"Obtaining Revelation in Your Profession”

President Brian K. Ashton: Our dear BYU-Pathway students and colleagues, welcome to a new term! We pray that this term will be one in which you draw closer to our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.  Speaking about your academic and career potential, President Spencer W. Kimball, the 12th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, noted that having the gospel in our lives would allow us to surpass the great masters of our professions. He said,
Take a da Vinci or a Michelangelo or a Shakespeare and give him a total knowledge of the plan of salvation of God and personal revelation and cleanse him, and then take a look at the statues he will carve and the murals he will paint and the masterpieces he will produce. Take a Handel with his purposeful effort, his superb talent, and his earnest desire to properly depict the story and give him inward vision of the whole true story and revelation, and what a master you have! 1

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Spencer W. Kimball, “Education for Eternity,” (BYU Devotional, Sept. 12, 1967), speeches.byu.edu

Echoing these sentiments, President Dallin H. Oaks, First Counselor in the First Presidency, made the following prophecy about you in 2022: “All of you are enrolled in BYU-Pathway to acquire knowledge, skills, and patterns of personal effort that will help you become self-reliant servants of Jesus Christ and of your fellowmen. Many of you are in leadership positions already, and in years to come most of you will be leaders in your families, your church congregations, your communities, and your nations.” 2

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Dallin H. Oaks, “Leadership,” (BYU-Pathway Worldwide Devotional, Feb. 8, 2022), byupathway.edu/speeches

Sister Melinda Ashton: God has a mission for each of you. To have the impact on the world that the Lord wants you to have in your professions, President Kimball identified four things that you need to do: 

1. Obtain a world-class education. This is something that you are already doing through BYU-Pathway Worldwide. Finish your degree and get more education, if needed.  
   
2. Become clean through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We do this by exercising faith in Jesus Christ, repenting, being baptized, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.   
   
3. Understand God’s plan of salvation. To truly understand the plan of salvation, we need to pray, study the scriptures, and live the gospel daily.  
   
4. Learn to receive revelation not just in what we typically consider “spiritual things” but also in what we sometimes call “temporal things,” including our studies and our careers.   

President Ashton: It is this step of learning to receive revelation in our professions of which we would like to speak today. 

Our dear BYU-Pathway students, God cares about your careers. Your jobs allow you to support your families, educate your children, and serve God’s children in the Church, your communities, and your nations. As a result, God will help you in your professions as you are humble, strive to do His will, and seek His help. 

What’s more, many of you will face challenges in your careers that will require you to have specific revelation to be successful. For example, some of you will have to contend with corruption. Many of you will start businesses in very difficult economies. A few of you will be required to do things that no one else has ever done. Lots of you will deal with difficult bosses, customers, and suppliers. There will be a myriad of other challenges. In these circumstances, remember that God has promised: “Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers.” 3

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Doctrine and Covenants 112:10

Sister Ashton: Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has taught that for those who have made covenants with Jesus Christ through baptism and have been given the gift of the Holy Ghost, God has promised that “we may always have the Holy Ghost to be our constant companion.” 4

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David A. Bednar, “An Evening with a General Authority,” Feb. 2020

Those who have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost “live in ... revelation.” 5

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David A. Bednar, “An Evening with a General Authority,” Feb. 2020

This means that, though we may not always recognize it, throughout our lives God will guide and help us to move along a path that will allow us to accomplish the work that God has for us. This doesn’t mean that everything will go as we have planned. It doesn’t mean that there won’t be difficulties in our lives. But it does mean that we will be guided to do the things that matter.  

In my own life, I try to make thoughtful, intentional decisions in accordance with gospel principles. While I seek specific revelation, I rarely receive strong spiritual promptings. Rather, most of the time I do the best that I can with the knowledge that I have, moving in a direction that seems best. From time to time, after I have acted, I look back and can see God’s guidance in my decision making. In these moments, I come to know that God was helping me even though I did not recognize it. For those of us with the gift of the Holy Ghost, this happens more often in our lives than we probably recognize. It will happen in your careers. 

President Ashton: There will be other times when you will need to seek specific revelation for a given problem. President Russell M. Nelson told of a time when this happened to him. As a heart surgeon, President Nelson had been treating a patient who had two faulty heart valves. At the time, there was no known procedure to repair one of the valves. President Nelson told the man that surgery was not advised. Then this happened. 

[Video, 5:13–9:20]

Sister Ashton: Nearly all of you will have experiences in your profession that require specific personal revelation. In many cases the answers you receive will bless not just you and your families but also many others, as President Nelson’s experience did. 

President Ashton: I have had similar experiences in my own career. I remember as an entrepreneur not knowing how I would make payroll at one point. I could see this crisis coming. I had been praying and did all that I could to solve the problem. But no solution came. Finally, at the last moment, I prayed again and was given the name of a person to go see. I was guided by the Spirit in that conversation, which led to the solution I needed. 

Sister Ashton: Our dear students, now is the time to learn how to “increase your spiritual capacity to receive revelation.” 6

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Russell M. Nelson, “Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2018

President Nelson has given us a pattern that can help: 
Find a quiet place where you can regularly go. Humble yourself before God. Pour out your heart to your Heavenly Father. Turn to Him for answers and for comfort. Pray in the name of Jesus Christ about your concerns, your fears, your weaknesses — yes, the very longings of your heart. And then listen! Write the thoughts that come to your mind. Record your feelings and follow through with actions that you are prompted to take. As you repeat this process day after day, month after month, year after year, you will “grow into the principle of revelation.” 7 

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Russell M. Nelson, “Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2018

President Ashton: This pattern for receiving revelation works in all parts of our lives. We promise that as you keep your covenants and seek to apply this pattern for receiving revelation in your life, you will have the help you need to accomplish what God wants you to do.  

Sister Ashton: Our Heavenly Parents want you to be happy and progress in life. Because of this, we have been given the gift of the Holy Ghost. As you strive to keep the commandments and honor your covenants, you can have confidence that the Spirit will guide you even when you do not recognize it.  This is the Lord’s Church, and you are His child. He wants to be part of your life and help you along your path. Through His Atonement, He has the power to do this. 

President Ashton: With the right education and if you are living the gospel, understand the plan of salvation, and seek revelation, with God’s help you have the potential to surpass the da Vincis, Michelangelos, Shakespeares, and Handels of your professions. 

We are led by a living prophet. Russell M. Nelson is God’s prophet on the earth today. Through Joseph Smith God restored the gospel and Church of Jesus Christ to the earth in our day. Jesus Christ is the Savior of the World. Heavenly Father loves you and will answer your prayers. Of this I testify, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.