Receiving from God requires having gratitude for what you already have and appreciating what you don’t yet have.
Gratitude doesn’t simply mean acknowledging the fact that you’ve been given something. It means to comprehend the potential of what you have been given and appreciating the cost.
God does not ask us for gratitude as most humans would—to satisfy petty pride or to feel good about himself. He asks it solely for our benefit. This benefit is realized only when you comprehend and use what you have been given for its full potential.
Far too many people treat God’s gifts—ranging from every specific thing to the gospel itself—like the key to a storage shed. God’s gifts are something they never think about and only use every once in a while, for a brief moment.
Suppose you are gifted a sports car. You could drive it fast, as sports cars are meant to be driven. Or you could drive it slowly, making it no different than a normal, far less expensive car. Or you could just leave it in your garage, making it less appreciated than any car that is actually driven. Or you could leave it parked outside to slowly rust, never being driven, tossed aside like filth in the streets. Only the first option uses the gift to the full extent of what was intended.
Gratitude for what you already have determines how much more you will receive. When the Lord said: “...prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it,” (Malachi 3:10), part of what he meant was that he will be bless you up to just beyond your capability to recognize and appreciate. When you learn to recognize and appreciate what you have, you will receive more, and in that instant, God:
`...will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have. (2 Nephi 28:30)`
Gratitude means accurately assessing the value of his hand in your life. You become an expert at feeling overwhelming gratitude for his goodness. You act as grateful in plenty as you would be in want, in pleasure as you would be in pain, in abundant belonging as you would in absolute loneliness, in wealth as you would in abject poverty.
In order to receive more of what you don’t yet have, you first have to learn to appreciate what is good but not yet valued:
29 Ye who are quickened by a portion of the celestial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness.
30 And they who are quickened by a portion of the terrestrial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness.
31 And also they who are quickened by a portion of the telestial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness.
32 And they who remain shall also be quickened; nevertheless, they shall return again to their own place, to enjoy that which they <u>are willing to receive, because they were not willing to enjoy that</u> which they might have received.
33 For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift.
34 And again, verily I say unto you, that which is governed by law is also preserved by law and perfected and sanctified by the same. (D&C 88)
Adam and Eve lived in paradise, but they did not recognize or appreciate it. They did not recognize what the two trees offered them in Eden. They did not value the fruit of the tree of life. They did not appreciate what it would be like not to have it. That is why they made very little use of what was offered. They could not receive the joy God had prepared until they suffered very much.
Everything God has is always offered to you, but you will only receive what you value. What God offers is repulsive to those who do not yet have it. We lack the knowledge and wisdom to value what is of great value. As we have faith, we can walk down paths we would otherwise not walk, and he can teach us of the true value of things.