1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:20,840 Hey there everybody, welcome back to another episode of Redeemed Through His Blood, Scott 2 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:23,360 and David Durfee here as always. How's it going, Dave? 3 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:25,120 Good, Scott. Oh well. 4 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:32,600 Yeah, good. Good. We are kind of excited to be back on track here. We've had a couple 5 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:39,320 of snags in the last few weeks and we're just glad to kind of maybe be putting some normal 6 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:42,800 see back into our schedules here. 7 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:48,240 Schools started on the Wasatch Front here in Utah and kids are back in class, but boy 8 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:50,240 summer sure went fast for me. 9 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:54,680 Yeah, can you believe it? Follow in the air, football. 10 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:55,680 Football's starting. 11 00:00:55,680 --> 00:01:02,200 In the corner. This is such a great time of the year, Scott. Chris and I are recovering 12 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:10,160 and trying to get on a mission, so we look forward to hopefully getting papers submitted 13 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:16,400 and a call soon. Anyway, such a great time in our lives. 14 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:21,880 Well I think maybe a lot of our listeners have noticed that we finished the course in 15 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:28,120 season three. We finished the course in anticipation of your leaving on a mission. We haven't started 16 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:35,200 back into the course, but we've been talking about really important topics that are really 17 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:39,800 kind of part of the course as well, Dave. That's been kind of exciting. So along those 18 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:44,720 lines, we'd invite you to just send us some emails if you have questions. Now's a good 19 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:51,200 time to ask them if you have topics that potentially you'd like to hear us talk about 20 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:57,280 or reference at least. Don't hesitate to send us emails on that. You can send those 21 00:01:57,280 --> 00:02:03,080 to heredeemsusatgmail.com. Heredeemsusatgmail.com. 22 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:09,560 I think that would be awesome if listeners would do that. I think the questions that 23 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:16,800 I get the most, Scott, when people learn that I'm a patriarch and a sealer in the temple 24 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:31,720 is two things which go along with those two callings. One is how can I improve in my, 25 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:37,520 I don't want to say necessarily ability in how can I get more personal revelation? How 26 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:44,960 can I qualify for? How can I receive more personal revelation? You know, the question 27 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:51,520 usually comes in the form of what do you do to receive revelation in your life in the 28 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:59,600 extending patriarchal blessings? And that's been an important topic for me for the last 29 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:08,240 13 years that I've been a patriarch, Scott. So I really appreciate that question. I think 30 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:13,120 that we should spend some time on that today. We could probably do a whole course on that. 31 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:18,920 It would be fun sometime. Maybe after my mission, Scott, we could do a whole course on how to 32 00:03:18,920 --> 00:03:26,160 receive revelation. But I think the second one is what does it mean to cleave to your 33 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:32,880 covenants? Scripture based on doctrine covenants, section 25. How can I better cleave to my 34 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:39,440 covenants? What is the power of godliness that is found in the ordinances and covenants 35 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:45,880 of the gospel? And I would love to explore that maybe next week or in another podcast 36 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:54,960 soon as we kind of wind up this season. So today, let's jump into, let's just jump into 37 00:03:54,960 --> 00:04:02,280 this, Scott, on the keys of receiving personal revelation. There could be five, there could 38 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:12,440 be 15. I've selected 10 of what I see as real keys to receiving personal revelation. 39 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:18,800 Hey, before you dive, before we get into, you know, what those keys are, can we talk 40 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:24,520 maybe about why would it even be important for us to receive personal revelation? I think 41 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:27,840 that that's something that we all know is important and we can take for granted that 42 00:04:27,840 --> 00:04:34,160 it's important. But maybe we ought to identify areas in our lives where personal revelation 43 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:37,640 would be something that Heavenly Father would want us to seek. 44 00:04:37,640 --> 00:04:45,840 Yeah, no, thank you, Scott. Yeah, I think it's really critical that members understand 45 00:04:45,840 --> 00:04:55,560 their privilege as members of the Church of Jesus Christ and as individuals who have had 46 00:04:55,560 --> 00:05:00,960 the gift of the Holy Ghost be stored upon them. The importance of receiving personal 47 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:09,720 revelation in their lives, revelation that they're able to receive to be parents, to 48 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:16,040 fulfill their obligations in the Church, their callings in the Church. You know, we've been 49 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:21,360 so encouraged by President Nelson. It was so interesting that the first talk he gave 50 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:28,480 as President of the Church was how to increase revelation in the Church and personally. And 51 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:33,960 he kind of broke that down into two parts, right? Church, revelation in the Church and 52 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:40,360 personal revelation. And then he gave another talk called Hear Him. And this is one of his 53 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:47,240 central themes besides the covenant. So the two things I would like to do a podcast on 54 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:58,960 or I think two of his favorite topics is revelation and the covenant path. So the Lord has been 55 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:04,520 clear about this, that we should seek the gift of the Holy Ghost that were entitled 56 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:10,480 to personal revelation to receive light. I think of Doctrine and Covenants section 50 57 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:16,520 that we're encouraged to receive revelation. I think of President Nelson's counsel that 58 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:23,800 we should be more intentional about seeking personal revelation in our lives. And personal 59 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:29,920 revelation, I'm not talking necessarily major things here, Scott. I'm just talking about 60 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:36,960 recognizing, receiving and responding to the gift of the Holy Ghost. And Brigham Young 61 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:43,840 stated, we live far beneath our privileges when it comes, I think, to the revelations 62 00:06:43,840 --> 00:06:48,360 and blessings available to us through the gift of the Holy Ghost and our membership 63 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:54,840 in the Church. It's kind of interesting to me over the years, my lifetime, Scott, that 64 00:06:54,840 --> 00:07:01,480 this is a really sensitive subject that many people in the Church have taken personal revelation 65 00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:07,400 to either an extreme and have found themselves outside of the Church because they begin to 66 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:15,840 receive revelation for other people or inappropriate revelation or whatever. So it is, I appreciate 67 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:21,000 your question because I think it's really important that we begin this discussion by 68 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:25,680 laying down a few principles when it comes to personal revelation. And one of those would 69 00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:35,080 be that you cannot demand revelation. You can't manipulate revelation. You can't force 70 00:07:35,080 --> 00:07:42,960 revelation, that it must come in the Lord's way, in the Lord's timing. And there's too 71 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:48,760 many people who try to force it. And if you want to force revelation, I'm telling you, 72 00:07:48,760 --> 00:07:54,600 the first person that will help you with that will be Satan and his followers. And you'll 73 00:07:54,600 --> 00:08:00,480 start getting revelation for sure, but it just won't be from the Lord. It's so important 74 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:06,920 that we learn that we're only entitled to any revelation when it comes to our personal 75 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:15,360 lives, lives of our family that we may have responsibility for or over. And within our 76 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:22,440 stewardship of a Church calling and not beyond that, we can't receive revelation for the 77 00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:28,280 bishop. We can't receive revelation for an elder's court president. We can't receive 78 00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:33,440 revelation for other people unless we have stewardship and responsibility for those 79 00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:40,560 people. And I just think that's so important to understand. I have known so many apostates, 80 00:08:40,560 --> 00:08:47,760 some that have been on death row because of receiving revelation for other people or about 81 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:53,760 other people that they had no responsibility over or stewardship for. So I just think it's 82 00:08:53,760 --> 00:09:00,480 really critical that we understand those basic principles of receiving personal revelation. 83 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:06,600 Because as much as we love it in the Church, as much as I love to talk about it, I also 84 00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:12,080 understand that it's one of the great occupational hazards of being a member of the Church. It 85 00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:18,240 can be one of those things that is a strength. It can be a terrible weakness if people misuse 86 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:26,200 it, if people think that they're a prophet, shire and revelator and can receive revelation 87 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:36,960 for the whole Church or for others. So I hope that our listeners will be patient in this 88 00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:43,440 quest to learn how to receive personal revelation. But I also hope that they'll be confident 89 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:50,720 that they are, I don't want to use the word entitled, I hate that word, but that they 90 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:59,560 are able that the Lord is willing, more than willing that He wants to reveal His will to 91 00:09:59,560 --> 00:10:06,640 us, that He wants to reveal His mind to us when it comes to areas of our lives that we 92 00:10:06,640 --> 00:10:14,680 have personal responsibility over. And so I hope our listeners will, while being cautious 93 00:10:14,680 --> 00:10:21,160 about revelation, because I know Satan wants to reveal things to us all the time and sometimes 94 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:27,280 does. And so maybe just as important as understanding the keys of revelation is understanding how 95 00:10:27,280 --> 00:10:34,520 to identify the Holy Ghost and personal revelation in our life. And let's make sure we touch 96 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:39,840 on that. Yeah, the power and the gift of discernment definitely is going to come into play. 97 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:45,280 How to recognize the Holy Ghost. Pretty important. This is kind of timely. You know, I begin 98 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:50,120 in the next week or two. Actually, I teach a lesson tonight to the entire Institute in 99 00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:55,280 the couple of stakes that I teach in. But you know, as we have kids who are coming to school, 100 00:10:55,280 --> 00:10:59,040 you know, and this is true throughout much of, you know, Western culture at least. And 101 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:04,120 I know that we have people that are in other cultures and areas who are listening as well. 102 00:11:04,120 --> 00:11:07,640 But you know, at least in Western culture, you know, schools are back in session or getting 103 00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:13,320 back in session. And there's probably been a lot of a lot of father's blessings given. 104 00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:19,120 You know, I know that that was encouraged in in our family growing up. I know you did 105 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:23,280 that. I know that I've done that. I know that it many people in our ward have been talking 106 00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:29,200 about that. But but you know, when I when I start teaching Institute again this fall 107 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:34,100 in the next couple of weeks, these kids are coming from all over the world really to attend 108 00:11:34,100 --> 00:11:38,600 Brigham Young University. And they're in a pretty impressionable time in their lives. 109 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:42,920 And I don't think there's a time in our lives when revelation is not important. But that's 110 00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:49,120 I think where we really begin at that stage in our life to recognize the power and the 111 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:55,320 importance of personal revelations in our lives. And furthermore, and maybe as important 112 00:11:55,320 --> 00:12:02,920 as the revelation itself is developing the habits around receiving personal revelation 113 00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:08,280 that that will allow us or align us so that we can receive that personal revelation. What 114 00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:12,080 a perfect time to do that then, you know, in our younger years. Now, now if we're not 115 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:16,280 in our younger years, and I know that many of us are not, that doesn't mean it's too 116 00:12:16,280 --> 00:12:21,760 late. That just means that we establish habits and begin to do that now if we haven't already. 117 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:26,040 And if those habits are in place, this will just help to enhance what's already there. 118 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:31,800 Yeah, that's good, Scott. And it's important to understand that there are there's a continuum 119 00:12:31,800 --> 00:12:37,960 when we use the word revelation, that there is a continuum of revelation. And we're talking 120 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:46,760 about visions that vision can be a revelation, all the way down to a still small voice prompting 121 00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:52,400 of the Holy Ghost. And there are many in between that there would be besides visions, there 122 00:12:52,400 --> 00:13:02,000 could be where we might see angels or the Lord himself, or our or other visions that 123 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:07,840 are available to us such as Lehi's vision, the dream of the tree of life, which Nephi 124 00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:14,000 prayed that he might have that vision and he did, you know, there's so anyway, that's 125 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:22,200 kind of at the high end of receiving personal revelation. And, and you could have dreams, 126 00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:28,160 you could you could have voices come into your mind. There are there's just many different 127 00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:35,600 forms of revelation. And, and I'm talking about all of them in describing the keys to 128 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:45,160 receiving revelation. But I am also talking about how to live, walk with the Holy Ghost 129 00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:53,360 in our life, how to receive individual promptings on a daily basis moment by moment. I think 130 00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:58,240 that's how we need to live our lives. I'm not in when I talk about keys to receiving 131 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:05,840 revelation, I'm not talking about grandiose things here. I'm talking about small, simple 132 00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:13,480 revelations that we receive on a on a daily basis. When somebody is asked, Scott, to give 133 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:19,400 a priesthood blessing, that's another form of revelation to use one's priesthood to give 134 00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:25,720 a blessing to seek the mind and will of the Lord on behalf of someone else. And to be 135 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:31,520 able to give that blessing, one should seek personal revelation. I'm giving a couple blessings 136 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:38,520 this evening, in which I've been seeking personal revelation for and and one of the points 137 00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:44,000 that I'm not even going to, it's not even listed in the 10 keys, but one of the really 138 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:52,920 important points that you're making in your comments is, I think preparation, that preparation 139 00:14:52,920 --> 00:15:00,200 precedes revelation. Whether that's daily preparation, reading our scriptures, saying 140 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:06,520 our prayers, those small, simple things that that cause great things to come to pass, or 141 00:15:06,520 --> 00:15:15,520 I'm talking about fasting, or going to the house of the Lord to receive personal revelation, 142 00:15:15,520 --> 00:15:23,000 those kinds of preparatory acts and events in our lives can can definitely affect our 143 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:29,000 ability to receive revelations such as giving blessings to our children or others, giving 144 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:35,560 counsel to loved ones, problems and challenges that we deal with where we're seeking specific 145 00:15:35,560 --> 00:15:42,880 answers. You can't overstate the importance of personal preparation, which my President 146 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:50,760 Nelson again touches on in his, I think, classic talk, Hear Him, which was given in April of 147 00:15:50,760 --> 00:16:02,000 2020, 200th anniversary of the First Vision. So with maybe that as an introduction, Scott, 148 00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:03,440 let's talk about the 10 keys. 149 00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:04,440 All right. 150 00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:05,440 Anything else? 151 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:09,800 When we're talking about personal revelation, it doesn't see, it seems to me, it occurs 152 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:13,600 to me because this is something that I kind of try and deal with on a pretty constant 153 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:18,520 basis, especially as I'm trying to help others, especially who, you know, may be struggling 154 00:16:18,520 --> 00:16:22,440 with alcoholism or drug addiction and the various things like that in recovery. You 155 00:16:22,440 --> 00:16:28,640 know, I'm not, I don't know that there's an entitlement that I get for them to receive 156 00:16:28,640 --> 00:16:33,920 revelation for them. But I will tell you this, and I don't really need to know the answer 157 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:38,720 to that, but I will tell you this, that if I'm living my life right, and if I'm staying 158 00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:44,840 in constant contact, and we talk about that in AA, in fact, it's one of our steps in step 159 00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:51,600 11 is to maintain conscious contact with Heavenly Father. And if I'm doing that, it's interesting 160 00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:58,720 how, for example, I'll be having a conversation with a person that I'm working with in AA, 161 00:16:58,720 --> 00:17:05,040 and a question will just come to my mind to ask them. And that question will have actually 162 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:10,280 turned out to have been, you know, the very thing that we needed to talk about. And I 163 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:14,560 have to chalk that up to personal revelation at some level, right? 164 00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:20,200 Yeah, absolutely, Scott. I mean, we've been asked that we be missionaries, that we share 165 00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:24,320 the Gospel with others, and you're standing in a grocery line, and you feel impressed 166 00:17:24,320 --> 00:17:30,560 to turn to the person next to you and ask them an inspired question or whatever. I mean, 167 00:17:30,560 --> 00:17:39,280 the Lord loves His children, and the Lord through us can help us to know when and who 168 00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:47,320 and what we should say. And it's all about timing. And it can, you know, sometimes it 169 00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:52,320 can be, I think, a total stranger that we say something to, that the Lord wants that 170 00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:57,920 person to hear. So yeah, those events are for real, for sure. 171 00:17:57,920 --> 00:18:02,040 And then you said something, you said that, you know, what we really are striving to do 172 00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:08,920 here is learning how to walk and live and be with the Holy Ghost, have the constant companionship 173 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:13,080 or be aware of the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost in our lives. And you know, 174 00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:18,360 we know that from the course that we've been through three times on the podcast here, we 175 00:18:18,360 --> 00:18:23,560 know that the Holy Ghost is the administrator of the Atonement of Jesus Christ in our lives. 176 00:18:23,560 --> 00:18:28,040 But in addition to that, the Holy Ghost will also bring all things to our remembrance, 177 00:18:28,040 --> 00:18:34,960 right, and help us to understand and know things that we wouldn't have known otherwise. 178 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:40,280 And I think that that relationship with the Holy Ghost is extremely, well, it's absolutely 179 00:18:40,280 --> 00:18:42,440 key to what we're talking about. 180 00:18:42,440 --> 00:18:50,640 Well, again, one of the basic principles, I think of Revelation, Scott, is that we don't 181 00:18:50,640 --> 00:19:00,480 use Revelation ever, ever, ever, ever to try to manipulate others. We don't use Revelation 182 00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:08,280 to get what we want. We use Revelation to help others connect with their Heavenly Father 183 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:15,160 or to feel the love of God and to help them place them in a position where they can feel 184 00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:22,960 the Holy Ghost and where they may desire and seek to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 185 00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:28,880 Because ultimately it is the gift of the Holy Ghost that administers the Atonement of Jesus 186 00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:35,080 Christ into the lives of others. And of course, Heavenly Father is going to do everything that 187 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:42,320 he can do to help all of his children in and out of the church to receive the gift of the 188 00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:47,200 Holy Ghost because it is the messenger and the administrator of the Atonement of Jesus 189 00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:48,360 Christ. 190 00:19:48,360 --> 00:19:57,160 So that's kind of the essence of why God gives us Revelation. It is not to get our way to 191 00:19:57,160 --> 00:20:07,480 manipulate people, to impress people, or to make ourselves look good or powerful or anything 192 00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:14,320 else. I just think that's an important principle that one has to go by is if I feel impressed 193 00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:19,080 to say something to that individual, and this is one of the keys, this is actually the second 194 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:30,840 key of Revelation, is that you have to understand what your motivation is. President Eyring 195 00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:37,960 years ago said that our motivations is one of the pavilions that hides God from us, you 196 00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:42,640 know, quoting the Scripture from Liberty Jail, where art thou and where is the pavilion that 197 00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:49,600 hideeth thy covering, the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place. So I think it's just really 198 00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:58,840 important Scott, that we always if one's wondering, is this from the Lord or is this from me? 199 00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:05,960 Revelation has to really search their heart and their motives. In all the Revelation that 200 00:21:05,960 --> 00:21:12,880 we are able to receive, that we do receive, we have to make sure our motivations are pure 201 00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:15,600 and not selfish. 202 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:22,120 I think too that we need to seek Revelation for ourselves first, right? I think that to 203 00:21:22,120 --> 00:21:26,680 seek Revelation, if we're not in a position of stewardship, if we're not in a position 204 00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:32,360 of parenthood or spouse or whatever like that, it's going to be pretty rare that Revelation 205 00:21:32,360 --> 00:21:37,360 for other people will come to us. It's going to be pretty rare. So I think that our main 206 00:21:37,360 --> 00:21:43,560 emphasis is going to be on receiving personal revelation. And if we're open to receiving 207 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:47,960 that personal revelation, oftentimes so often actually in this podcast, we've talked about 208 00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:52,840 taking personal inventories. And if we will approach those personal inventories as we 209 00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:58,160 start to introspectively take a look at ourselves, if we'll approach that with the same the same 210 00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:02,800 steps, the same approach that we're going to be talking about today to receive revelation. 211 00:22:02,800 --> 00:22:07,360 If we'll look for personal revelation in our personal inventories, then we will be more 212 00:22:07,360 --> 00:22:14,580 purely equipped to move forward in helping others when those occasions come that we would 213 00:22:14,580 --> 00:22:17,000 receive revelation to talk to somebody else about. 214 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:25,200 For sure. And repentance will probably play a role in taking an inventory. But it's also 215 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:31,520 important, Scott, to point out, the church doesn't have a monopoly on personal revelation. 216 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:37,680 The power of the Holy Ghost is very real in the lives of many billions, billions who 217 00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:44,360 aren't in the church. The Lord loves all of His children. The light of Christ is in every 218 00:22:44,360 --> 00:22:51,720 man and that through the light of Christ, that can that can even be a form of revelation 219 00:22:51,720 --> 00:22:57,040 where they they know right from wrong. And if they will choose right, they'll receive 220 00:22:57,040 --> 00:23:06,480 more light, knowledge, understanding, wisdom. We do not have a monopoly or a corner on the 221 00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:10,640 market when it comes to revelation, Scott. 222 00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:19,360 And as individuals use it for the right purposes, again, the right motives, the right in true, 223 00:23:19,360 --> 00:23:29,960 true righteous intent, there anyone anyone can be a better parent, mom, dad, brother, 224 00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:40,080 sister, neighbor, friend, whatever, by seeking the light of Christ in their life and by seeking 225 00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:45,200 to follow, to know and follow the will of God. 226 00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:51,040 So with with that, and by the way, these 10 keys of personal revelation, anyone can benefit 227 00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:58,160 from these member or nonmember as well. I think the first one, Scott, is and we've talked 228 00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:06,080 a lot about this over different seasons of podcasts is the greatest lesson I ever learned 229 00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:15,480 early on being a patriarch is that one must learn to control their personal emotions in 230 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:22,760 order to receive personal revelations. Fear is one of the greatest negative emotions that 231 00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:31,080 keeps us from understanding, knowing, following the will of God and really from feeling his 232 00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:40,320 love. And what I what I've learned, Scott, is that you can't stop as a natural man, human, 233 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:46,320 t-lessual being in a T in a, I guess we're not really t-lessual beings, but we have t-lessual 234 00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:52,560 bodies and t-lessual world, the influence of the world and all that acts upon us and 235 00:24:52,560 --> 00:25:00,960 all of the imbalances of hormones and chemicals that make us up as a as an individual. Scott, 236 00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:07,080 you can't stop inappropriate emotions from coming into our hearts and minds, but I have 237 00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:16,080 learned that we are agents and we can act and not be acted upon. And I've learned that 238 00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:23,320 one cannot stop negative emotions, but all people have some control over their emotions, 239 00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:29,200 Scott. Now, I'm not I, I some will maybe have more control over their emotions than others, 240 00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:36,800 depending upon their chemical, mental makeup. I know that I get that. But generally speaking, 241 00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:44,480 just in the majority, most of us have more control over our emotions than we think we 242 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:45,480 do. 243 00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:49,920 Well, and most of us have the ability to develop more control over emotion. Now, not everybody 244 00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:54,080 does. You mentioned that, but we need to know, you know, if we're struggling with an emotion 245 00:25:54,080 --> 00:26:01,200 and we all will from time to time, if we can't just say, I'm just going to be stuck with 246 00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:07,960 this emotion. If we are striving to draw closer to him, and then we can expect that those 247 00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:12,320 emotions can be, you know, refined. 248 00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:17,520 My experience talking with hundreds of people about this over the last 13 years since I 249 00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:23,800 learned the lesson, Scott, is that people aren't even aware of their emotions. They don't really, 250 00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:31,480 they're not even that self aware of negative, inappropriate emotions to do anything about 251 00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:38,640 it. And so they just go with the flow. And they drift down a river of negativity that 252 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:45,680 leads them to all kinds of inappropriate emotions. And some of those, I think the most prevalent 253 00:26:45,680 --> 00:26:52,360 inappropriate emotions, Scott, that we feel as natural man, human, we all feel them. The 254 00:26:52,360 --> 00:27:01,120 prophets feel them. I know Jesus felt them, but he didn't let them stay. But those inappropriate 255 00:27:01,120 --> 00:27:08,520 emotions would be fear, which I think is huge. And I still feel it every day. I think everybody 256 00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:15,440 feels that every day in one form or another, for different lengths of time or another. Pride 257 00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:23,560 or ego, inappropriate emotion. I know I'm talking about the negative pride here, not 258 00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:29,880 some people have righteous pride. That's fine. I don't want to get caught up into that. And 259 00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:40,200 then lust, lust and greed and jealousy and envy and comparing ourselves to others can 260 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:49,520 cause all kinds of negative emotions. So, so the first thing one must do is one must identify 261 00:27:49,520 --> 00:27:58,240 their negative emotions, which they will have every day. It's being human. But then they 262 00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:06,360 must act and not continue to be acted upon by praying with all energy of heart, Maronite 263 00:28:06,360 --> 00:28:15,760 48 to be filled with the love of Christ, because perfect love casteth out all fear. So you 264 00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:25,160 can't stop negative emotions from coming into your heart and mind, but you can learn exercise, 265 00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:34,720 experiment and learn how to replace them, how to not let them stay once you are aware 266 00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:42,000 of them. But honestly, Scott, I think people have become, it's become so habitual with 267 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:48,320 some people that number one, they're not aware, but number two, even if they were, it's such 268 00:28:48,320 --> 00:28:53,040 a habit with them and they think, well, that's just who I am or that's the way my dad was 269 00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:58,320 or that's the way my mom was or that's just the way I'm wired or whatever. 270 00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:02,280 Well, dangerously, that can actually become a badge of honor for some. 271 00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:07,160 Yeah, you know, right. Just because like what you said, that's who we are. That's what we 272 00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:14,680 do. Yeah, I'm just, I just got to be honest. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Man, that drives me crazy. 273 00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:20,680 I just got to be honest with my emotions. Yeah. Yeah. Even those, even those, those emotions 274 00:29:20,680 --> 00:29:28,840 are hellish, celestial negative and damaging to others potentially. Yeah. Besides the person 275 00:29:28,840 --> 00:29:37,560 feeling them and to just accept that and to go with the flow and to drift is just wrong. 276 00:29:39,080 --> 00:29:45,880 Anyway, I know I understand all those who are thinking I don't get it. I get it. I lived that 277 00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:53,640 way for 57 years and I'm really, I was really sad once I learned this lesson to think how much of 278 00:29:53,640 --> 00:30:01,240 my life was controlled by fear, pride, and all the other negative emotions that one can feel 279 00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:09,800 as a human. But I know that again, perfect love can cast without all fear, perfect love cast 280 00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:16,280 without all pride, perfect love cast without all lust, lust and lust and love are not even close 281 00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:21,480 to being the same thing. In fact, it's interesting the connection between all these negative emotions. 282 00:30:21,480 --> 00:30:31,320 I think, I think fear is the result of pride. I think our insecurities lead to pride and our 283 00:30:31,320 --> 00:30:37,480 fear about all of that. That's all connected. I even know in fact, the scriptures, the Lord makes 284 00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:43,720 this connection that lust is connected to fear. It says that if you lust in your heart, this is 285 00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:51,320 DNC 63, if you lust in your heart, you will be you will lose the spirit and be filled with fear. 286 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:59,240 So all of these negative emotions are interlocked. I don't think you just feel one. I think you 287 00:30:59,240 --> 00:31:06,120 they're they're just all manifestations of the same major negative emotions that exist 288 00:31:06,120 --> 00:31:13,320 and being mortal. They're they're they're all connected. And if perfect love cast without all 289 00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:20,840 fear, perfect love cast without all pride, perfect love cast without all lust, jealousy and be greed, 290 00:31:21,400 --> 00:31:26,840 all the rest. And it's important to understand that perfect love is the love of Christ. 291 00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:36,760 It's charity that Moroni describes in Moroni seven. It's it fails not it fears not it doesn't envy. 292 00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:47,560 It is the perfect love of Christ. God is pure. It's powerful. It's humbling. And it's and it's 293 00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:57,000 and it's always placed towards an object. It's I know I'm it's I'm probably sounding kind of abstract. 294 00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:05,640 But I this love that I pray for with all energy of heart when I'm filled with fear, 295 00:32:05,640 --> 00:32:12,440 it's always towards either a person and Jesus Christ is always part of that, 296 00:32:12,440 --> 00:32:20,680 that I feel the love of Christ for that person. I know Jesus died for that person because Jesus 297 00:32:20,680 --> 00:32:29,800 Christ loved him perfectly. So Christ is always a part. My perfect love has an object and Christ 298 00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:37,320 is always a part of that. It just occurred to me that you know if we if we want to replace 299 00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:43,800 all of these negative emotions and feelings, etc. with faith and love, then you know where 300 00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:48,440 from whence does that faith and love come? We need to be there. You know, we need to do that. And 301 00:32:48,440 --> 00:32:53,880 and it will again getting back to the Christ and loving Christ exactly and getting back to the 302 00:32:53,880 --> 00:33:01,240 course. We have spent you know, weeks talking about exactly how to achieve that. So sometimes, 303 00:33:01,240 --> 00:33:04,680 you know, if we look at personal revelation and we were to go through these steps, 304 00:33:04,680 --> 00:33:10,040 if we didn't understand and have a relationship with Jesus Christ through his Atonement and 305 00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:14,520 Heavenly Father through Christ Atonement and the Holy Ghost because of Christ Atonement, 306 00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:19,160 then none of this stuff would even be really possible. I mean, we could go through an intellectual 307 00:33:19,160 --> 00:33:26,120 and and try and have some discipline and self mastery, you know, and and all of that around 308 00:33:26,120 --> 00:33:32,120 this. But unless we have that relationship established because of what took place through 309 00:33:32,120 --> 00:33:36,600 Christ Atonement, then none of this is really even possible in its fullness. 310 00:33:36,600 --> 00:33:43,080 Yeah, no, you're right. Yeah. And number step number two is that relationship, right? You know, 311 00:33:43,080 --> 00:33:52,600 is is a so number one is identifying and I can't I cannot overstate how important it is to identify 312 00:33:52,600 --> 00:34:01,960 your negative emotions. But so many people aren't even aware of them. Honestly, I I'm sure I'm 313 00:34:01,960 --> 00:34:09,240 not even always aware of them. I mean, I I've become super sensitized by fear. 314 00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:20,600 And when I when I feel fear, Scott, I'm I pray with perfect love. And it doesn't matter where I'm 315 00:34:20,600 --> 00:34:30,600 at. You know, I'm driving down the freeway or wherever I am. I pray I pray with all energy of 316 00:34:30,600 --> 00:34:38,200 heart for perfect love. And it's a miracle. That's the only way I can describe it. Is that my heart 317 00:34:38,200 --> 00:34:46,040 is flipped. The heart the center of my emotions. My heart is flipped from fear to love. And wherever 318 00:34:46,040 --> 00:34:52,680 there's love, there can be no fear. Now, I'm not talking about I'm not talking about I'm talking 319 00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:59,080 about irrational fear. There there are natural good fears, by the way, there are and those are 320 00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:06,200 given to us out of love to protect us. Joseph Smith talked about the the fear of death, which was 321 00:35:06,200 --> 00:35:13,160 a gift from God. Not talking about that. I'm not talking about the the fear of a child running out 322 00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:19,320 in the middle of the street. I'm not talking about that. That that is a preservation of life. 323 00:35:19,320 --> 00:35:25,880 That's a different fear. I'm talking about the, you know, all of the inappropriate fear that 324 00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:31,160 we've what do they think of me? Yeah, what if they don't like me? What? Yeah, yeah, you know, 325 00:35:31,160 --> 00:35:39,800 anyway, big book about call autonomous page 80, excuse me, 68. We trust infinite God rather than 326 00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:45,400 our finite selves. We are in the world to play the role he assigns just to the extent that we do. 327 00:35:45,400 --> 00:35:52,920 We think he would have us and humbly rely on him. Does he enable us to match calamity with serenity? 328 00:35:52,920 --> 00:35:59,800 That's important, right? Well, we so we trust God. We trust his infinite wisdom. And as we do, 329 00:35:59,800 --> 00:36:04,920 and to the degree we do, I would submit, are we able to match calamities? And we all have 330 00:36:04,920 --> 00:36:10,600 calamities in our lives with serenity. Then it goes down a couple of verses or a couple of paragraphs. 331 00:36:10,600 --> 00:36:15,560 All men of faith have courage. Okay, so it's talking about faith and fear now. All men of faith 332 00:36:15,560 --> 00:36:22,120 have courage. They trust their God. We never apologize for God. Instead, we let him demonstrate 333 00:36:22,120 --> 00:36:29,080 through us what he can do. We ask him to remove our fear and direct our attention to what he 334 00:36:29,080 --> 00:36:38,040 would have us be. And at once we commence to outgrow fear. Yeah, no, I love that. And someone, 335 00:36:38,040 --> 00:36:44,840 someone has said that that courage is not the absence of fear. You know, having having courage 336 00:36:44,840 --> 00:36:51,960 is acting in the face of fear. And in the scriptures are even more, more profound and complete than 337 00:36:51,960 --> 00:36:59,960 that. And that through perfect love, right, we can overcome fear. Yeah, and I would say 338 00:36:59,960 --> 00:37:08,440 that courage is facing fear with the confidence of a loving God. Yeah. Awesome. I mean, I'm sure 339 00:37:08,440 --> 00:37:13,640 there's atheists who have great courage in the face of fear, right? But it's not as it's not as 340 00:37:13,640 --> 00:37:18,760 complete. But even those atheists, if the even those atheists, if they're able to do that, there's 341 00:37:18,760 --> 00:37:23,400 a power that's coming out of them or from somewhere else is greater than them that they're able to 342 00:37:23,400 --> 00:37:27,480 identify with. And so, you know, if you're not, if you're an atheist, you're not going to call 343 00:37:27,480 --> 00:37:34,200 that God. But if you're not an atheist, you might. Well, back back to our back to our premise here, 344 00:37:34,200 --> 00:37:42,840 Scott, that that we were we can receive personal revelation. And that if we do not learn this 345 00:37:42,840 --> 00:37:51,080 lesson, that negative inappropriate emotions keep us from feeling the Holy Ghost, we will really 346 00:37:51,880 --> 00:38:00,200 limit our ability to receive personal revelation. And I think everybody knows one of my favorite 347 00:38:00,200 --> 00:38:06,600 quotes of all time is Elder Richard G. Scott, who said that trying to fill the spirit of the Lord 348 00:38:06,600 --> 00:38:15,880 when you are filled with negative inappropriate emotions, such as fear, pride, lust, and he 349 00:38:15,880 --> 00:38:20,920 may he gives us a long list. Trying to fill the spirit of the Lord when you're filled with 350 00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:28,440 negative inappropriate emotions is like trying to savor the favor, the flavor of a sweet grape 351 00:38:29,000 --> 00:38:31,720 while you are chewing on a jalapeno pepper. 352 00:38:31,720 --> 00:38:42,760 That's the truth. I know that I have experienced that. And I just really hope our listeners 353 00:38:43,400 --> 00:38:52,120 take this as a course and work on it, work on it, experiment with it, become number one first, 354 00:38:52,120 --> 00:39:00,280 foremost, aware of your negative emotions, and then don't accept them. Don't say that's who I am. 355 00:39:00,280 --> 00:39:08,920 That's not who you are. That is not appropriate to just accept those. You're more than that. You are, 356 00:39:08,920 --> 00:39:16,360 your spirit has greater power to act upon those things than you think your spirit does. 357 00:39:17,240 --> 00:39:23,080 And if one will pray with all energy of heart, you'll experience a miracle if you 358 00:39:23,720 --> 00:39:27,640 pray for that perfect love of Christ. And with that perfect love of Christ, 359 00:39:27,640 --> 00:39:36,600 there will be no fear, lust, pride. That doesn't mean you won't fill them an hour from now. 360 00:39:39,560 --> 00:39:48,600 You fill them tomorrow and the next day. But make this become a standard in your life. Make it 361 00:39:48,600 --> 00:39:50,520 become a regular practice in your life. 362 00:39:50,520 --> 00:39:59,000 It looks like we've got the second key. Know God, learn of Christ, develop faith in their 363 00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:04,440 character and attributes, and strengthen your covenant relationship with them through temple 364 00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:10,520 worship, ordinances, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. And then I love this part that you wrote, Dave, 365 00:40:10,520 --> 00:40:18,040 make the who the source of your power and always the answer to your questions and the solutions to 366 00:40:18,040 --> 00:40:25,320 your problems. We really, Scott, so this, I don't know how I didn't know quite how to say this 367 00:40:25,320 --> 00:40:35,480 better, but so many times we pray for answers to questions, solutions to problems, right? 368 00:40:36,520 --> 00:40:44,120 And what we should be praying for is to know the will of God concerning those questions and those 369 00:40:44,120 --> 00:40:51,640 problems. So many times we just pray, bless me, bless me, bless me, bless me. And we're not really 370 00:40:51,640 --> 00:40:57,800 even seeking personal revelation when we pray like that. We're not. We're just asking Him to fix it. 371 00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:07,000 What we should be praying for, our focus should be that I know He can help me solve it, that through 372 00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:14,920 Him, through His help, that He expects me to be an agent, that He expects me to learn from this, 373 00:41:15,560 --> 00:41:21,800 and that with revelation, personal revelation, I can't, I mean, Jesus Christ is always the answer. 374 00:41:22,520 --> 00:41:28,840 He's the answer to every question. He's the answer to every problem. But so many times we just pray 375 00:41:28,840 --> 00:41:41,240 for problem to go away, problem to be fixed, problem to be healed. Instead of asking what 376 00:41:41,240 --> 00:41:49,240 lessons do I need to learn from this? What can I do to help this situation or to improve this 377 00:41:49,240 --> 00:41:55,320 situation? Or, you know, really, Scott, we don't, so many times when we pray, we just want it fixed. 378 00:41:55,320 --> 00:42:04,600 We're not even seeking personal revelation, really. And I just think we need to, that the who 379 00:42:06,200 --> 00:42:13,000 is the answer to all of our questions and solution to all of our problems. And to know His will is 380 00:42:14,120 --> 00:42:24,760 what I really meant by that. And to, in this number two, it's kind of the process described by 381 00:42:24,760 --> 00:42:35,880 Elder Nilly Maxwell of going from admiration to adoration to emulation. And to ask, what would 382 00:42:35,880 --> 00:42:44,280 thou have me do? What can I, what would Jesus do if He were here? It's kind of that process, 383 00:42:44,280 --> 00:42:52,840 Scott, of going from just admiring them to really adoring them and then seeking to become like them. 384 00:42:52,840 --> 00:43:00,200 And that, when we get to that level in our relationship with the who, with God, the Father, 385 00:43:00,200 --> 00:43:10,600 his Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, it really opens the conduit to them, which is where 386 00:43:10,600 --> 00:43:12,120 all revelation comes from. 387 00:43:12,120 --> 00:43:20,280 I love that you talk about that our prayers should really be to seek their God's will for us, right? 388 00:43:20,280 --> 00:43:26,280 And that can only come once we've established that relationship. You know, we have to have faith, 389 00:43:26,280 --> 00:43:31,720 we have to have that relationship. That has to be really a habit in our lives to have the habit 390 00:43:31,720 --> 00:43:38,200 of relationship with deity in our lives. And I love that. And I love how you just talked about, too, 391 00:43:38,200 --> 00:43:45,400 how we should be seeking. That should really be our prayer is what's your will for us. And I alluded 392 00:43:45,400 --> 00:43:51,400 to this a minute ago. I'm going to read it. This is step 11 from, again, the 12 steps of Alcoholics 393 00:43:51,400 --> 00:43:58,520 Anonymous. So this is the 11th step. So in order for the 11th step to be in play here, obviously, 394 00:43:58,520 --> 00:44:04,040 we've gone through 10 previous steps. And those 10 previous steps have helped us to identify the very 395 00:44:04,040 --> 00:44:10,520 things that we identify in this podcast. Number one is our dependence on Jesus Christ. Number two 396 00:44:10,520 --> 00:44:15,880 is develop that relationship with Jesus Christ. Once that relationship with Jesus Christ is 397 00:44:15,880 --> 00:44:20,840 established, and we've begun to clean house and we've started to make amends and, you know, and 398 00:44:20,840 --> 00:44:27,080 take care of the wrongs in our lives. And we seek to maintain and establish or to establish and then 399 00:44:27,080 --> 00:44:33,160 maintain that relationship. Here's step 11. We sought through prayer and meditation to improve 400 00:44:33,160 --> 00:44:40,760 our conscious contact with God as we understood him, praying only for a knowledge of his will for 401 00:44:40,760 --> 00:44:43,000 us and the power to carry that out. 402 00:44:44,360 --> 00:44:51,880 Wow, I love that. His will for us and the power to carry that out. That's an awesome prayer. 403 00:44:51,880 --> 00:44:58,360 Not only to know his will, but ask for his help and power to carry out his will. That's kind of 404 00:44:58,360 --> 00:45:05,160 that's kind of the essence of step number two. But to really know his will, Scott, it's so helpful 405 00:45:05,160 --> 00:45:09,240 to understand him and to know him. 406 00:45:09,240 --> 00:45:14,760 Yeah, I think that you put that pretty softly. It's so helpful to know him. It's absolutely 407 00:45:14,760 --> 00:45:18,920 critical. We can't know his will if we don't know him, right? 408 00:45:19,480 --> 00:45:27,640 Yeah, I, it's just really important for us to know that God loves us. He wants the best for us, 409 00:45:27,640 --> 00:45:36,360 that he's our father, that we have a father-child relationship. It's, I, that's just really critical 410 00:45:36,360 --> 00:45:43,880 that we, that we know that he is a man, that we know that he has, that he has emotions. 411 00:45:45,000 --> 00:45:54,280 And he feels, he always feels love for us. He always wants the best for us. All that he does 412 00:45:54,280 --> 00:46:02,440 is because he loves the world. I mean, it's just so many great scriptures. We could do a whole 413 00:46:02,440 --> 00:46:11,560 other course probably on, on knowing God. But it's just really critical that in all, in our daily 414 00:46:11,560 --> 00:46:18,760 life that we, we seek to try to know him better, that we have a personal relationship with him and 415 00:46:18,760 --> 00:46:23,800 that I'm praying even if I'm not, even if I don't need anything or I don't have a problem, 416 00:46:24,360 --> 00:46:29,640 which isn't, you know, that's never true or that I don't have a question, which is never true. But, 417 00:46:30,200 --> 00:46:37,240 but even, even when I'm not asking for those kinds of things, I need to just at least express my love 418 00:46:37,960 --> 00:46:43,640 and try to fill his love. So I, and you know, another thing, Scott, that I've noticed in 419 00:46:43,640 --> 00:46:50,360 getting a closer relationship with God in, in how we pray, since I think that you've made this 420 00:46:50,360 --> 00:46:56,120 point so many times, if you want to know him, you got to spend time with him, right? Like you've 421 00:46:56,760 --> 00:47:01,160 brought up with your relationship with others who you love, you want to know him, you got to spend 422 00:47:01,160 --> 00:47:09,320 time with him, spend time with him. I think one of those is in prayer, to make time to pray. And 423 00:47:09,320 --> 00:47:18,360 that when we pray, I've caught myself, Scott, many times just thinking, I thank thee for my blessings, 424 00:47:19,080 --> 00:47:24,200 right? Now that's a great prayer. Nothing wrong with that prayer. But it's a little different 425 00:47:24,200 --> 00:47:34,360 when I say, Heavenly Father, I'm thankful for thee. I'm thankful to thee for these blessings. 426 00:47:34,360 --> 00:47:41,480 Instead of just being thankful for blessings, we should be thankful to God. That strengthens my 427 00:47:41,480 --> 00:47:49,000 relationship with my Heavenly Father when I'm not just going through a list of blessings, right? 428 00:47:49,000 --> 00:47:57,480 But when I'm acknowledging him as the source of all those blessings, when I say, I'm thankful to thee 429 00:47:57,480 --> 00:48:06,920 for my family, honestly, it does something to my thoughts and my heart than to just say, 430 00:48:06,920 --> 00:48:15,720 I'm thankful for my family. Because I'm talking to him and I'm thankful to him. I'm more thankful to 431 00:48:15,720 --> 00:48:23,800 him than anything else. And I just think sometimes we neglect that. It's easy to bypass that and 432 00:48:23,800 --> 00:48:32,360 just go through our list of blessings. But if we don't acknowledge him as the source of those 433 00:48:32,360 --> 00:48:41,560 blessings, our relationship with him may not necessarily be strengthened. So I just watch, 434 00:48:41,560 --> 00:48:48,440 watch how you pray, you know, be careful, be careful how you pray. And language, language of 435 00:48:48,440 --> 00:48:55,880 prayer is important. And I think it's such a blessing when one can pray out loud. We've been 436 00:48:55,880 --> 00:49:01,720 encouraged to pray out loud. I think Elder Holland encouraged us to do that recently, not long ago. 437 00:49:03,320 --> 00:49:08,920 Sometimes it's not appropriate to pray out loud. I understand that. It's so interesting that Joseph 438 00:49:08,920 --> 00:49:14,840 Smith said that it wasn't until he prayed vocally. I'm sure he had offered many prayers, but he said 439 00:49:14,840 --> 00:49:20,680 this was the first time that he had tried to pray vocally about his problem and his question when he 440 00:49:20,680 --> 00:49:28,760 received the first vision. Prayer is an important key to the second key of a personal revelation. 441 00:49:30,200 --> 00:49:37,960 How can we come to know the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost and gain a closer relationship with 442 00:49:37,960 --> 00:49:44,200 them? It sounds to me and I think that we'll probably need to continue this conversation 443 00:49:44,200 --> 00:49:48,920 next week on the rest of the keys. David was probably just kind of push pause on that one. 444 00:49:48,920 --> 00:49:54,840 But it seems to me, though, that when we're talking about receiving personal revelation, 445 00:49:54,840 --> 00:50:01,720 first of all, revelation, first of all, we need to understand the importance and how each of us 446 00:50:01,720 --> 00:50:07,240 needed and how we can be benefited. And those around us could be benefited by receiving that or 447 00:50:07,240 --> 00:50:15,400 by being able to receive this personal revelation. But then when we start to align and learn how 448 00:50:16,360 --> 00:50:20,040 this doesn't look like is something that we prepare for tomorrow. So I'm going to 449 00:50:20,040 --> 00:50:25,160 receive personal revelation tomorrow. I need to do these things today. This is a way of life. 450 00:50:25,160 --> 00:50:32,360 This is how we live our lives. This isn't just an exercise to achieve something. This is something 451 00:50:32,360 --> 00:50:38,280 that if we put our lives on this path, then personal revelation will become part of our lives 452 00:50:38,280 --> 00:50:44,920 as well. Peace itself can be a revelation. I mean, joy can be a revelation. These are fruits of the 453 00:50:44,920 --> 00:50:51,640 Spirit. You know, these are fruits that are given to us through the Holy Ghost. And to live in a 454 00:50:51,640 --> 00:50:58,920 state of peace when hell is all around us, to live, to have joy in even times of sorrow, 455 00:50:58,920 --> 00:51:02,600 that can be a revelation. Those are revelations, Scott. 456 00:51:02,600 --> 00:51:08,440 And I think if we position them that way and allow ourselves to begin to see them that way, 457 00:51:08,440 --> 00:51:13,160 the grace of our Heavenly Father's love will come at us more fully when we just see, 458 00:51:13,720 --> 00:51:19,000 these revelations have been here for me and I've been receiving some of these revelations all along. 459 00:51:19,000 --> 00:51:20,200 He must really love me. 460 00:51:20,200 --> 00:51:22,520 Yeah. And to be more aware. 461 00:51:23,080 --> 00:51:23,240 Yeah. 462 00:51:23,240 --> 00:51:24,280 To be more aware of those. 463 00:51:24,280 --> 00:51:24,760 Right. 464 00:51:24,760 --> 00:51:26,360 And the source and the who. 465 00:51:26,360 --> 00:51:26,600 Yeah. 466 00:51:26,600 --> 00:51:27,400 Yeah. 467 00:51:27,400 --> 00:51:32,520 Of all of those is, I think, really important in our relationship with him. 468 00:51:32,520 --> 00:51:37,000 Well, let's continue this conversation next week. This is super important and I don't want to rush 469 00:51:37,000 --> 00:51:41,400 through. We're right up against time to end, but we probably ought to come up with some sort of 470 00:51:41,960 --> 00:51:45,000 preparatory invitation, Dave. 471 00:51:45,000 --> 00:51:51,400 Well, experiment. Just please, everyone, experiment with identifying your negative 472 00:51:51,400 --> 00:51:58,360 emotions and not accepting them, not just living with them, but to begin to, with God's help, 473 00:51:59,400 --> 00:52:03,880 pray with all energy of heart for God's help to be filled with his love. 474 00:52:05,400 --> 00:52:12,280 And believe me, those negative emotions will be flipped or or melt away as you pray with all 475 00:52:12,280 --> 00:52:15,400 energy of heart for his love, the love of Christ, charity. 476 00:52:16,200 --> 00:52:20,200 So experiment with that. Just, you won't be perfect at it. 477 00:52:20,200 --> 00:52:27,400 It's a process. It takes practice, a lot of practice. It will take days, weeks, months, years 478 00:52:28,200 --> 00:52:32,600 to become really efficient at it. But I think it's a really important part of mortality 479 00:52:33,160 --> 00:52:42,680 is to learn what it means not to be acted upon, but to, for sure, we're acted upon, 480 00:52:42,680 --> 00:52:51,320 but to know that we have power to not just react, but to overcome those negative emotions through 481 00:52:51,960 --> 00:52:57,160 the Atonement of Jesus Christ and through the gift of the Holy Ghost and the power of prayer. 482 00:52:57,160 --> 00:53:05,400 So experiment with that. Try to improve your prayers when you pray. 483 00:53:05,400 --> 00:53:13,400 Pray, seek to really come to know God and learn of Christ. Learn of me, he said. 484 00:53:13,960 --> 00:53:20,280 Walk in the meekness of my spirit. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, 485 00:53:20,280 --> 00:53:27,960 and I will give you rest. Learn of me. Take, you know, I mean, he invites us to do that over and 486 00:53:27,960 --> 00:53:34,680 over again. Scott threw out the, throughout the scriptures. And as we do that, come to know his 487 00:53:34,680 --> 00:53:42,520 character, attributes and perfections, our faith is increased and personal revelation will also 488 00:53:42,520 --> 00:53:47,160 increase and look unto me in every thought. I mean, we talk about that in almost every 489 00:53:47,160 --> 00:53:51,480 and every podcast and just extremely important. Here's a scripture I kind of want to end on. 490 00:53:51,480 --> 00:53:59,000 This is in Dr. In Covenants 121 45. If we're really looking for how we can add this gift of 491 00:53:59,000 --> 00:54:03,960 personal revelation or qualify ourselves to receive this personal revelation, this is a good 492 00:54:03,960 --> 00:54:08,680 place to start. This is actually step four, Scott. Okay, so we're going to skip a little bit ahead 493 00:54:08,680 --> 00:54:13,640 here, but we'll come back to this step for increased personal purity and virtue. All right, 494 00:54:13,640 --> 00:54:20,840 so be anticipating that for our next discussion. Here it is 121 45. Let thy bowels also be full 495 00:54:20,840 --> 00:54:26,520 of charity towards all men and to the household of faith and let virtue garnish thy thoughts 496 00:54:26,520 --> 00:54:31,400 unceasingly. Then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God and the doctrine of the 497 00:54:31,400 --> 00:54:40,680 priesthood shall distill upon thy soul as it does from heaven. I testify that if we engage in that 498 00:54:40,680 --> 00:54:46,520 practice and that attempt in that effort to draw closer to him and to have our bowels full of 499 00:54:46,520 --> 00:54:52,360 mercy towards all men, the God's spirit will be with us in our lives and that personal revelation 500 00:54:52,360 --> 00:54:57,240 will abound. I pray that God will give us the eyes to see it in each of our lives. 501 00:54:57,240 --> 00:55:01,160 Thanks for being with us. We look forward to being with you again next week and until then, 502 00:55:01,160 --> 00:55:17,080 be well.