Every soul who who seeks with real intent to walk in the Lord’s will from day to day comes to know Jesus Christ and receives further light and knowledge, as he obeys Christ's voice. By doing so we are led, guided, strengthened, and nourished in both body and spirit, and we gain the experiences needed to become more Christlike.

The Lord reveals himself to all who walk humbly in meekness and in the lowliness of His Spirit. He reveals himself personally, as well as through His servants, the prophets, and through inspired parents, teachers, strangers—and sometimes by those who may appear to have little or nothing to offer. No matter how He reveals himself to us, when we are quick to receive and obey his voice, we receive further light and knowledge; which strengthens, nourishes, and gives us greater power over evil.

As we become swift to obey His voice, the frequency and form of revelations received increase from infrequent and insubstantial, to frequent and more substantial. For example, his voice is heard through a feeling in the heart that is accompanied by clarity of thought in the mind, or as a voice of comfort, peace, and assurance. It can also be found in the way of a stupor, or confusion in the mind that helps us to know that what we have decided to do is not in our best interest, and even as a voice of warning when a course we choose is not the one that we should take.

His voice is also heard through revelatory dreams and visions, and through ministering angels, and even as a voice that speaks to common men directly from the heavens from time to time. His voice is often heard by those who love and serve one another. Moreover, in the path of service, many have seen the Lord and spoken to him face to face, even as one man speaks to another and have received instruction directly from him.

The Lord reveals himself to us in infinite ways, and does so according to our personal understanding. Revelation increases as we work with the Lord by exercising our own intelligence to the limits of our understanding. As we graciously act upon revelations received, we graciously receive from the Lord further light and knowledge.

One day while pondering upon this doctrine of obeying the Lord’s voice, I asked God in prayer to help me more fully understand what it meant to have a broken heart and a contrite spirit. I asked, "Is there more to it than my needing to go around feeling badly that I'm not better than I am?"

After asking my question in faith, my mind opened to my oldest son and I training horses together in times past. One summer we worked with and sold more than one hundred horses together. Some horses were quick to obey our commands, and these became favored by us and our clients.

In contrast, horses that were stiff-necked, stubborn, and unable to receive, trust, and follow our instructions—could not be so easily brought to do the good that our favored horses could do—no matter how athletic or beautiful these stiff-necked and stubborn horses were.

With this remembrance, I was given to understand by the Lord that people who become favored of him become so, because they trust him and easily receive and obey his voice. They don’t go their own way when the Lord speaks to them, but yield swiftly and easily to the Lord’s superior intelligence.

Likewise, as we come to readily receive and obey the Lord’s voice, our capacity to do good becomes most productive and fruitful, and we become favored servants of the Lord. Jesus Christ is the living Lord today, as he was in times past, to all who exercise faith in him. Coming to hear his voice in its various forms is not an overnight process, or a once and done event. Rather, as we seek earnestly to do his will from day to day, we learn, grow, and ascend to become firm of mind in every form of Godliness, and to become trusted and favored servants of the Lord.

In this path we advance temporally, spiritually, morally, and intellectually—until we overcome everything that is opposed to the kingdom of heaven, and Satan has no more power over us. Thus, we become chosen vessels of the Lord, to do the work we were called to do before coming to this earth. All who walk in the Lord’s spirit—humbly, meekly, and through diligence unto prayer, are chosen and enabled by him—to do and finish the work God sent us to earth to do.

In the parable of the wise and foolish virgins, the Lord spoke of five wise virgins who filled their lamps with oil, and five foolish virgins who did not fill their lamps with oil. The ten virgins represent the Lord’s covenant people. Half did what was necessary to receive the Lord in their daily lives, and the other half did not.

The lamps in this parable represent the souls of men, and the oil represents further droplets of redeeming light and knowledge we receive from the Lord, when we obey his voice. For each daily act of obedience, we receive further light and knowledge into our souls. The oil of redeeming light and knowledge enables us to do all things the Lord asks of us. 

Frequency and forms of revelation diminish in our lives when we allow our faith to grow dormant or stagnant through inaction, fear, neglect, selfishness, or disobedience to the Lord. Unless our hearts become broken (easily led by the Lord), and our spirits contrite (swift and eager to do what he asks of us), we remain of little usefulness to the cause of righteousness.

Jesus invites us to come out of the world to feast upon his word and to obey his voice, until we are filled with a fulness of his glory (intelligence). By becoming, as a well-broke horse that is swift and eager to follow his master’s commands, we become qualified and prepared to fulfill our earthly missions.