“Come Listen to a Prophet’s Voice: Sacred Priesthood Blessings,” Friend, Oct. 2004, 2
Come Listen to a Prophet’s Voice:
Sacred Priesthood Blessings
From an October 1995 general conference address.
President Faust explains how priesthood blessings strengthen and magnify us.
A priesthood blessing is sacred. It can be a holy and inspired statement of our wants and needs. If we are in tune spiritually, we can receive a confirming witness of the truth of the promised blessings. Priesthood blessings can help us in the small and great decisions of our lives. If, through our priesthood blessings, we could perceive [see] only a small part of the person God intends us to be, we would lose our fear and never doubt again.
As a small boy, I remember being intrigued [interested] by my grandmother’s magnifying glass which she used in her old age to read and do needlework. When the glass was in focus, everything I looked at was greatly magnified [made larger]. But I was most intrigued by what happened when the lens concentrated the sunlight on an object. When it passed through the magnifying glass, the sunlight’s power was absolutely amazing.
Blessings strengthen and magnify us. In the Church, blessings are available to all who are worthy through those authorized to give priesthood blessings. Worthy fathers and grandfathers, as well as other Melchizedek Priesthood holders, may give blessings to members in times of sickness and when important events occur. Such individual blessings are part of the continuous revelation that we claim as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Like the images in my grandmother’s magnifying glass, [through priesthood blessings] we can become stronger, our talents and ability can be magnified and multiplied, our understanding can be greatly enlarged, and our spirituality can flower.
Magnifying glass © PhotoDisc
Photo by Christina Smith, posed by models