Hearing Him Part Two: Real Intent

One of the scriptures that teaches clearly about revelation is Moroni 10:4-5:

4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ^aask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not ^btrue; and if ye shall ask with a ^csincere heart, with ^dreal intent, having ^efaith in Christ, he will ^fmanifest the ^gtruth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may ^aknow the ^btruth of all things.

I love these verses because they concisely teach truths about receiving answers from God. These verses are part of what is often referred to as Moroni's promise; Moroni is engraving the last few words in the Book of Mormon, and he knew that many people would later read it. He offered us a test for how we might know the truth of the Book of Mormon, and the process for receiving that answer from God is the same as receiving any answer from Him.

I want to focus on these phrases: "with a sincere heart, with real intent." I think their meaning is plain enough: we have to truly want to know the answer, and be willing to act on the answer that we receive. To quote President Ezra Taft Benson: "Pride is a damning sin in the true sense of that word." If we are not willing to follow the will of God, He will not always reveal it to us. (This is merciful, by the way, because in this scenario He is not giving us commandments and knowledge that He would then have to judge us by when He knows we will not live up to them.) When we pray to know truth, we must be willing to follow that truth. If we are making a decision and we ask for guidance, we must be willing to follow His guidance. If we've already made a decision and will do our own will no matter what, then we are not asking with real intent nor with a sincere heart. Perhaps we are asking out of habit or only because we want the Lord's blessing to do what we've already decided to do. This does not please the Lord and is not a path towards communing with Him.

Would we meet with a financial planner with no intention of listening to her advice on how we manage our money? Do we consult doctors so that we can throw away the medicine they prescribe? Perhaps we know some people that do these things to one degree or another, but hopefully we know that this isn't normally wise. Even financial planners and doctors are human and fallible, where God is omniscient and omnipotent, and He sees the beginning from the end. He is not relying on statistical probabilities or best practices to guide us, but teaches based on a perfect understanding of where we are and the best way to help us be prepared for our eternal destiny.

Naturally, it is very difficult to set aside your own will when making decisions; the more important the decision, the harder it is to truly be willing to follow the Lord's words, whatever they may be. For me, cultivating a knowledge of His character and attempting to control my own pride have been two keys to success along this path. I know that many of the better decisions I've made were changed after praying, and some extremely important decisions I've made were only confirmed after I was willing to follow the Lord's will even though He did not want me to change my mind.