“When one becomes a holder of the priesthood, he becomes an agent of the Lord. He should think of his calling as though he were on the Lord’s errand. When a priesthood holder magnifies his priesthood and calling, it can make all the difference in the life of another child of God.” President Harold B. Lee
When Jesus Christ was on the earth, He performed many miracles including healing the sick and the lame, giving sight to the blind, curing leprosy, and raising men from the dead. We read of several stories in the New Testament and in the Book of Mormon of Christ’s healing powers. Here are just a few:
“And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years…came behind (Christ) and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched…and Jesus said, somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me’. And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people what cause she had touched him and was healed immediately. And he said unto her, ‘Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace” (Luke 8:43-44, 46-48).
“And Jesus said what wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, ‘Lord, that I might receive my sight’. And Jesus said unto him, ‘go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole” (Mark 10:51-52).
When Christ appeared to the Nephites at the temple in Bountiful in the Americas, he said: “Have ye any that are sick among you? Bring them hither. Have ye any that are lame, or blind, or halt, or maimed, or leprous, or that are withered, or that are deaf or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them, for I have compassion upon you… for I see that your faith is sufficient that I should heal you. And it came to pass that when he had thus spoken, all the multitude, with one accord, did go forth with their sick and their afflicted, and their lame, and with their dumb, and with all them that were afflicted in any manner; and he did heal them every one as they were brought forth unto him” (3 Nephi 17:7-9).
The priesthood is the power and authority of God, which He gives to worthy men to help carry out His work of salvation and to act in His behalf. From the beginning the Lord established how His priesthood would be administered. He has given His priesthood to His chosen servants since the days of Adam. During His mortal ministry, Jesus Christ gave His priesthood authority to His Apostles, including Peter, James, and John (see Matthew 10). When priesthood authority is exercised properly, priesthood bearers do what the Lord would do if He were present.
In our day heavenly messengers were sent from God to restore the priesthood. On May 15, 1829, John the Baptist appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery to give them the Aaronic Priesthood by the laying on of hands. A few weeks later, the ancient Apostles Peter, James, and John gave Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery the Melchizedek Priesthood, again by the laying on of hands. The Prophet Joseph Smith gave the priesthood to other worthy men, who, under the Prophet’s direction, gave it to other worthy men, and so on, up to the modern day. This is the way God has administered His priesthood.
Just as Jesus Christ healed the sick and afflicted during His mortal ministry, worthy priesthood holders can do the same today through that same power. I have been the beneficiary of priesthood blessings on more than one occasion. One memorable blessing comes to mind because I literally felt the healing power of this particular priesthood blessing.
I do not recall the specific injury, if it was my foot, ankle, knee, or some other ailment preventing me from putting my full weight on my left foot. I just remember that I had to use crutches to get around. At the time I was suffering from this injury, my husband, Mark, and I had attended the adult session of stake conference. Before the end of this session of conference, I noticed that one of our ward members, Ron Frame, was in attendance. Mark approached Ron to see if he could stay behind for a few minutes so that the two of them could give me a priesthood blessing. Ron agreed and the three of us moved to the Relief Society room so that these two priesthood holders could perform the blessing. Ron anointed my head with consecrated oil, and then Mark and Ron laid their hands upon my head. Mark sealed the anointing and pronounced the blessing.
As Mark spoke the words of the blessing, I don’t even remember what he said, but I do remember what I felt. It was a feeling that I had never felt before and have not felt since. I began to feel a tingling sensation start in the toes of my left foot that moved through my foot up my leg and stopped at my knee. That part of my body had that tingling sensation for the duration of the blessing. I sat there in amazement, saying to myself “what is that?” At the conclusion of the blessing, I was at a loss to explain what I had felt, so I just thanked Ron for agreeing to stand in on the blessing. I stood up and put weight on my foot. It felt a lot better. I grabbed my crutches and began to use them but felt that I really didn’t need them anymore.
When Mark and I were in the truck driving home, I told him what happened. I asked him if he felt anything different when he was giving me the blessing. He had not. When we got home, I was able to walk without the crutches and had no pain or discomfort. The next morning was the general session of stake conference. Instead of parking in the church parking lot, I parked in a lot further down the street and then walked to church. No crutches, no pain. The first person I saw was Ron Frame. I told him what happened the night before, and that since the blessing, I no longer needed the crutches and could walk without pain. I told him the blessing worked and thanked him again for being a part of it. Even though it is always God’s will that prevails in any blessing, I believe that it was my faith that made me whole. I had the faith to be healed, and Mark and Ron had the faith to heal. I believe that faith is the critical component of any priesthood blessing.
Though my husband had not felt anything out of the ordinary while giving me that blessing, the same could not be said for the priesthood blessing that he gave to a stranger who was in the hospital dying from stage 4 cancer. Just like I will never forget the tingling sensation in my foot and leg when he gave me that healing blessing, Mark will never forget the intense power that surged through his whole body during that memorable blessing for this stranger. Even though this blessing was very memorable for that reason, Mark regrets that he cannot remember the man’s name who received this healing blessing.
Our ward had recently welcomed a new couple, the Montoya’s, into the Church. Both had recently been baptized. Brother Montoya worked at a motorcycle dealership in Farmington. One day, soon after his baptism, he noticed that one of his co-workers was crying and asked her what was wrong. She said that her father was in the hospital with stage 4 cancer. Not knowing that you shouldn’t solicit a priesthood blessing, this enthusiastic new member asked his non-member co-worker if he could send two of the brethren from the Church to give her father a blessing. She asked her father, who agreed, and a day and time was set for Mark, his brother, Rusty, and Brother Montoya to go to the hospital.
Prior to entering the hospital to administer this priesthood blessing, these three men stayed in the truck for a few minutes to pray to Heavenly Father that He would be with them as they ministered to this afflicted man. The three of them then entered this man’s hospital room. In addition to this very sick man were four members of his immediate family. It had already been decided that Rusty would anoint and Mark would say the blessing. Being a new member, Brother Montoya did not yet hold the priesthood and could only observe. Prior to the blessing, Mark asked this man two questions: do you believe in Jesus Christ and do you believe that you can be healed? This man answered in the affirmative to both questions.
After the anointing, Mark began to pronounce the blessing. Only a few words were uttered when his mouth was shut from speaking any further. Then the most intense feeling Mark had ever felt surged through his body. It felt like an electrical current starting at the top of his head and moving through his body to his feet and through his arms and into his hands, which were laying on this man’s head. Everyone felt this spiritual power enter the room. With his eyes stilled closed, Mark could hear the others giving praise to God. Then his mouth was opened, and the blessing proceeded. Mark said they were not his words; that the Holy Ghost had taken over and pronounced the blessing. He was only the conduit. With the blessing concluded, Mark opened his eyes, stepped back from this man, and looked around. Everyone was in awe of what had just taken place and what they felt. There was no denying that the Spirit of God had been in that hospital room.
After wishing the man well, the three of them left the room, still in a daze with what had just taken place. A couple days later, Brother Montoya called Mark and let him know that the man to whom he had given the blessing had been released from the hospital. His co-worker had told him that the doctors could no longer find cancer anywhere in her father’s body. I have no doubt that this man and his family will ever forget the day that God entered their story through two of His humble servants. Mark will be forever grateful that the Lord chose him for this memorable and faith-building assignment.
President Harold B. Lee’s words come to mind when I think of my husband’s experience: “When one becomes a holder of the priesthood, he becomes an agent of the Lord. He should think of his calling as though he were on the Lord’s errand. When a priesthood holder magnifies his priesthood and calling, it can make all the difference in the life of another child of God.”
There are many, many facets to the priesthood. For today’s blog, I have chosen to speak on only one facet of it – the healing power of the priesthood. I have no doubt that every member of the Church has had a memorable experience with this aspect of priesthood power. I am grateful that God so loved us that he sent angels to restore priesthood power to the earth. Through that power, His love guides, heals, and prepares us for eternal life.
Note: I invite you to read the story of William “Bull” Chapman, who has his own story of the day that God provided two miracles that saved his life. His story is titled, “The Power of Prayer and the Priesthood.” It can be found in the Other’s Stories page. I also direct you to the My Inspiration page. I have added a video depicting a reenactment of a priesthood blessing given to a young man who had been struck by lightening. This true story is from a talk given by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland titled "Sanctify Yourselves".
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