RS/EQ: Prayer and Personal Revelationby Tristi Pinkston | More from this Blogger 26 Jun 2008 09:00 PM Lesson #10 in the Joseph Smith manual for this year's course of study is entitled, "Prayer and Personal Revelation." Joseph Smith restored many things when he restored the gospel to the earth. He demonstrated ways in which we could address our Heavenly Father, as a close personal friend and indeed, a father, and he taught the young Church the power of prayer and the very real concept of personal revelation. He pointed out that the Lord had never said He would stop speaking to His children in the latter days, so we should not be so surprised that He speaks to us now, especially about our own salvation. He also points out that Abraham needed different revelation than did Noah, as each had a different call and a different mission to perform, so we ought not to wonder why we need more revelation today. We can't take what God said to Noah and apply it to ourselves-his task was far different from ours. We should never marvel at the need for continued revelation. When we are given revelation or receive new teaching on any subject, we should make it a matter of prayer. We should pray over everything that concerns us, from our flocks to our fields to our families, and we'll receive more knowledge and we'll receive peace about our stewardships. He taught us to be plain and simple in what we ask for. We don't need to use fancy language; we can just be ourselves. And as we pray in simplicity, we bring ourselves near to God and will receive the things we ask for, as long as our desires are good. The Holy Ghost has been given to us as a gift, equally. God is not a respecter of persons, and He will give revelation to all of us. When we keep His commandments, He will reveal His will to us. Pure intelligence may come to us in sudden strokes of ideas, and we may see things come to pass that very day. In this way, we'll know that we have been in communication with the Spirit. He says, "No man can receive the Holy Ghost without receiving revelations. The Holy Ghost is a revelator." And as we follow the promptings of that Spirit, it will always lead us right. Related Blogs: Receiving Insight into the Scriptures Why Do We Have the Doctrine and Covenants? Learn more about Tristi Pinkston  I've been a blogger for Families.com since August of 2006. Relevantlds tags User Comments No comments on this article yet. Be the first to comment! Discuss this article
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