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Good afternoon dear brothers and sisters. I’m grateful for the opportunity to be here with you today. My name is Becky Squire and I’ve been invited to speak about the Framework of Personal Revelation as it applies to General Conference.
I’d like to start right off with a quote by our prophet, and an invitation by me. Concerning General Conference, President Nelson said, “There has never been a time in the history of the world when knowledge of our Savior is more personally vital and relevant to every human soul.”
The invitation is this: Start preparing right now for general conference. We can prepare spiritually, by praying for the spirit to reveal truths to us from the leaders of the Church. We can We can prepare physically by making our homes, or our cars, or wherever we will be listening, our own divine sanctuaries where the spirit can testify. And we can even prepare socially by inviting friends, neighbors, or family members to listen or even watch with us. General Conference can provide an opportunity for each of us to receive personal revelation through the messages shared by our leaders.
General Conference is so important to our souls, but even more important is seeking personal revelation the correct way – through a framework. This framework, shared by Elder Renlund in the last General Conference, consists of four elements that we must do to assure our personal revelation is from God, and not from our own natural minds or worse – the adversary.
The first element is to feast on the words of Christ, as found in the scriptures. When we study and ponder the scriptures, it stimulates personal
revelation.
As we study the scriptures, we will gain a deeper understanding of God’s nature, His teachings, and His plan for us. This increased understanding can help us recognize the promptings of the Holy Spirit when they come.
Studying the scriptures can help us gain a clearer perspective on our own life and the challenges we face. This perspective can help us recognize the hand of God in our life and the direction He wants us to take.
I can testify with personal experience that the times I receive personal revelation the most is when I am reading the scriptures – especially the
Book of Mormon. The answers aren’t always written within the verse. Sometimes they are. But usually it’s a thought or feeling I get as I’m
reading.
These days, it is SO easy to seek and find answers online. Google, influencers, and blogs seem to have “all the answers,” right? But who are
they to claim truth? Maybe it is, and maybe it’s not. But when we study the scriptures – God’s word – we can trust that our answers are truth.
Elder Hales said, “When we want to speak to God, we pray. And when we want Him to speak to us, we search the scriptures.”
The second element is that we receive personal revelation only within our purview and not within the prerogative of others. In other words, we receive personal revelation within and under our stewardship.
If I were to stand here and tell all of you how you should be doing Come Follow Me in your homes, with your families, that would be wrong. That is not in my stewardship.
And when anyone teaches something that is contrary to the commandments, we don’t have to wonder if it’s true or not. Because only
the prophet receives revelation for the Church.
President Benson said, “God’s revelations to Adam did not instruct Noah how to build the ark. Noah needed his own revelation. Therefore, the most important prophet, so far as you and I are concerned, is the one living in our day and age to whom the Lord is currently revealing His will for us.
Therefore, the most important reading we can do is any of the words of the prophet.”
Doctrine, commandments, and revelations for the Church comes through the living prophet, who receives them from the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the prophet’s stewardship.
The third element is that personal revelation will always be in harmony with the commandments of God and the covenants we have made with
Him. Elder Renlund said that, “When we ask for revelation about something for which God has already given clear direction, we open ourselves up to misinterpreting our feelings and hearing what we want to hear.”
This reflects a deep commitment to following God’s will and living according to His teachings.
In Elder Renlund’s talk, he gives a couple of examples of this. The first is a hypothetical prayer that I’m sure has been said in reality many times: “Heavenly Father, Church services are boring. May I worship Thee on the Sabbath in the mountains or on the beach? May I be excused from going to church and partaking of the sacrament but still have the promised blessings of keeping the Sabbath day holy?” In response to such a prayer, we can anticipate God’s response: “My child, I have already revealed my will regarding the Sabbath day.”
Elder Renlund also shared this story about a man who once told him about his struggles to stabilize his family’s financial situation. He had the idea to embezzle funds as a solution, prayed about it, and felt he had received affirmative revelation to do so. But, he had obviously been deceived because he sought revelation contrary to a commandment of God.
Personal revelation will always be in harmony with the commandments of God because both come from the same source, which is God himself. As we seek to follow God’s will in our lives, we can trust that the personal revelation we receive will guide us in ways that are consistent with his commandments and lead us closer to him.
The fourth element is to recognize what God has already revealed to you personally, while being open to further revelation from Him. In other words, If God has answered a question and the circumstances have not changed, why would we expect the answer to be different?
We saw this in early Church history when Martin Harris asked Joseph for permission to take the translated pages and show them to his wife. Unsure of what to do, Joseph prayed for guidance. The Lord told him not to let Martin take the pages. Martin requested that Joseph ask God again. Joseph did so, and the answer was, not surprisingly, the same. But Martin begged Joseph to ask a third time, and Joseph did so. This time God did not say no. Instead, it was as though God said, “Joseph, you know how I feel about this, but you have your agency to choose.” The result was that those pages were lost and never recovered.
In Jacob 4:10 it reads, “Seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand.”
If we have received personal revelation for our situation and the circumstances have not changed, God has already answered our question.
When we follow this framework for personal revelation, the Holy Ghost can and will reveal everything we need to stay on the covenant path and back to live with God again.
It is important to remember that personal revelation is not always dramatic or immediate. It may come gradually over time, or it may be subtle and easy to miss if you are not paying attention. However, if you approach general conference with an open heart and a willingness to receive guidance from the Spirit, you can have a more meaningful experience.
Personal revelation can help you receive insights and inspiration that are not directly related to the messages shared during general conference. As you open yourself up to the Spirit and seek guidance, you may receive answers to personal questions or insights into challenges you are facing. I know that this can make general conference a transformative experience for you.
I do not believe that “personal revelation” means that we get to pick and choose what sounds good to us, and forget the rest. I believe it means that we are invited to receive a personal witness that the council given at General Conference, and the words taught there are true.
I’ll never forget 5 years ago when Russell M Nelson was called to be the prophet and president of the Church. I often get told that I follow the
prophet blindly, usually by people that don’t actually know me at all, but I wanted a personal witness that he was indeed called of God. I prayed and prayed but never felt that personal witness. I believed it. But I wanted that assurance for myself. I decided to read his biography and finished reading it after about a week or so. Something powerful happened as I read this book and prayed for a personal witness that he was a prophet. Ever since then, I have been able to say with pure confidence that I will follow the prophet. Because I know he is a prophet.
I invite you to start praying today for the spirit to bear witness to you that Russell M. Nelson is a prophet of God. I invite you to pray for ears to hear his words – the words of God – this General Conference. And as you receive personal revelation, act on it. This may involve making changes in your life, reaching out to others, or simply continuing to seek further guidance.
TESTIMONY
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