Ask and Ye Shall Receive, Seek and Ye Shall Find

(Published via Instagram November 2020.)

A gospel principle that I have been studying and enjoying is the process of receiving revelation. (I’ll be using revelation as an umbrella term because I think revelation is multifaceted. Revelation is defined as any kind of communication between God and His children. Therefore, it can consist of a variety of impressions, ideas, or feelings--direction, peace, understanding, motivation, and other hopeful feelings, thoughts, or realizations.)

I first started to think about receiving the revelation, blessings, and wisdom of God when I came across the well-known verse in Luke 11, which states:

“Ask, and it shall be given you;

seek, and ye shall find;

knock, and it shall be opened unto you”(v9).

I've read those words a thousand times. And I believe them. But when I read them recently, they jumped off the page and straight into my heart. I started to think deeply about this verse and asked myself if I was truly taking advantage of the blessing of communicating with and receiving revelation from God.

Luke 11:9 and many other scriptures frequently tell us that God will reward our efforts and provide us with answers or inspiration through revelation. In fact, 3 Nephi 14:7, Luke 11:9, Matthew 7:7, 3 Nephi 27:29, Doctrine and Covenants 4:7, 6:5, 11:5, 12:5, 14:5, 49:26, 66:9, and 75:27 all repeat this idea. While these scriptures are very similar, I think they emphasize two important points about asking and receiving:

1. God and His Son desperately want us to communicate with us. Most of these scriptures are identical; they don’t offer additional insight or recommendations. But this makes my point even firmer--Christ and Heavenly Father want to communicate with, guide, bless, and uplift us!

2. Revelation is accessible and there are steps we can follow to receive it. Action verbs like "ask", "knock", and "seek" tell us that we have to act--and act with true intent, and humility, as I will later explain. And as we exercise righteous action, God will reciprocate our sacrifices.

After noticing all the references to God’s desire to speak to and interact with us, I started to study the process of asking and receiving. While receiving revelation varies according to each person, there were 4 principles that stood out to me:

1. We must have real intent.

2 Nephi 32:4 tells us: "If ye cannot understand them [words of revelation] it will be because ye ask not, neither do ye knock, wherefore, ye are not brought into the light". This scripture implies that asking and seeking is more than simple action. So how does the Lord want us to ask and seek?

Moroni, the ever-righteous and war-torn son of the prophet Mormon, says that our actions must have pure intentions. He believes that if we "ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you"(Moroni 10:4). In this context, Moroni is encouraging people to pray about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. And while prayer is one of the ways we communicate with God and receive answers from Him, I would like to focus on a phrase that Moroni used. The words "real intent" help us know exactly how we should be asking and seeking. We must be sincere, having a true desire to receive and then act upon the will and answers of God.

1 Corinthians 2:14 warns that "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." This scripture sounds a little harsh but I think it makes an important point. It states that the natural man does not have the spiritual ears to hear the revelation of God; the eyes to see His hand, or the heart to feel His spirit. “The natural man” is the selfish, stubborn, carnal side of us; it’s a collection of the worst traits, flaws, and tendencies of humanity. Thus, we learn that revelation can only be received by those who cast off the natural man and its associated selfish desires. Someone who has righteous desires and the accompanying “real intent” can receive revelation because they will obey it.

But transforming our desires is hard! For me, it’s the most difficult aspect of asking for and receiving revelation. It takes time to change my habits, hopes, thoughts, expectations, and desires into something that reflects selfless devotion to Christ. It's hard for me to completely accept the plans of the Lord when I don’t know or understand them; I'd rather hold onto my comfortable habits and sins.

However, Rob Gardener, a prolific LDS composer, reminds us that we can't hold onto past desires, habits, or sins. His song, "Woman, Why Weepest Thou", tenderly states the following:

"Woman,

Why seekest thou the living among the dead?

He is not here,

For he is risen"

While this song is referencing the resurrection of Christ, I think it makes a good point. Why would we hold onto something that has died? Objectively, something thatis no longer alive has little purpose or meaning. But as humans, we apply a much more subjective view to death. Death of a dream, an opportunity, a relationship, a family member or friend; a lifestyle, a career, and many other ideas or things (because “dead” is not a state only applied living organisms!) is painful. And hard to move on from. But, this verse reminds me that we can let go of things because we have a living Savior. Because of our Savior, we don't have to hold onto old pains, habits, insecurities, or grudges. Because he atoned for our sins, felt our sorrows, experienced our weaknesses, and overcame death, we can partake of his strength, light, and love. We can learn to trust in him and give him whatever “dead” things we may be holding onto. As we learn to let go, trust Christ, and accept God’s timing, we will transform our desires to reflect righteousness and testimony, which will develop our capacity to receive revelation.

In a book about the atonement, best-selling LDS author James L. Ferrell provides additional perspective on the importance of letting go. Two characters exchange the following dialogue:

A struggling father admits: "For a moment I understood…

But the clarity is already fading.

I'm not sure I can do what you're suggesting.

I'm not sure I can let it go."

To which his angelic companion responds: "You don't need to let it go…

He [Christ] has already let it go for you.

That is part of his atonement.

You just need to allow him to take it from you"(The Peacegiver).

Rob Gardener's music and James Ferrell's book provide a lot of perspective on transforming our desires. As I previously stated, changing my desires to reflect the Lord’s will often requires me to let go of things. Whether those are pains that resulted from poor choices, selfish desires, or unfairly-inflicted wounds, we need to learn to let go of our weaknesses, grudges, and plans, and allow Christ to lead us.

It can be hard to hear that we have to accept the Lord’s will and timing. However, I think Gardener and Ferrell’s words very tenderly remind us that the Savior can take our burdens upon him. It’s okay if we struggle with something--we just “need to allow [Christ] to take it from” us! It always takes time for me to put aside my plans and eventually feel like I want to do the Lord’s will. But when I have successfully transformed my desires, I begin to feel the Spirit and am guide throughout the process of receiving revelation until I eventually start to receive answers.

2. We must ponder.

Another important step of asking and seeking revelation from God is to ponder. I love Doctrine & Covenants 9:8, which states: "You must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me". God wants us to think about our questions and doubts. Pondering proves that we want to receive revelation and that we are willing to extend consistent spiritual effort to receive answers, peace, and/or revelation from God. While pondering involves reflecting on our current situation, testimony, and divine potential, I think an important aspect of pondering includes studying the scriptures, other words of prophets, and our patriarchal blessings. Reviewing doctrine and learning from the thoughts and testimonies of others can provide us with more wisdom to ponder upon and implement into our situation.

3. We must sacrifice.

Part of Moroni's insistence that we must have real intent requires that we sacrifice things--our time, favorite sins, and flaws; our possessions, our grudges, and feelings of apathy or complacency. This is also very similar to the idea of transforming our desires. As previously stated, develop real intent often requires us to get rid of habits and let go of hurts.

President Hinckley once said: “Without sacrifice there is no true worship of God…‘The Father gave his Son, and the Son gave his life,’ and we do not worship unless we give—give of our substance…our time…strength… talent…faith… [and] testimonies”(Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley). To receive the voice, answers, peace, direction, revelation, and will of the Father, we must be willing to sacrifice everything, just as His Beloved Son did.

4. We must be willing to act.

Whether we are waiting for an answer or have just received it, the prophet of the Restoration, Joseph Smith, says that we must "cheerfully do all things that lie in our power"(D&C 123:17). Then, we can wait and "stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed"(D&C 123:17).

I truly believe that if we transform our hearts and have the genuine desire to receive the will of the Lord; ponder upon the scriptures and our lives, make consistent, genuine sacrifices, and exert righteous action, we will receive what we desperately need. We will find whatever we've been searching for. We will have doors opened unto us.

Revelation is "one of the most marvelous gifts the Lord has offered to mortals" (President Nelson). The direction, purpose, understanding, peace, knowledge, strength, and resolve that it can provide us with is paramount and unparalleled!

Ask and you will receive.

Seek and you will find.

Knock, and it will be opened unto you.