Episode 22 Increasing Your Capacity to Receive Personal Revelation

My entire life I felt like I didn't really know how to receive personal revelation. I knew it was possible but I was clearly missing something. I started on a journey with the determination to hear the Spirit more frequently and more clearly.  In the process God taught me 8 things that have transformed my ability to hear Him. I have gone from wondering if God was listening to hearing Him every single day.  I am now confident in my ability to seek and hear God's word for me as I still seek to increase my capacity to receive personal revelation every day. In this episode I share the 8 things God taught me and pray it blesses you like it blessed me!

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Change your Questions, Change Your Life by Wendy Watson Nelson
https://amzn.to/4eLfBkf

References:
Quote by George Q. Cannon: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2016/04/seeking-spiritual-gifts?lang=eng
Alma 10:5
Isaiah 55:22
Omni 1:10
JS Matthew vs. 22, 37
D&C 42:61
Scripture reading and personal revelation Elder Dallin H. Oaks, The Ensign, January 1995
D&C 82:4
Pres. Kimball quote: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1974/04/the-cause-is-just-and-worthy?lang=eng

Transcript

President Nelson said, "I plead with you to increase your spiritual capacity to receive revelation. Choose to do the spiritual work required to enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost and hear the voice of the spirit more frequently and more clearly. Welcome to the Hope Smiling Brightly YouTube channel and podcast. sharing stories and ideas that will empower you to overcome doubt. Cultivate the kind of faith miracles are made of and experience the transformative grace of Christ.

Whatever it is, Christ is the answer. I am your host, Amber, also known as Amber Dawn Pierce on social media. but hopefully most especially known as someone who loves to share the light and the joy of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Today you are listening to episode number 22, increasing your capacity to receive revelation. Wow.

It has been a very full last couple of months. As many of you have heard, uh I have started hosting retreats, co-hosting retreats with my best friend who happens to be a phenomenal and gifted life coach. Our first retreat sold out quickly and so we have already scheduled our next retreat for June 11th through the 14th and we will be scheduling many more. These retreats are designed to take the things that you are learning here and go into an environment where you have the opportunity to dig a little deeper and apply them personally in your life.

The whole goal is to help you to come closer to Jesus Christ and truly receive his joy and peace. So go to sunshineinthesoulretreats.com to learn more and register for our next retreat. I find it very interesting that as my topic is all about receiving personal revelation. I find myself today in need of man an extra portion of the spirit to get through this episode.

It has been a really busy last month and I haven't had time to prepare as I've wanted to, but I decided I am just going to sit down and get this done and trust that the spirit is going to somehow fill my mouth with the words that I need to speak today. And that said, also I invite the spirit right now help you see the things specifically that you need to hear today and to hear things that maybe I don't even say. When it comes to personal revelation, I have found that the biggest problem we face are our own limiting beliefs surrounding the ability to receive personal revelation. So today I want to share with you eight limiting beliefs and I don't know maybe more if the spirit pops another one into my mind but eight beliefs that I had that were preventing me from hearing the word of God for me and maybe you'll see yourself in some of these limiting beliefs because being able to identify them will help us to overcome them.

So, let's talk about limiting belief number one. I don't know how to receive personal revelation. Now, I know many of us have spoken that and we're like, it's true. I really don't know how.

I had this belief deep within me. Every single time I would hear a general conference talk where the topic was personal revelation, I would just zone right in and try to learn, but I never really felt like I was making it work in my life, however hard I tried. But I think it's because when it came down to it, I truly believed that I just didn't know how. And I would watch other people share their stories of personal revelation and sit back and just feel this envy like, man, why can't I receive revelation like that?

They like they do. What am I missing? But here's the thing. No one has a corner on the market when it comes to personal revelation.

If you are a child of God, he is speaking to you. You don't have to know how to receive revelation for God to speak to you. So the first thing that the spirit taught me in how to overcome this limiting belief was to ponder on what gift I needed to ask for to be able to improve or learn how to receive personal revelation. It brought me to a principle taught by George Q.

Cannon. Now his quote was, "If any of us aren't perfect, it is our duty to pray for the gift that will make us perfect." But I want to take that word perfect out and replace it here. So listen to this quote in this way. If any of us don't know how to receive personal revelation, it is our duty to pray for the gift that will help us to receive personal revelation.

It was really surprising where the spirit led me when I started asking God how I could better receive personal revelation. You see, my entire life I have always been a very vivid dreamer and most of the time those they were scary dreams and I would prefer not to dream at all. But as I was praying for these dreams to go away, I had a different thought come into my mind. how could I turn what I felt was a weakness into a gift? And so I started praying for the gift of dreams.

And if you've listened to my podcast, you know that I have shared a few of those dreams here in some of my episodes. And over the years, the Lord since then, number one, these bad dreams have stopped and instead the Lord gives me dreams that have taught me things and are personal revelation to me. So, I'm not saying that you need to start praying for the gift of dreams. But there are a lot of things, gifts that we can start praying for that will help us to better receive revelation.

You could pray for the gift of spiritual hearing and sight, the gift of faith, the gift of prayer because prayer is a big part of personal revelation. The gift of insight, the gift of obedience, the gift of intent to do the thing that God tells us, the gift of patience, the gift of discernment, of understanding. What gift are you willing to ask for to help you learn how to receive personal revelation? Limiting belief number two.

God hasn't spoken to me very much. This belief reminds me of Amulek. Remember in Alma 10:5 he said, "I never have known much of the ways of the Lord and his mysteries and marvelous power." He says this and as he's saying it, I think the spirit like reprimands him a little bit because the very next line he remembers. I said, I have never had known much of these things, but behold, I mistake for I have seen much of his mysteries and his marvelous power.

Yay, even in the preservation of the lives of this people. I think it wouldn't take long for us if we really pondered and looked at our lives, the preservation of our lives, the story of our lives, we would see God's revelation, God's guidance woven into the very fibers of our lives. I know that my life is full of evidence of God's revelation. And I think about my parents' story, you know, how they went from their addictions in a hippie commune to embracing the gospel of Jesus Christ.

They didn't even really know God, yet God led them exactly where they needed to be. And it's amazing to me that as this little girl who really didn't think much of herself, who believed that because I had an outhouse and everyone else I knew had flushing toilets, that somehow I was just not as of much worth that that God took me and little by little showed me who I was and what I was capable of. And I cannot deny that even though I didn't know I was hearing him, he was speaking to me. And I think this is a beautiful practice to sit down and write down times in your life that you knew that God was involved.

And acknowledging this brings in that faith needed to receive more revelation. Limiting belief number three, I have to be perfect before God will speak to me.

Have you ever felt this? Oh my goodness, did I believe this? Maybe you feel like you're not good enough to receive revelation. Or if you're not hearing from him, it's because he's punishing you for not being perfect.

But let me tell you first, my mother's story proves this whole limiting belief wrong because my mother hardly knew anything about God. She believed there was a God, but she didn't grow up in a religious home. And after she left home, she was doing things that nobody should do. She was addicted to drugs and she wasn't making the best choices.

Yet God was still speaking to her. He was reaching to her. God was bringing words into her mind from books of scripture that she had never even opened in her life. You can't tell me that you have to be perfect for God to speak to you.

If you are his child, he is trying to speak to you. If we have that desire to hear him, if we're going and taking the sacrament every week, my goodness, you are worthy to receive God's word for you. Even though God was reaching to my parents, of course, the heavens weren't completely open to them. They had to start making choices that would bring more of the spirit into their lives for them to receive more revelation.

I love this quote by President Nelson. Nothing opens the heavens quite like the combination of increased purity, exact obedience, earnest seeking, daily feasting on the words of Christ in the Book of Mormon, and regular time committed to temple and family history work. Right there it gives a lot of things that we can do to increase our capacity to receive revelation. But I need to pause a second because if you're a perfectionist like me, you may have focused in on two words there and decided all was lost.

Exact obedience. When President Nelson first said those words, I was like, "Oh, great. Great. He's saying I have to be perfect in order to hear God's word." And it was very overwhelming to me.

But as I took this thought to God and asked him what this meant, I heard this. I will reveal things to you that you can be exactly obedient in. And then I was like, "Oh, no. This isn't saying we have to be completely perfect.

It's just saying that we can have exact obedience in the things that the spirit reveals to us. So it was interesting when the Lord showed this to me. I was preparing to go on a road trip and I had been seeking an answer to a question and I was hoping that during this road trip I would get that answer. It was a 10-hour drive from New Mexico up to Utah.

And I was really hoping that something would happen in that 10 hours. Well, the spirit let me know that I could be exactly obedient in following the speed limit on that drive. Oh my goodness. Could you ask me to do something harder? drive the speed limit for 10 hours, but I decided to go ahead and put it to the test.

I I had no idea how difficult it would be to be obedient in obeying the speed limit, but I did. And do you know what happened at hour number eight? God answered my prayer in such a magnificent way that I had to stop and pull over and get on my knees in my car and thank him. Limiting belief number four.

I am trying but nothing happens. Have you ever said that to yourself? When I said that to myself, the spirit kind of nudged me and was like, "Really? Really, Amber?

Are you trying as hard as you think you are?" Cuz here's the thing. I can describe this best by quoting the words from the song uh where Can I turn from for peace? where it says, "Where is my solace when other sources cease to make me whole? He answers privately, reaches my reaching." How how hard are are we reaching? And are we being honest with ourselves when it comes to this reaching?

Because often the problem is we are reaching to other sources, sources other than God for that solace. And as long as we are doing that, we are limiting our ability to receive revelation. I think this is why President Nelson said any addiction be it gaming, gambling, debt, drugs, alcohol, anger, pornography, sex, or even food, offends God. Why?

Because your obsession becomes your God. You look to it rather than to him for solace. So, I think it's profound to ask ourselves, is there something else we're reaching to instead of God for that solace? The spirit reaffirmed this teaching in another profound way for me.

This was at a time in my life where my perfectionism drove me to read like every self-help book out there. I was looking for answers on how to do everything right. And it I also found myself anytime I was stumped, what would I do? I would immediately call up my best friend or walk down the hallway to talk to my mother.

And one time as I was doing this natural reaction when I had a question in my mind, I grabbed my phone to call my friend and the spirit was like, "Amber, ask me. I know the answer." I wanted to, but I didn't want to cuz it was so much easier just to call up my friend. That would be a quicker answer. And I wasn't confident in how quickly God would answer me.

And so one day I was just walking around my house. And as I was walking around the north side of my house, I noticed all of the flowers. I had planted this row of flowers there. And all of them were growing nearly sideways.

Why? Because it was the north side and the sun wasn't shining on them. And so these flowers were reaching with all their might for the sun. And when I saw that, the spirit was like, "See, Amber, even the flowers know where to go for light." I finally conceded.

And every time I got that feeling, that urge to call my friend, to go and talk to my mother, to go talk to anyone else, I would stop and ask God first. I'm not saying that we should never ask anyone else questions or go to other sources, but I think we need to be honest with ourselves. Is God our primary source? And are we giving him as many opportunities to answer our questions as possible?

Here's one more example of asking God something that I normally would have asked someone else. One time I was reading the scriptures and I came across a verse that I didn't understand. I mean actually that happens all the time. And I felt this desire to understand the scripture better.

And again, my knee-jerk reaction was to go and I don't know, listen, find a podcast where a a scholar would explain more deeply what these verses meant. And as I was about to do that, again, I heard something unexpected. It was like the Lord was saying, "Hey, I was there. You could ask me." And I was like, "Oh, duh.

These these people who give the commentaries, they weren't actually there, but the Lord was." And imagine the insight that he could give me for those verses if I tried to ask him first. Limiting belief number five, God only speaks to me in a certain way.

This can be a problem when we put God into a box of how he might speak to us. I grew up learning that in order to hear God, I had to say a prayer and then wait for his response. this is a great idea, but as a little girl, I didn't have much patience waiting on my knees. And so I would kneel there for what felt like an hour, but it was probably only a few minutes. And then I was like, well, he didn't give me my answer, so I guess he's not speaking to me.

And I really thought that if he wasn't going to answer me in that way, the way that I had been taught, then I hadn't figured out how to receive revelation. But God answers in loud circumstances, in quiet circumstances, in our car, on our knees, on our feet, in our homes, in the temple. Let's not limit how and where he might answer. Limiting belief number six.

God has already revealed everything. This I feel like applies to when we are listening to a conference talk or reading the scriptures and we expect everything that we need to know to be right on those pages and in those words. But there is so much in between the lines and there is so much more to be revealed. I love the example in Omni chapter 1.

Now let us remember the book of Omni is only one chapter. In fact, it's 30 verses that cover almost 200 years. And in that chapter, you can see that these records are just being passed down from king to king to king. And also remember that this chapter comes at, you know, the beginning towards the beginning of the Book of Mormon.

And listen to what Abinadam says in verse 11. And behold, the record of this people is engraven upon place which is had by the kings according to the generations. Now this is what is significant. And I know of no revelation save that which has been written, neither prophecy.

Wherefore that which is sufficient is written and I make an end. Can you believe that? 200 years and nothing more to say and how much would be revealed after that statement. Are we saying that to ourselves that there isn't much more for me to know than what is written and what has been revealed is sufficient? We need this hunger within ourselves.

This desire to receive the mysteries of God that he has promised us. Limiting belief number seven.

I can't be sure if it is actually revelation. You know, when we ask ourselves, "Was that me or was that the spirit?" Or maybe we're worried about being deceived. Well, we can be sure if it's actually revelation. God wouldn't leave us without that power.

It makes me think of Joseph Smith, Matthew verse 22. It says, "For in those days there shall also arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders in so much that if possible, they shall deceive the very elect who are the elect according to the covenant." So yes, deception is possible. But if you read further down to verse 37, it shows you the key what God has given us so that we are not deceived. It says, "And who so treasureth up my word shall not be deceived." If your primary source of knowledge is the scriptures, is the words of the prophets, if you test any revelation up against the truth that has already been revealed, you can be sure that you will not be deceived.

And I can guarantee that we are all going to be tested. It's actually a part of the pattern of receiving God's knowledge is to give us truth and to test us to see if we will live according to that truth. When we are faced with lies and half-truths, will we reject it? It can be hard when there is something we so desperately want to know the answer to, but it has not been revealed.

And when we hear of something that is the philosophies of man mingled with scripture, that sounds like a really great answer, we really want to accept it as truth. But when we do that, we are actually hindering our ability to receive further revelation. Okay, we've addressed the worry of being deceived, but what about the concern of how do I know if it was my thought or if it was a thought from the spirit?

Was it really revelation? I love to explain this using a game that I always used to play with my kids when they were younger where I would take something and hide it and then they would have to move around the room and if they got closer to the item I would say, "You're getting hot. You're getting hot. You're on fire." Or if they were moving away from it, I'd be like, "Oh, you're cold.

You're getting cold. You're freezing to death." this when it comes to revelation sometimes we need to move act on the revelation we received and as we move the Lord will let us know okay you're on the right track you're getting hot you're almost there or he'll let us know oh you're getting a little cold moving in the wrong direction and so we can test something that we have received in that Okay. Another thing that we can do, it is okay if you receive a witness of something and you're unsure to ask for another witness and another to make sure that that was the spirit. Now, here is another thing that might make us doubt whether something was actually revelation. when we follow a prompting and everything turns out disastrous or not how we thought it would.

You know, it makes me think of my upbringing. Honestly, my parents felt prompted and guided to open their home to as many people as possible to friends to to foster children. Um, they adopted eight children. And even though this was something God clearly prompted them to do, it didn't always turn out how they expected.

And it I mean it wasn't gumdrops and lollipops. It led to some really hard things in some circumstances. And so I think one would be tempted to say or to doubt that that was really revelation because of some of the outcomes. But this is what I say to myself often.

The validity of a prompting is not determined by the outcome. God doesn't always prompt us to do things that will result in ease. He does prompt us to do things that will result in growth and eventual joy. Limiting belief number eight, God didn't answer me before, therefore he will not answer me now.

Sometimes we base our ability to receive revelation on a past experience where we were disappointed by the answer that we got or didn't get. But I believe sometimes the most powerful answers are in the silence. Or sometimes we didn't receive an answer because if we're being honest with ourselves, we really didn't want God's advice. We had already decided what we wanted to do and sometimes we are already doing the right thing and so there's no further direction.

I had an experience one time where I again was seeking for something and I felt prompted to go and spend the whole day at the temple. I had never done that before. And so I decided that I was going to receive some grand revelation by obeying this prompting. I decided to fast and I went to the temple first thing in the morning and the plan was to stay until it closed that night.

And at first I was feeling so great about things and a miracle happened where I ended up in the celestial room for several hours all by myself. No interruptions. And I was just sure of the abundant revelation I was going to receive that day. And guess how much revelation I received?

Zero. Zero. Like you couldn't have given a more perfect circumstance. And I did not get the answer I was expecting.

I didn't get any answer at all. And I was so confused. And honestly feelings of embarrassment and shame, like why did I put so much hope in this and embarrassed for having that faith that I felt went unused. And my first reaction was like, well, I'm never doing that again.

I'm never going to put myself in a circumstance for God not to answer me that way. feeling definitely sorry for myself. And honestly, I still haven't figured out what the purpose was of that whole experience other to than to maybe share it here with you to let you know that just because God didn't answer you in the way you wanted or in the circumstance that you thought was perfect or in however way that you tried so hard to hear, doesn't mean that he's not going to answer you next time. The ability to receive revelation is it's a practice. It's like learning any other language and it's going to take time and persistence and trial and error.

Just don't stop trying. Okay, I've gone through the eight limiting beliefs that I had and maybe some of them resonated with you or maybe the spirit has brought or will bring to your mind a belief that you have about revelation that has limited your ability to hear God's word for you.

But next, I want to share with you this turning point amid all these limiting beliefs where I started to receive more revelation than I ever had in my entire life. I was reading a book by Wendy Watson Nelson called Change Your Questions, Change Your Life. And I in it on page 139, I came across an experiment that she called the take a daily question to the scriptures for 30 days experiment. And she said, begin each of the 30 days of this experiment by asking yourself, what is the one question I most need to have answered today? the question that is burning in my heart and mine, burdening me, the question that is troubling my life.

Then take your scriptures and kneel down and thank your heavenly father in the name of Jesus Christ for the scriptures. Next, ask for the spirit to be with you as you seek an answer to your one question for that day. Picture the Holy Ghost being right there with you as you read. Ask your heavenly father the one question you most need to have answered that day.

Then open your scriptures and read until you find the answer. It is my experience and the witness of so many others that you won't have to read very far before you will find what you are looking for. This was the missing key for me. I decided to take on this experiment.

And let me tell you, I was terrified. I had never exercised this kind of faith before. Usually when I went to the scriptures, yeah, I would pray for the spirit and pray to be taught something. But I had never asked a deeply personal question.

I thought that when you read the scriptures, you were supposed to ask questions that were relevant to that particular chapter. I didn't realize I could ask God whatever I wanted, whatever I was in need of, and I didn't have to read the scriptures from front to back. I could sit and ponder and open up to a chapter that came to my mind or just randomly open my scriptures and God would lead me to answers, whether it was through a verse that stood out, a word, a footnote. So when I tried this, I first was like, "Oh my gosh, what do I even ask?

I didn't know what to ask." So I sat and pondered for a bit what God even wanted me to ask. And I came down to two different questions. And as I went back and forth between those two questions, as I pondered on one particular question, I just felt peace. I felt that that was the question I was supposed to ask.

And so I asked it and I took I took my scriptures into my hand and I was so nervous to to open them up like would he really answer me? What if this doesn't work? If I took a deep breath, I closed my eyes and I just opened up my scriptures. And I know everyone's experience will be different and it doesn't always happen this way for me.

But that day, the very first verse that I looked down at was a direct answer to that question. And I sat there with my jaw dropped. And then I had this other idea come into my mind to actually open up the hymn book. So I was like, "Okay." And so I grabbed the hymn book and randomly opened it up.

And it opened right up to a song that had the exact same message as that scripture did. It was like the Lord was telling me, "See, Amber, I answer questions. I will answer your seeking. Don't be afraid.

Keep asking." I continued that experiment for the next 30 days. And sometimes I asked the same question every single day for multiple days because I felt like it hadn't been completely answered. And that experiment went well beyond 30 days. In fact, many years later, I am still conducting that experiment.

And it's not an experiment anymore. I have full confidence in what will happen when I exercise this faith. I know that God answers prayers. What I didn't realize is that yeah, the truth of Yes.

Our communication to God is our prayers. His communication to us is the scriptures. It is the words that we hear in general conference. And we just need to have the faith to search within those words for our answers.

And sometimes the answer won't actually be the words. It will be something that comes into our minds as we're reading those words. that is completely unrelated. President Oaks said that I sometimes think that one of the best kept secrets of the kingdom is that the scriptures open the door to the receipt of revelation. This happens because scripture reading puts us in tune with the spirit of the Lord.

For us, the scriptures are not the ultimate source of knowledge, but what precedes the ultimate source. The ultimate knowledge comes by revelation. Reading the scriptures, as President Oaks said, is one of the best-kept secrets to receive revelation. God's word has to be included in our efforts to hear his word.

It's all right here. When I have talked about this on Instagram, one of the most common questions I get is, "How do I know what question to start with?" Well, I believe beyond these limiting beliefs that we have, the inability or lack of confidence in receiving personal revelation all goes back to one problem and that is either an incorrect perception of God or an incorrect perception of ourselves. And so I believe that the most important questions that we can ask is what do I need to learn about myself and what do I need to learn about God? And it is often the answers to those questions that completely resolve all of those limiting beliefs. limiting beliefs that we didn't even know we had.

I want you to listen to this verse in Doctrine and Covenants 67 and put your name into this blank and hear these words for yourself. Behold and hearken blank. Put your name there. Behold and hearken.

Whose prayers I have heard and whose hearts I know and whose desires have come up before me. Mine eyes are upon you and the heavens and the earth are in mine hands and the riches of eternity are mine to give. You know, it's funny. As a little child, when I heard the scriptures about ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened up unto you, I would think of material things.

Like when I was a little girl, I desperately wanted a powderpuff big wheel. And so I put that scripture to the test and I prayed for a powderpuff big wheel. And guess what? It worked.

I got it. But that is not what God is talking about. When he says the riches of eternity are his to give or when he says ask and ye shall receive, he is talking about wisdom, knowledge and the most precious knowledge you can receive is who you are and who God is because it will change your life. And if you think you know all the things, that's actually another hindrance to receiving revelation.

You don't. There is more to know. There is more to understand about God and yourself. But you've got to seek it.

As you guys know, I have let you know many, many times that God told me the words, "Ye know me not." So after he spoke those words, you better believe I did everything I could to know him better. The first thing I did was get a set of scriptures where I could journal right in the scriptures. And as I would read, I would ask those two questions. What does this teach about God?

And what does this teach about me and my potential? And I would underline things that taught me something about who God was and about who I was. And then after I would finish underlining those things, I would write down my insights right on that page. And I started this with the Book of Mormon, but I continued it as I read every book of scripture.

And it has been a beautiful exercise. You could even do this with remember what President Nelson suggested is going and studying every single verse under the subject of Jesus Christ in the Bible dictionary. Do that and make note of what you learn about God and what you learn about yourself through those verses. Just a couple more tips that I want to share with you that I have learned as I've gone through this process.

One of the first is to ask with the intention to act. I think that was a bit of a problem for me. I was often asking just because I wanted to see if God was would answer, but I sometimes think that I didn't get an answer because I really wasn't ready to act upon whatever that answer would be. President Eyring said, "With sufficient faith, we will ask for direction, with the intent to go and do whatever he asks." Now, I've had some people express to me that they're afraid to ask the question because they're afraid that God will ask too much of them or something that they're afraid to do.

But do you see the the flaw in that thinking? God wants our joy. He wants us to He wants to help us live a beautiful and fulfilling life. We don't need to be afraid of anything that he asks.

We can trust also that if he's going to ask us to do something, he will provide a way for us to do it. It also confirms this principle in the scripture where remember the Liahona only worked according to the diligence and heed that they gave it. And as I started receiving more revelation for myself that, as I've expressed before, I didn't really want to do. I didn't want to share my faith on social media.

I didn't want to do a podcast. But I thought twice when God led me to this scripture in Doctrine of Covenants 82:4 that I put in my journal. Ye call upon my name for revelations and I give them unto you. And in as much as ye keep not my sayings which I give unto you, ye become transgressors.

We got to be willing to do the things God asks to come to him with real intent if we want those answers. And as President Nelson taught us, we've got to be willing to put in the work. It does require some effort. I am embarrassed to admit this next part.

During this process, um there was this one time where I was taking a nap and I woke with some unexpected words in my mind. Those words were, "You want everything for half price." And at first I was like, "Whoa, what does that mean? What do I want for half price? I mean, I like a good deal.

I'm a bargain shopper. But I knew that's not what the Lord was referring to. And I realized that I was kind of complaining and bemoning that I wasn't progressing like I wanted to, that I wasn't receiving the revelation I was seeking, and I wasn't willing to truly pay the full price of discipleship to cultivate an increased ability to receive personal revelation. And it was hard, but I had to be honest with myself about that.

I was sitting there being jealous of other people who seemed to understand the scriptures and seemed to receive revelation all the time, but I wasn't willing to put in the effort myself. President Spencer W. Kimball said, quoting someone else, someone said, "Many people are willing to plot along for 16 to 20 years from grade 1 to a PhD to learn medicine or engineering or psychology or mathematics or sociology or biology to study, research, attend classes, pay tuitions, accept help from teachers and professors, and yet to learn about God, the maker. of all, the author of it all. In a few intermittent prayers and some very limited hours of research, they feel they can find the truths about God.

How humbling to hear. If we're going to stretch beyond our current ability to receive personal revelation, there is going to be some effort there. It made me think of Elder Stevenson's talk about receiving revelation where he referred to people who achieve a high level of excellence in a particular thing. He said we marvel at performers in numerous sports and other disciplines who achieve the highest level of their art.

And he said, "Extraordinary natural talent notwithstanding, it is through painstaking and laborious practice and effort that performers refine and hone their craft to reach their highest level of artistry." And then he compared this to having the Holy Ghost, receiving revelation, having the guidance of the Holy Ghost in your life requires spiritual work. And that made me think of the 10,000 hour principle. You know, the idea that it takes about 10,000 hours of focus practice to become truly expert at a skill. Now, I'm not saying you have to go and spend 10,000 hours at Personal Revelation, but I bring this up because the researcher behind this concept shared the practices of those people who achieve the highest level of their art.

And I think we can learn some great concepts from people who live their lives in this way. Concepts that we can apply to our search and reach to receive more revelation in our lives. There were five things that Anders Ericsson taught and I've taken them and put them into the framework of cultivating the ability to receive revelation. So maybe one might stand out to you.

First of all, if you are trying to achieve a higher level of something, you have to practice what you're uncomfortable with rather than practicing what you already know and what is in your comfort zone. And so, an example of this would be taking something that you've heard today that you're maybe scared to do and do it. I definitely practiced something uncomfortable when I put that experiment to the test and just said a prayer and opened up my scriptures. I had never done that before.

Practice something in personal revelation that stretches you that is out of your comfort zone. The second thing is to have a growth mindset.

Someone with a growth mindset would instead of saying I can't hear God well they would say I can't hear God well yet. They have this belief that they can grow and learn as they try. The third thing that these high achievers do is they chase fear.

We know that Satan is the source of fear. So if there is something we are fearing concerning communication with God, we know that that thing is the exact thing we need to go for instead of shrink away from it in fear. Go forward towards it in faith. Number four, perfectionism is an enemy.

When we want something to be perfect, we are less likely to try it because we are afraid of that failure. It's so important to ditch the perfectionism and be willing to fail. Be willing to try things that might not work. Having confidence that sometimes the things that you try will lead to the result you want.

And the final practice that we might apply to personal revelation, commit to routine instead of waiting for the right moment to feel inspired. Those who achieve a high level of a skill, there's no excuses. They don't wait to feel like doing it. They build it into their routine and they just do it.

Perhaps it would be wise for us to do that when it comes to our scripture study and prayer and seeking revelation as well. Don't just wait for it to happen. Plan it. Schedule it.

Do it. I can testify to the truth of the scripture in Doctrine and Covenants 121:33. What power can stay the heavens? As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri River in its decreed course or turn it upstream as to hinder the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints.

After I started that experiment, I started to receive more revelation than I ever had in my life. so much that oh what's that scripture where it says that I will pour out a blessing upon you that is more than you can receive that's how I felt I felt like I was receiving so much that I was having a hard time processing it and connecting the dots and remembering it and I developed some practices that helped me to recognize revelation and put this revelation into action to remember it um to identify the questions that I needed to ask to stretch and receive more. And part of it included something I call a personal revelation board. And now that has grown into a personal revelation room. In fact, I'm sitting in it right now as I record this.

I'm sitting in my prayer closet and if you could see to my side, you would see a wall full of cards that have different questions I have and personal revelation that I've received. And so I want to give a little bonus episode. My next episode, I want to share with you the exact process what it is to create a personal revelation board or to efficiently record and practice and carry out the things that we are inspired to do. So, I just wanted to give that teaser.

Look out for the next bonus episode where I will be teaching this process. When I share about my personal revelation board on social media, it is the number one thing I get most questions about. So, I am going to go into it in great detail. And whether you choose to create your own personal revelation board or use a different method, it's the concepts and the practices that matter.

So, I can't wait to share that with you. As we end today, maybe now you have seen and understand better the reason why I end every single podcast episode with a question that you might ask God.

Because more important than anything you can listen to on a podcast or anywhere else is the words that you will hear from God through the Holy Spirit for you. Maybe the spirit has already let you know today a question God is waiting for you to ask him. If not, here are some ideas. What gift do I need to ask for in order to increase my ability to receive revelation?

What is a limiting belief I have concerning revelation? Or what question have you been waiting for me to ask? Christ is speaking. Christ is hope smiling brightly.