Bless and Be Blessed

Priesthood blessings have been a part of all of our lives. I have experienced healing through a priesthood blessing when I was young. The blessing was instantaneous as I lay in my bed in extreme pain. Once the person blessing me placed their hands on my head I felt a wash of healing go over me and I was asleep before the blessing ended.

I've written about this before, but it bears repeating. The holy priesthood can be defined as our relationship with God, and God is no respecter of persons. Our relationship with Him is not gender-dependent. The Aaronic priesthood, or in other words - the ministering of angels, does not favor males over females. It is based on your faith alone, and is freely available to all men, women, and children who have strong Faith and a firm mind in every form of Godliness. This extends into the Patriarchal and Melchizedek priesthoods as well. 

26 And after that he (Christ) came men also were saved by faith in his name (faith is what saves men...not ceremonies. Ceremonies are designed to spark humble initiates with FAITH); and by faith, they become the sons of God. And as surely as Christ liveth he spake these words unto our fathers, saying: Whatsoever thing ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is good, in faith believing that ye shall receive, behold, it shall be done unto you.

27 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased because Christ hath ascended into heaven, and hath sat down on the right hand of God, to claim of the Father his rights of mercy which he hath upon the children of men?

29 And because he hath done this, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased? Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men.

30 For behold, they are subject unto him, to minister according to the word of his command, showing themselves unto them of strong faith and a firm mind in every form of godliness.

31 And the office of their ministry is to call men unto repentance, and to fulfill and to do the work of the covenants of the Father, which he hath made unto the children of men, to prepare the way among the children of men, by declaring the word of Christ unto the chosen vessels of the Lord, that they may bear testimony of Him. (Moroni 7)

As our family has gone on this journey we have walked by faith. We never had a plan of what we would do next - the spirit just revealed it to us as we went along and we went forward. I bet that's how it's been for you too. One thing that was revealed to us along the way was the power of prayer and uniting our voices in prayer for each other. We also learned the power of touch in prayer. I went through some health challenges the last few years which I believe were spiritual attacks set to take me down or at least slow me from heading in the direction I was going. But oh how grateful I have been for those physical attacks! It taught us to gather together, in the name of Jesus, to touch and pray for me and for each other.

I don't know if what I will share in this post is something you have tried, but if it isn't - I thought I might share today to offer a seed for you to consider planting and trying in your own home.

The priesthood is an association with the other side of the veil. The greater your righteousness the greater the association. Righteousness is this: 1. You seek the Lord's will and 2. You do what He asks you to do. The more you seek and do - the greater your association with heaven. Even small children can be righteous and have a great association with heaven. What I am sharing can be done whether you are married or single, children or no children. You can gather with others who have an eye single to the Glory of God and where there are two or three gathered together in His name - it is enough. (Matthew 18:20)

Two weeks ago a very close friend of mine came to visit from out of state. I have known this friend for 24 years and though we disagree wildly on politics, we come together easily on matters of the heart. This friend has always been extremely physically active. They hiked the Grand Canyon in one day (signs on location tell hikers NOT to do that). About seven years ago this friend was kayaking across a famous bay when about half way their body gave out. It was all they could do to make it to the other side and once they got there, they were bedridden for weeks and months at a time for seven years with only daily short spurts of enough energy to get some food or do basic self care. This person who lived for hiking and outdoors was trapped in a bed with many doctors giving various hypothesis' but no answers as to what was the cause. Ryan and I often fantasized about flying out to this friend and blessing them to be healed, but the Lord never gave the green light. They used to come to visit me and go hiking once or twice a year but with the health challenges, travel became nearly impossible.

Our little family has prayed for my friend for years and we have increased in prayer for them at almost every single meal and daily prayer for the last 4 years. Recently this friend had a wedding for a close family member which caused them to travel almost to my doorstep. When one of my children saw on my calendar that they were coming they said, "We pray for them every single day, please ask if we can come with you to visit them!" My friend consented and two weeks ago all eight of us drove to their little Airbnb where they were staying. We visited and laughed together and then when it was time to go I said, "The kids want to pray for you before we go (I cleverly said "the kids"...who can say no to, "the kids" eh?)." They said they had the thought we would ask to do that and they consented. I then said, "We are a bit weird when we pray for others - we touch them while we pray. Maybe one person will touch an arm, the other a knee, a foot, or a hand. Just some part of you - are you okay with that?" They said that they had seen that in their mind before we came.

And so, there we all knelt or stood with our hands gently holding them in some way. I began the prayer and I invited my friends parent who had passed away two decades earlier. I asked the Lord if the parent could come and lay hands on them. I asked Jesus if He would lay hands on my friend and then I said that we wanted to do the Lord's will and that we really, really, really wanted our friend to be healed but that we would trust Him no matter the outcome. I expressed my love for this friend and I told the Lord how much I admired that this friend still believes in Him even though they can't feel Him during this time of alienating pain. That alone causes the heavens to marvel and rejoice.

After I prayed I concluded my portion of the blessing with, "In the name of Jesus Christ" but I didn't say, "Amen". I left it open. This is how our family prays in group prayers for others. Then we all stay quiet and whomever feels a push to pray, prays. It was humbling to listen to each child pray for our friend. Some of our kids hadn't seen my friend in many years and some of the kids never met them at all, yet they prayed with sincere tenderness for this friends healing and comfort and with love and admiration for the life they have lived. After all of us had prayed, the last person praying said, "Amen".

Leonard Ravenhill said, 

"No man is greater than his prayer life. The pastor who is not praying is playing; the people who are not praying are straying. We have many organizers, but few agonizers; many players and payers, few pray-ers; many singers, few clingers; lots of pastors, few wrestlers; many fears, few tears; much fashion, little passion; many interferers, few intercessors; many writers, but few fighters. Failing here, we fail everywhere.”

I encourage anyone reading this to consider increasing your prayers for others and asking others to pray for you. Even asking Jesus to pray for you (Luke 22:32). Ask them to lay hands on you - a shoulder, an arm, a knee, the feet, wherever you feel comfortable. Tell them the prayer doesn't have to be fancy or special. The most important part of the prayer is to invite the Lord to come and then just talk to Him like He's your friend. I used to pray "Thee", "Thou" and "Thine" but then it got so that I was trying to remember the "proper" words to use which distanced me from God. So now I pray "You". Try it sometime. It makes Him close and relatable. Even in our youngest child's prayer for my friend she said, "Bless (the friend) to be healed, if it's Your will. And help (them) to have a good day. And bless (them) to have an awesome dinner." You don't have to wax poetic for the heavens to be moved into action.

I listened to a YouTube of a former Satanist who was converted to Jesus. The person who changed this Satanists life was just a young college aged girl. The Lord told her to go to him and she decided she would go at 7am in the hopes that he would be asleep and then she could tell the Lord she tried to reach him - but no luck. But as fate would have it - he was awake and came out of his apartment to catch a flight. She only had to do the Lord's will, and the Lord did the rest. 

What did she do? She said his name. "James." He was instantly enraged. No one called him by his name. They called him "master". He kept walking and she said his name again. "James." He determined he would turn around and curse her and cause her to go blind or kill her. As he turned around to curse her he couldn't see her but he saw a pillar of light and in that light was a man (whom he later understood was Jesus) and just that man's glance disarmed him of all the dark forces he was in possession of - only by a glance of Jesus. Then he looks again and the pillar of light is gone, Jesus is gone, and only the girl remains. She approaches him and does what the spirit instructs her to do and she says four simple words and the man is forever transformed. She didn't have to do anything other than seek the Lords will and then do the Lords will and then a life was transformed. 

If you're interested in watching that conversion story the link is here. Trigger warning: it is a very, very difficult interview to listen to. The first half is extremely dark and the second half is very instructive. It is not an interview to listen to casually. Pray to know if it is something you need to know or if it is not for you at this time. For me, this video transformed my prayer life. I now pray more regularly and deeply than I ever prayed before. I knew prayer worked, but I didn't know just how much prayer worked until I saw the underbelly of the beast. Sometimes the only way I seem to learn is to see how ugly the other side is.

I share all this today to encourage you to think outside of the box. When you tell someone you will pray for them - do it! Even think about writing down your prayer and texting it to them. Think about asking them if you can touch their arm when you pray. I did this with an old neighbor of ours (who is now a bishop and still "in the box" so to speak). This neighbor came to Ryan for a blessing. We were inactive at that time so we were amazed he would ask a blessing from one who could be deemed as "unclean" or "unworthy". I asked if I could say a prayer before Ryan blessed him and he consented. I said, "I'm kind of a touchy person, do you mind if I hold your arm when I pray?" And he said it was okay. When the blessing was over he spoke of me giving him - not a prayer but, "When you blessed me...."

We do far less praying and blessing than we are capable of! 

A friend reminded me of the scripture that says to pray for more laborers in the vineyard (Matthew 9:38). Who are the laborers? To me - laborers are people who pray. We need an army of those who unite and labor in prayer. The world is groaning under the weight of sin (Romans 8:22). We must break the chains (Moses 7:26)! We all have spiritual iniquity that must be cleansed. Someone once taught me that when Christ came he forgave sins AND iniquities. Sin is our own - iniquity is generational sin. To be forgiven of iniquity is to purify a bloodline. Each of us needs our bloodlines purified. None of us likely come through a line of Saints. So pray for your bloodline to be cleansed and the bondage of iniquity to be broken. This is something I have only been learning recently so bare with me as I share what I am in the middle of right now. I'll elaborate.

My husband and I go for a walk together every morning and we take turns praying aloud while we walk. One morning two months ago Ryan was praying and as he prayed, out of nowhere, I saw a part of his bloodline and I saw a generational sin. I asked him to pause his prayer and I vocalized what I had seen and I said, "We should pray that this doesn't come upon our family." Ryan began to pray and asked for the Lord to break the iniquity in his bloodline so that it wouldn't pass onto our family.

Two days later one of my children said they had a dream that a person was placing treasure chests around our property but that when we opened them, there were bombs inside that were hurting our family. I try to take dreams seriously so when we went for our walk that morning I was vocalizing the prayer and I said, "Lord, (the child) had a dream and if there is anything dark, evil, or negative coming against our family at this time - please bless...." 

*BAM* 

Ryan went down to the ground and said, "I just broke my leg!"

What happened? Well, there was a random patch of ice where we were walking. Ryan stepped on it, noticed it was ice and went to move to safer ground. As he attempted to move his foot he felt a force come and push his chest, hard. This push caused him to twist and he broke his leg in the twist.

Coincidence?

Breaking bloodlines of iniquity may mean you suffer. It may mean that you physically have to pay a price. This is everywhere in the scriptures if you ask the Lord to show you. In the video I mentioned of the former Satanist, after he was converted to Jesus Christ he got very ill with Leukemia. After a year in the hospital and after he lost his ability to speak and lost his ability to see - he was taken home to die. As he laid in his bed his eyes suddenly could see and Jesus was standing in front of him. Jesus spoke and said, "I have healed you." The man responded, "From what?!" Jesus said, "From the rebellion of your bloodline."

Pray for the cleansing and purification of your bloodline. Learn to pray for your loved ones and your enemies. Touch when you pray, if you can. Practice praying for each other. My oldest son was asked to teach Young Mens even though we don't go to church. In his lesson he shared the trials and struggles he was having and asked each young man and leader to share theirs also. Then at the end of the lesson he personally prayed for each of them, by name, and the specific trials they were going through. He came back from that lesson and I asked, "How did it go?!" He said the young men and the leaders were crying. 

Oh Lord...what if we did that at church?! What if we truly prayed for each other, by name?! Writing a name on a piece of paper and dropping it in a box to be laid on an altar of a Temple isn't the true order of prayer. It just isn't! You must work out your salvation, and the salvation of others, in communion with the Lord. This takes time and effort and instruction. Ask the Lord to teach you to pray with the tongue of an angel.

From the Wild At Heart ministry:

"Teach us to pray!” The disciples had been watching Jesus for some time when they asked him this. They must have noticed his prayers had power; they worked.

Most folks don’t actually see a lot of results when they pray; they get discouraged and come to some terrible conclusions about their spiritual life or God’s heart towards them. We’ll be honest with you—some prayers work, others don’t, and there is a reason why.

Some prayers just happen; they are “the cry of the heart.” No training needed when it comes to this kind of prayer. We’ve uttered it thousands of times. Bet you have, too. Like when the phone rings and the bad news starts to spill and all you can do is say, Father…Father…Father, your heart crying out to God. It’s a good kind of prayer, rising from the deep places in us, often unbidden, always welcome to his loving ears.

But most people get stuck there, which is kind of like ending your education somewhere around fourth grade. There is more.

The other kind of prayer is far more intentional, where we take up sword and shield and start making an impact through strong, determined prayer. We call this kind “the prayer of intervention.” Meaning we are intervening. Men and women were meant to rule the earth, and though we royally screwed up our first pass at that, God didn’t switch to Plan B. He intervened in and through Jesus of Nazareth to restore us as sons and daughters and put us back in the action. “Rule and subdue” is still the mandate. When we pray “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth,” we are acting as agents with God to bring about change, to enforce his Kingdom.

Name one thing in your life you enjoy doing that didn’t take some time to learn. Reading, skiing, playing an instrument, driving a car—there was something to be learned before you could enjoy it. Prayer is like that, too.

If you want to watch a video that teaches a non-Mormony and very holy way of group prayer - watch this here.  

James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

a prayer:

Oh LORD...Make me righteous that my prayer availeth much. Forgive my sin. Forgive my unrighteousness. Bless us, your children, with an understanding of the law of heaven. Bless us to learn to pray and to seek you in prayer. Please send more laborers into the vineyard. Make me a worthy laborer. 

Bless us to awake and arise from our slumber of a thousand years. Bless your church to awake and arise and let your glory fill us, your Temple. We need more of you, Jesus. More of you, please. Reveal Yourself to us as we seek Your will. Where are the glimpses of you in this lone and dreary world? In the power and majesty of the waterfall? Are you Power and Majesty? In the fierceness of the mother bear protecting her cubs? Are you fierce for us? In the enchantment of the seashells and the healing of the sand and waves? Are you Enchanting and Healing? In the gems and rocks we search for and find with breathtaking joy? Are you Breathtaking? Are you Joy? Reveal yourself to us day and night. And teach us how to come to You. To be One with You. Raise us up. Raise up those who have an Eye Single to Your Glory. Raise us up, Lord!!! Holy is Your name. Endless is Your name. Majesty and Power are Your cloak and covering. In Your name we pray, Amen.

Please think about going in your holy place (a closet, a room, a quiet spot) and playing this song and just soaking in your love for the Lord.

So Will I

by

Hillsong Worship

https://youtu.be/GfVd5x9W1Xc?si=GJzpxkzFckky065s