Revelation
Doctrine and Covenants 9:7–9
7 Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me.
8 But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right.
9 But if it be not right you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor of thought that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong; therefore, you cannot write that which is sacred save it be given you from me.
President Boyd K. Packer said:
“To one who thought that revelation would flow without effort, the Lord said:
“‘You have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me.
“‘But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right’ [D&C 9:7–8; emphasis added].
“This burning in the bosom is not purely a physical sensation. It is more like a warm light shining within your being.
“Describing the promptings from the Holy Ghost to one who has not had them is very difficult. Such promptings are personal and strictly private! (See 1 Ne. 14:28–30; 2 Ne. 32:7; Alma 12:9–11.)”
(“Personal Revelation: The Gift, the Test, and the Promise,” Ensign, Nov. 1994, 59–60.)
