Month: February 2021

A few weeks ago a friend who had been suffering for many weeks from the COVID virus began to experience extreme pain in the chest. His wife was driving him to the emergency room when he called and asked me if I could give him a blessing over the phone. It had become my practice that when asked to give a blessing for healing to someone I will pray and ask the Lord for permission because I would never assume to attempt to bless someone without knowing what the Lord wanted me to do. So I told my friend that I would get back to him in a minute.

I always try to take the time to pray until I get an answer. Sometimes, though, the urgency of a person’s suffering makes me feel like there is no time to pray and I make the assumption the Lord would want me to pronounce a healing. In most of those cases, though, healings rarely happen. When I do pray and receive permission I know I can go into a blessing with perfect confidence that person will be healed. I can place my hands on their head and command that the person be healed. I know that is a pretty bold thing to do, but that is what the Lord requires of us to demonstrate faith. First, have the faith that the Lord will answer your request, and second, the Lord will perform the healing as the Spirit said He would. Doubt and faith cannot exist in the same moment.

I was once praying and asking the Lord why we don’t experience miraculous healings as a common occurrence. Why is it uncommon and rare that people with cancer are given blessings and are miraculously healed? Why are there no bringing people back from the dead through priesthood blessings? They do happen but they are so rare today as to be almost non existent. It should be common place. The answer both surprised and shocked me. The Spirit spoke very distinctly to me saying, “If you want healings and miracles….well you had better get busy!” It then occurred to me that the Lord was telling me that I and others could bring about healings through faith and exercising priesthood through the power of Christ. But, since it wasn’t me that was healing people, Christ is the healer, I had to ask permission of the one through whom these miracles are performed. I have no ability to heal anyone, it is really up to faith and the grace of the Lord. Sometimes much prayer and fasting is required.¹

Since then, when I have been asked to give a blessing I have asked the Lord if it was His will that a person be blessed unto healing, and I almost always get permission. It is when I don’t have explicit permission that healings do not occur, when I don’t get an answer, or I neglect to ask because of expediency, and I go ahead with the blessing anyway. There was one instance where I was given permission and a blessing given but the person still was not healed. It was latter related to me that the woman receiving the blessing refused to believe that she could be healed.

Getting back to my friend on the way to the emergency room. I told him that I would call right back, I needed to pray. I went to my room and knelt down and asked the Lord for His permission to apply priesthood power to heal. But I didn’t get the answer I was expecting. I was told, ‘No’. I was taken by surprise by that, but I knew better than to ask why. I was impressed, however, to ask if I could bless him that the pain would be tempered and suppressed and if he could be sustained at least until he reached the Hospital. I was told yes.

I commenced then to give him a blessing as though he were there, and then called him to tell him what had transpired. The pain did subside and he made it to the hospital. It turned out that he had blood clots that had moved through his heart and lodged in his lungs. He has since made a full recovery, although he now has to take expensive medicine the rest of his life. There were some other miracles that took place as a result of his bout with COVID, and he claims to know why the Lord told me not to heal him through a priesthood blessing.

The Lord is generous in his grace in providing healings and miracles, but it is imperative that we work with Him, and we know what His desires are. I believe Christ never healed anyone without conferring with the Father, except perhaps in case of the woman with a blood issue that touched the hem of his garment. After all, He had said that he did nothing without the Father. I have only experienced that one time being told not to give a blessing of healing. It was instructive to me that I was required to always ask permission.

I have found that sometimes people are given tests in the form of infirmities or disease, either for their own learning or for someone else to to be tried, for instance the parents of a sick child. It would be unwise to attempt to heal them in those cases as you would be at cross purposes to the Lord’s purposes. That is why it is important to ask permission first and be patient enough to wait to receive an answer.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if as a priesthood holder you are asked to give a blessing of healing to someone with cancer or some other debilitating disease or impairment, and know the outcome the Lord desires; have a perfect knowledge of what words you are supposed to say? I guarantee you would not be using tentative phrases and less then faith filled phrases like, “If it be the will of the Lord that you be healed…” You would know if it was the will of the Lord. How powerful would be the words of your blessing if you knew the Lord would heal that person? What power could be drawn down from heaven if you knew that the Lord wanted you to say the words, “I command you to be healed!” and know that person will be healed?

The Lord has stated that “…these signs shall follow them that believe–in my name shall cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; the shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover; (Mormon 9:24) What is it that is required to perform these miracles? It requires great faith, even exceeding great faith. Moroni describes what is required in verse 21: “Behold I say unto you that whoso believeth in Christ, doubting nothing, whatsoever he shall ask the Father in the name of Christ it shall be granted him; and this shall be granted him; and this promise is unto all, even unto the ends of the earth.“

The time is now for all believers to step up and accept the calling. Be one of the chosen ones who have chosen to believe and to perform (called and chosen)².

“And it shall come to pass that there shall be a great work in the land, even among the Gentiles (Talking about us, now) for their folly and their abominations shall be made manifest in the eyes of all people (The whole world will see the Gentile nations for what they are—think of what has happened in Washington since the election).”

“For I am God, and mine arm is not shortened; and I will show miracles, signs, and wonders, unto all those who believe on my name. And whoso shall ask it in my name in faith, they shall cast out devils; they shall heal the sick; they shall cause the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear and dumb to speak, and the lame to walk.”(The Lord is opening that window now) (D&C 35:7-10)

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Notes: ¹ “…if the church would cease from these bickerings & murmerings & be of one mind the Lord would visit them with health & every needed good, for said he this is the voice of the Spirit. furthermore if the Saints are sick or have sickness in their families, and Elders do not prevail every family should get power by fasting & prayer & anointing with oil & continue to so do their sick shall be healed this also is the voice of the Spirit.” The Words of Joseph Smith, p.37, Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon W. Cook, ed.

² “…for he is Lord of lords, and King of Kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.” (Revelation 17:14)

“And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.” (2 Nephi 25:26)

For behold, to one is given by the spirit of God that he may teach the word of wisdom, and to another that he may teach the word of knowledge by the same spirit, and to another exceeding great faith, and to another the gifts of healing by the same spirit; and again, to another that he may work mighty miracles; and again, to another that he may prophesy concerning all things; and again, to another the beholding of angels and ministering spirits; and again, to another all kinds of tongues; and again, to another the interpretation of languages and of divers kinds of tongues. (Moroni 10:9-13)

Nephi writes about how his people talk, rejoice, preach and prophesy of Christ amongst themselves. I imagine that when they gathered together to worship they spoke to one another about their experiences with Christ in dreams, visions, and encounters as well as discuss scriptures about Christ. These things were not too sacred to share amongst themselves. They rejoiced in the measure of the spirit that was poured out amongst them. They were not ashamed to share what the Lord had revealed to them in intimate moments of prayer. I can imagine that they talked about what the spirit had revealed to them during these private moments.

I like to think that we can do the same in our fellowships and church meetings, but in many of our interactions on Sundays we avoid talking about personal sacred events out of fear of judgement from others. What would it be like to share some wonderful spiritual experiences without having to be judged as seeking attention or being labeled as fringy? I often wonder if it is a symptom of gentile churches too much influenced by worldly concerns, where people can be considered too spiritual, and perhaps ungrounded in worldly reality.

It doesn’t make sense to me that one can judge a person as being too spiritual and yet never think that an angel could be too spiritual. This attitude is toxic for the development of a Zion society which will eventually commune with angels. Do we think that angels will come down to our level of spirituality or is it more correct to believe that we will have to rise to their level of spirituality before we can commune with them in Zion?

If we are ‘of the world’ our conversations will be dominated by worldly concerns and matters. If our conversations are lifted up to speak primarily of spiritual concerns then we will become like the people Nephi describes.

Joseph Smith wrote, “How vain and trifling have been our spirits, our conferences, our councils, our meetings, our private as well as public conversations—too low, too mean, too vulgar, too condescending for the dignified characters of the called and chosen of God, according to the purposes of His will, from before the foundation of the world! We are called to hold the keys of the mysteries of those things that have been kept hid from the foundation of the world until now.”  (DHC vol. 3, page 295.) 

It is good that we develop the gifts of the spirit and that we share them. After all that is the purpose of the gifts. “And all these gifts come from God, for the benefit of the children of God.” (D&C 46:26) One of the greatest among these gifts is the gift of prophesy. And what does it mean to prophesy? In its purest form it is to testify of Christ and His reality and to receive instruction and knowledge that He gives through personal revelation.

Some personal revelation is meant to remain secret and for the receiver alone, but I venture to say that most revelation is to be shared. Sharing things that you have experienced is one of the reasons that the revelation was given. It promotes faith and for those who have not reached the point in their spiritual progression where they receive revelation, it serves to teach them what can personally be obtained. This applies especially to our children. They all need to hear about these experiences and messages to develop the faith that such things are possible. This is what Nephi was talking about when he writes how the people talk, rejoice, preach, and prophesy of Christ.

When people relate dreams or visions that they have had, I pay attention. Why not? Why not listen when someone claims to have had a conversation with the Savior and wants to share what they have been told or seen. I don’t claim to understand everything about how the Lord works, so I assume they come from a good source unless the spirit tells me otherwise. Moroni writes, “I exhort you, my brethren, that ye deny not the gifts of God, for they are many; and they come from the same God. And there are different ways that these gifts are administered…” (10:8) In our fellowship we often have people relating special spiritual events that have happened to them. Many times people share special messages they received and are told to tell them to the rest of the fellowship, and we have all been edified by these revelations.

I want to share with you a recent revelation or communication that one of the dear sisters in our fellowship spoke to us about. Her message was profound. I have her permission to share with you what she spoke to us about. These are her words:

“The Lord has pointed out to me that I should pray for things I haven’t prayed for before: In the life before this one we had exceedingly great faith and that we should pray the veil be partially lifted from us that we will remember this exceedingly great faith we had thousands of years before when we planned,  prepared and were chosen to come to earth at this time to build and redeem Zion.”

“In Ether 1:16 the Lord says “For the Lord said unto me: They shall not go forth unto the Gentiles until the day that they shall repent of their iniquity and become clean before the Lord. And in that day that they shall exercise faith in me, saith the Lord, even as the brother of Jared did, that they may become sanctified in me, then will I manifest unto them the things which the brother of Jared saw, even to the unfolding unto them all my revelations, saith Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of the heavens and of the earth, and all things that in them are.“

“We are in that day now. And we have and are repenting and through the power and grace of Jesus Christ we are becoming sanctified. The Lord has asked us to pray for exceedingly great faith. The Lord has asked us to pray that we can understand the mysteries of Godliness, and to pray for the spirit of prophecy and the spirit of revelation.“

“In the Answer to the Prayer for a Covenant, the Lord prophesied (think of what is going on today):

“Men conspire to overthrow and oppress and use violence to control others through fear. My Spirit restrains the destroyer to allow those who are in the world and willing to give heed to my words time to prepare, but I will not always suffer with the wickedness of man.” (Teachings and Commandments 157:62)

“I will be with and lead my people onward through the Spirit of Truth, the Comforter, the Record of Heaven, the peaceable things of immortal glory, even the Holy Ghost which will abide with them, and you will be children of the Most-High God, fellow servants and numbered with the congregation of the just. (Church of the Firstborn) Therefore rejoice!“ (Teachings and Commandments 157:60)

“Praying for the Spirit of Prophecy, the Spirit of Revelation, for the Comforter, the record of heaven, to know the peaceable things of immortal glory and that the Holy Ghost will dwell in us and praying that we might understand the mysteries of Godliness are appropriate for us at this time. We have to step up to what we covenanted to in the place before this. This is how we will become a Zion people.”

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I don’t consider who this came from, whether she is a scholar, well spoken, or well spoken of, although I happen to know that this sister happens to be all of those and is an elect spirit, I consider the words themselves. In the words of Joseph Smith,

“This is good doctrine. It tastes good. I can taste the principle of eternal life, and so can you. They are given to me by the revelations of Jesus Christ, and I know that when I tell you these words of eternal life as they are given to me, you taste them, and I know that you believe them. You say honey is sweet, and so do I. I can also taste the spirit of eternal life. I know it is good; and when I tell you of these things which were given me by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, you are bound to receive them as sweet, and rejoice more and more.” (TPJS, p. 355)

In light of what this good sister shared with us, I have begun to pray for exceeding great faith, to understand the mysteries of godliness, to obtain the gift of prophesy and revelation. I believe that in light of the scriptures and the spirit testifying to me that seeking for these gifts is proper, and in fact essential, I have every right, and indeed an obligation, to seek these gifts.

I am going to study exceeding great faith. What is it and how do we obtain it? That will be the topic of my next post.