In Jacob’s second sermon to his people, he talks about hope as something we can obtain by prioritizing the kingdom of God over our personal ambitions (Jacob 2:18-19). He later provides us with the following insight into how he obtained hope:
We search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea.
Jacob 4:6
Learning from prophets and receiving personal revelation provides us with what the author of Hebrews called “a cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1). With so many testimonies surrounding us, including those in the scriptures and from living prophets coupled with our own personal spiritual experiences, hope comes naturally; faith comes naturally. We rely on those testimonies to bolster our own, and our own experience further bolsters our faith in a virtuous cycle.
As we participate in this process, we are not only becoming more hopeful and more faithful, we are also becoming more aligned with God:
Wherefore, beloved brethren, be reconciled unto him through the atonement of Christ, his Only Begotten Son, and ye may obtain a resurrection, according to the power of the resurrection which is in Christ, and be presented as the first-fruits of Christ unto God, having faith, and obtained a good hope of glory in him before he manifesteth himself in the flesh.
Jacob 4:11
Today, as I participate in general conference, I will allow the messages of church leaders to bolster my hope and strengthen my faith in Jesus Christ.
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