Priesthood Blessings — A Thought

Not all blessings given by the authority of the Priesthood are for the same purpose, or have the same result, though all manifest the power of godliness.

Some are to show forth God’s power by an immediate, complete, dramatic healing:

• Increase faith in the Lord

• Build power in the priesthood

Some are to show forth God’s power by granting comfort and a sense of purpose in the suffering, without immediately ending the suffering:

• Consecrate the affliction to the sufferer’s gain 2 Nephi 2: 2

• Increase humility, sense of dependence on the Lord Alma 37: 36-37

When blessing the sick, the actual words that are spoken are less important than the anointing and the laying on of hands in the name of the Lord.

Other blessings of comfort and counsel, including fathers’ blessings (patriarchal), are more prophetic in nature, to declare the mind and will of the Lord, as the recipient and the minister are prepared and worthy.

Patriarchal blessings from an ordained Patriarch are to declare the lineage of the recipient within the house of Israel, and to give specific warnings, counsel, prophecy, blessings and admonitions which are only for the recipient to interpret.