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The Lord’s pattern regarding both qualifying for and receiving revelation is clear and some of it is found in the following scriptures:
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“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8).
Most (if not all) of us are quite familiar with the scripture. It’s very straightforward, but many times, we forget the truth that comes with the scripture below:
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“For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have” (2 Nephi 28:30).
When children want to learn to read, do parents and teachers give them an unabridged dictionary and tell them to have fun? Not a chance. First, children are taught that “there are these things called letters.“ Once letters are mastered, children move on to small 1, 2, and 3 letter words with the corresponding books. Line upon line, precept upon precept, children learn how to read.
What did Christ tell some of his first apostles? “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Christ didn’t do some sort of weird magical gospel download into their brains. All they knew was that they were following the Savior. In reading the New Testament, we can see how, line upon line and precept upon precept, their knowledge and understanding grew.
The restoration of the Gospel was—and is—the same way. Joseph Smith was 14 when he first saw the Father and the Son, 17 when Moroni appeared in his room, and 21 when he was permitted to receive the plates. The Kirtland temple had a semblance of the endowment and no font for baptisms; the Nauvoo temple was the first in which all ordinances were available. President Nelson has reminded us that, even today, the restoration is continuing.
When a child stops playing with a toy for an extended period of time, what do parents do? They get rid of the toy. If you are bilingual but don’t speak one of the languages for an extended period of time, you lose the ability to speak as readily as you used to. Basically, use it or lose it.
The Lord works the same way. When we’re consistent in our scripture study, we’re able to remember more about gospel principles and thus are able to more readily build on what we already know. The more we devote ourselves to prayer and supplication, the easier it is to focus on the divine and receive revelation. If, for whatever reason, we stop doing these things for a period of time, we can’t expect the Lord to just pick us up where we left off. If we have done something that caused covenant blessings to be taken away, the mercy that comes through the atonement of the Savior can help us once again be worthy of them. He will help us get back, but we have to do our share of the work.
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“Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart” (Doctrine and Covenants 8:2).
In many cultures around the world (including ancient Jewish culture), the mind is associated with logic and reason while the heart is associated with feelings. While the scripture does say that the Lord will speak to our minds and hearts, it does not say that he will always speak to both at the same time.
I know many stories of church members who were baptized because the gospel made logical sense to them; the peace that came from the logic of the gospel confirmed the truth of it and lead them to the waters of baptism. For them, the spiritual aspects of gospel truth came later.
I also know people who were baptized because they could not deny the overwhelming confirmation in their hearts that they were in the right place. For them, the logic came later.
Both types of confirmation were given by the Holy Ghost. The Lord has said, “the glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light AND truth” (Doctrine and Covenants 93:36, emphasis added).
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“For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in these times as in times of old, and as well in times of old as in times to come; wherefore, the course of the Lord is one eternal round” (1 Nephi 10:19).
I love the imagery of the word “unfolded“ in this scripture. If something is unfolded, it is shown piece by piece, not all at once.
There’s no addendum here saying that the mysteries of God have to be grand or life-changing. Line upon line and precept upon precept, anything that enlightens our minds and/or hearts and gives us more insight into the eternal truths of the gospel are His mysteries.
