Several months ago, I had been pondering a phrase I had read somewhere: “To see the unseen, and know the unknown,” and for some reason this concept settled deep in my heart.

One morning I went out to jog near pastures of tall grass and bushes.  It had rained during the night and everything looked gray and gloomy because of the heavy cloud coverage.  I began to think of this phrase, and impulsively prayed, “Oh Heavenly Father, please help me to see the unseen, and to know the unknown!”  At THAT EXACT SECOND, the sun came out from behind a cloud and all the droplets that were on the long grass and plants of the pasture were suddenly illuminated.   It appeared to me as if the field was filled with shimmering diamonds and prisms.  It was extraordinary!  I have never had a prayer answered so fast or so spectacularly!  I SAW the UNSEEN!  The droplets were there on the plants all along, but I just couldn’t see them until the light came out to show me they were there.

We all need illumination in order to see and know clearly.   Often the answer is right in front of us, but we can’t see it until we ask the questions to receive more light.

Blinding flash of inspiration

There was an atheist man who was convinced by a persuasive friend to pray, and he reluctantly agreed.   Feeling a bit silly initially, he knelt down and began to pray.  He wanted to know a question that was weighing on him, and he simply asked, “I want to know, what is the relationship of man to God?”   Nothing happened at that time, but later that day, a blinding flash of spiritual intuition came to him about a mathematical concept he’d been trying to understand called fractals.  (Simply put, this concept states “A piece of the whole is the same as the whole.” Snowflakes are an example of fractals, because any part of the individual snowflake is like the whole, and you see the same shape replicated.)

In this moment of revelation, his mind filled with the marvelous realization that there WAS a God, and that He had just given him the answer to his question.  The man exclaimed with new understanding,  “That’s it!  “We as men are just a fractal of God!”   This man might not have immediately believed that he was a son of God, but the Lord spoke to his mind in a precise, dynamic language that he could understand.  He was privileged to see the unseen, and to know the unknown!  This experience built the foundation of his budding faith.

We are all entitled to remarkable revelation from God!  He asks us to ask, and promises to deliver.  (Matt 21:22)  When asked, He will always reveal what we need for our spiritual progression precisely when we are ready to receive it.

Once we have a foundation of testimony and basic understanding of spiritual things, we can gain more and more as we seek for spiritual light.

Receiving Revelation:  Three Things That May Give You a More Powerful Experience

After you have made known the petition you are asking for, consider the following three things as you are listening for your inspiration.

1. Relax in the Present

When we stress or strain to have a spiritual experience, we block the very thing we are trying to receive. We cannot force spiritual things! If we’re anxiously demanding answers, or if in any way, we are trying to control God, we tense up, and our spiritual channel closes.

A more fruitful way to receive inspiration is to be relaxed, still, and totally focused on the present, because after all, REVELATION CAN ONLY BE RECEIVED IN THE PRESENT MOMENT!   IF YOU ARE NOT THERE, YOU WON’T RECEIVE IT!  Stop thinking about what you want to happen in your near future, and allow instead what He wants to give you NOW!

Notice how your body is feeling.  Is there any part of your body that is tense?  Take slow deep breaths.  If you feel tense in a particular muscle, “go there” in your mind to relax it.  Awareness of your body ties you in more to the present.

2. Seek the Spirit

Do you feel the Spirit? If not, it is critical to get it!   Even if you ARE feeling the Spirit, it is best to have the highest level you can achieve.  Seek to be in the presence of the Lord.   Joseph Smith stated: “It is a great thing to inquire at the hands of God, or to come into His presence.” (History of the Church, 1:339)  Imagine that the Lord is sitting near you.  Feel your love for Him, and feel His love for you. “Look” in His eyes and thank Him for what He has done for you.  Gratitude always puts us in a receiving mode.

3. Be Open

Visualize yourself opening up spiritually like a compass or a satellite dish.

receiving light jpeg

Open up your mind and your heart.  Are you open to receive anything that the Lord wants to give you, even if it is not what you want to hear?

Feel His peace!  Feel His Joy!  Try to Feel and be open to His Will!

Additionally, if you’re feeling any negative emotions towards God or others, you need to let them go.  These emotions will make you tense and can interfere with your open channel to receiving clear impressions.

Seeing the Invisible

Because we are his children, the God of the Universe often allows us to see the invisible.  He wants us to ask the previously unasked questions and be open to receive whatever He wants to share with us.    It may simply be peace that we receive rather than a particular message, but sometimes peace IS the answer!  Specific answers will come when He is ready to give them.

President Lorenzo Snow declared that it is “the grand privilege of every Latter-day Saint…to have the manifestations of the spirit every day of our lives.”  (Conference Report, Apr. 1899, p. 52).  The more we ask, and are open to spiritual things, the more we WILL receive.  So, let’s ask – then relax in the present, seek the spirit, and be wide open to receive the unseen and to know the unknown.

 

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