When making significant decisions, it’s important to include the Lord in the process. What does that look like in practice?
In his new book Learning to Listen: Principles for Personal Revelation, Elder Dale G. Renlund teaches that there is a better way than asking for God’s guidance in all things. We can receive more revelation by first taking thoughtful steps forward and then asking the Lord specific questions about how to proceed. He writes:
“We might be tempted to simply ask, ‘Heavenly Father, what should I do?’ A better approach is to formulate more specific questions to ask Him. It is easier for us to hear Him and understand His answers when He can respond ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’” (emphasis added)
Why This Approach Makes It Easier to Hear Him
Asking God specific questions helps us to engage more actively in the revelatory process. It can open our minds to new possibilities and make it easier to recognize the Lord’s promptings.
For example, Elder Renlund shares a story about a man who had recently finished an undergraduate degree in chemistry and was trying to decide whether to study pathology or pharmacology.
“I had suggested that he consider which of those life paths would help him serve Heavenly Father’s children in the best way,” the Apostle writes. “That question, it turned out, had been a light bulb moment for him as a younger man. I can’t remember which path he took, but I’ve thought a lot about that counsel. Either path is serving, but the question opened his mind to evaluate his own ‘talents’ and formulate his question in a way that brought needed personal revelation.”
This process can help us learn more than we could from simply following a prescribed outline of everything we should do. As President Dallin H. Oaks has taught:
“A desire to be led by the Lord is a strength, but it needs to be accompanied by an understanding that our Heavenly Father leaves many decisions for our personal choices. Personal decision-making is one of the sources of the growth we are meant to experience in mortality.”
Read more in the articles below about how to recognize revelation:
▶ Is a thought from me or the Spirit? Elder Renlund’s advice for when you feel uncertain
▶ My life-changing realization about how the Spirit speaks to us
▶ How to open your heart to receive more revelation
