestness that commits both the mind and the heart, the intellect and the emotions. Finally, knocking suggests some kind of physical action.” (Elder Lund).
The restoration of the gospel through the Prophet Joseph Smith contained, of necessity, hundreds—even thousands—of revelations! And this principle—the principle of revelations rarely coming to us without us actively seeking for them—is also true of the restoration and of the Prophet Joseph Smith. All of these hundreds of revelations that make up the restoration of the gospel were driven almost exclusively by questions! The First Vision came because of a driving question of Joseph’s; answers to proper authority to perform baptism; answers to the afterlife; all of these came because Joseph sought for revelation from God. Almost all revelations of this dispensation came because Joseph exercised agency and asked.
“The Prophet Joseph was our exemplar in this regard. He was the ‘master asker.’ His queries triggered the First Vision, the Word of Wisdom, the revelation on celestial marriage, the vision on the three degrees of glory, and in truth, almost every other notable revelation in this dispensation. He exploded the parameters of divine knowledge because he righteously asked. He was empirical proof of the divine invitation, ‘If thou shalt ask, thou shalt receive revelation upon revelation, knowledge upon knowledge, that thou mayest know the mysteries and peaceable things’” (Elder Callister).
So, ask! Ask God about your life, and His individual plan for you. Exercise agency and desire to know those things that currently remain in darkness to you, just barely at the edge of the light. Your unique mind; your individual spirit; your sentient moral agency will ponder upon things and ask questions that only you, as an individual, are driven to know. You will wonder these things because you are uniquely you. So, ponder upon these things, and ask God. Push the boundaries of knowledge.
A closed book may contain the greatest of truths, but its treasures will forever remain buried as long as it is sealed. The man who will not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.
Revelation rarely just comes to us without our asking. We must actively seek revelation. God will never force revelation upon us, even if it is very important revelations!
“Obtaining revelation is not a passive experience. We don’t just toss off a prayer, then sit back and wait for the answer to come. We must choose to actively participate in the revelatory process. Asking is how the process begins, but it is not how it ends.” We must also seek and knock. “Seeking implies a higher level of involvement… [It] implies an earnestness that commits both the mind and the heart, the intellect and the emotions. Finally, knocking suggests some kind of physical action.” (Elder Lund).
The restoration of the gospel through the Prophet Joseph Smith contained, of necessity, hundreds—even thousands—of revelations! And this principle—the principle of revelations rarely coming to us without us actively seeking for them—is also true of the restoration and of the Prophet Joseph Smith. All of these hundreds of revelations that make up the restoration of the gospel were driven almost exclusively by questions! The First Vision came because of a driving question of Joseph’s; answers to proper authority to perform baptism; answers to the afterlife; all of these came because Joseph sought for revelation from God. Almost all revelations of this dispensation came because Joseph exercised agency and asked.
“The Prophet Joseph was our exemplar in this regard. He was the ‘master asker.’ His queries triggered the First Vision, the Word of Wisdom, the revelation on celestial marriage, the vision on the three degrees of glory, and in truth, almost every other notable revelation in this dispensation. He exploded the parameters of divine knowledge because he righteously asked. He was empirical proof of the divine invitation, ‘If thou shalt ask, thou shalt receive revelation upon revelation, knowledge upon knowledge, that thou mayest know the mysteries and peaceable things’” (Elder Callister).
So, ask! Ask God about your life, and His individual plan for you. Exercise agency and desire to know those things that currently remain in darkness to you, just barely at the edge of the light. Your unique mind; your individual spirit; your sentient moral agency will ponder upon things and ask questions that only you, as an individual, are driven to know. You will wonder these things because you are uniquely you. So, ponder upon these things, and ask God. Push the boundaries of knowledge.
A closed book may contain the greatest of truths, but its treasures will forever remain buried as long as it is sealed. The man who will not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.
Revelation rarely just comes to us without our asking. We must actively seek revelation. God will never force revelation upon us, even if it is very important revelations!
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