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teachings that we should pray always(D&C 90:24) and that all things shouldbe done in wisdom and order.2

II.

We know that the prayer of faith,uttered alone or in our homes orplaces of worship, can be effective toheal the sick. Many scriptures refer tothe power of faith in the healing of anindividual. The Apostle James taughtthat we should pray one for another,that ye may be healed, adding, theeffectual fervent prayer of a righteousman availeth much (James 5:16).When the woman who touched Jesuswas healed, He told her, Thy faithhath made thee whole (Matthew9:22).3 Similarly, the Book of Mormonteaches that the Lord worketh bypower, according to the faith of thechildren of men (Moroni 10:7).

A recent nationwide survey foundthat nearly 8 in 10 Americans believethat miracles still occur today as [they

did] in ancient times. A third of thosesurveyed said they had experiencedor witnessed a divine healing.4 ManyLatter-day Saints have experienced the

In these times of worldwide turmoil,more and more persons of faith areturning to the Lord for blessings of

comfort and healing. I wish to speakto this audience of priesthood holdersabout healing the sickby medicalscience, by prayers of faith, and bypriesthood blessings.

I.

Latter-day Saints believe in applyingthe best available scientific knowledgeand techniques. We use nutrition,exercise, and other practices to pre-serve health, and we enlist the help ofhealing practitioners, such as physi-cians and surgeons, to restore health.

The use of medical science is not atodds with our prayers of faith and ourreliance on priesthood blessings. Whena person requested a priesthood bless-ing, Brigham Young would ask, Have

you used any remedies? To those whosaid no because we wish the Elders tolay hands upon us, and we have faiththat we shall be healed, PresidentYoung replied: That is very inconsis-tent according to my faith. If we aresick, and ask the Lord to heal us, andto do all for us that is necessary to bedone, according to my understandingof the Gospel of salvation, I might aswell ask the Lord to cause my wheat

and corn to grow, without my plowingthe ground and casting in the seed. Itappears consistent to me to apply everyremedy that comes within the range ofmy knowledge, and [then] to ask myFather in Heaven . . . to sanctify thatapplication to the healing of my body.1

Of course we dont wait until allother methods are exhausted beforewe pray in faith or give priesthood

blessings for healing. In emergencies,prayers and blessings come first. Mostoften we pursue all efforts simulta-neously. This follows the scriptural

Healing the SickWe have this priesthood power, and we should all beprepared to use it properly.

PRIESTHOOD SESSION | April 3, 2010

By Elder Dallin H. Oaks

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

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power of faith in healing the sick. Wealso hear examples of this among peo-ple of faith in other churches. A Texasnewspaperman described such a mira-cle. When a five-year-old girl breathedwith difficulty and became feverish, herparents rushed her to the hospital. Bythe time she arrived there, her kidneysand lungs had shut down, her fever was107 degrees, and her body was brightred and covered with purple lesions.The doctors said she was dying of toxicshock syndrome, cause unknown. Asword spread to family and friends, God-fearing people began praying for her,and a special prayer service was held intheir Protestant congregation in Waco,Texas. Miraculously, she suddenlyreturned from the brink of death andwas released from the hospital in a littleover a week. Her grandfather wrote,She is living proof that God doesanswer prayers and work miracles.5

Truly, as the Book of Mormonteaches, God manifesteth himself

unto all those who believe in him, bythe power of the Holy Ghost; yea,unto every nation, kindred, tongue,and people, working mighty miracles. . . among the children of men accord-ing to their faith (2 Nephi 26:13).

III.

For this audienceadults whohold the Melchizedek Priesthood and

young men who will soon receivethis powerI will concentrate myremarks on healing blessings involvingthe power of the priesthood. We havethis priesthood power, and we shouldall be prepared to use it properly.Current increases in natural disastersand financial challenges show that wewill need this power even more in thefuture than in the past.

Many scriptures teach that the ser-vants of the Lord shall lay hands onthe sick, and they shall recover (Mark16:18).6 Miracles happen when theauthority of the priesthood is usedto bless the sick. I have experiencedthese miracles. As a boy and as a manI have seen healings as miraculous asany recorded in the scriptures, and sohave many of you.

There are five parts to the use ofpriesthood authority to bless the sick:(1) the anointing, (2) the sealing ofthe anointing, (3) faith, (4) the wordsof the blessing, and (5) the will of

the Lord.

Anointing

The Old Testament frequently men-tions anointing with oil as part of ablessing conferred by priesthoodauthority.7 Anointings were declared tobe for sanctification8 and perhaps canalso be seen as symbolic of the bless-ings to be poured out from heaven

as a result of this sacred act.In the New Testament we readthat Jesuss Apostles anointed withoil many that were sick, and healedthem (Mark 6:13). The book of Jamesteaches the role of anointing in connec-tion with the other elements in a heal-ing blessing by priesthood authority:

Is any sick among you? let him callfor the elders of the church; and letthem pray over him, anointing himwith oil in the name of the Lord:

And the prayer of faith shall savethe sick, and the Lord shall raise himup (James 5:1415).

Sealing the Anointing

When someone has been anointedby the authority of the MelchizedekPriesthood, the anointing is sealed bythat same authority. To seal somethingmeans to affirm it, to make it bindingfor its intended purpose. When eldersanoint a sick person and seal the anoint-ing, they open the windows of heaven

for the Lord to pour forth the blessingHe wills for the person afflicted.

President Brigham Young taught:When I lay hands on the sick, I expectthe healing power and influence ofGod to pass through me to the patient,and the disease to give way. . . . Whenwe are prepared, when we are holyvessels before the Lord, a stream ofpower from the Almighty can passthrough the tabernacle of the adminis-trator to the system of the patient, and

the sick are made whole.9

Although we know of many caseswhere persons blessed by priesthoodauthority have been healed, we rarelyrefer to these healings in public meet-ings because modern revelation cau-tions us not to boast [ourselves] ofthese things, neither speak thembefore the world; for these things aregiven unto you for your profit and forsalvation (D&C 84:73).

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Faith

Faith is essential for healing bythe powers of heaven. The Book ofMormon even teaches that if there beno faith among the children of menGod can do no miracle among them(Ether 12:12).10 In a notable talk onadministering to the sick, President

Spencer W. Kimball said: The needof faith is often underestimated. Theill one and the family often seem todepend wholly on the power of thepriesthood and the gift of healing thatthey hope the administering brethrenmay have, whereas the greater respon-sibility is with him who is blessed. . . .The major element is the faith of theindividual when that person is con-scious and accountable. Thy faith hathmade thee whole [Matthew 9:22] was

repeated so often by the Master that italmost became a chorus.11

President Kimball even suggestedthat too frequent administrations maybe an indication of lack of faith or ofthe ill one trying to pass the responsi-bility for faith development to the eld-ers rather than self. He told about afaithful sister who received a priest-hood blessing. When asked the nextday if she wished to be administered

to again, she replied: No, I have beenanointed and administered to. Theordinance has been performed. It isup to me now to claim my blessingthrough my faith.12

Words of Blessing

Another part of a priesthood bless-

ing is the words of blessing spoken bythe elder after he seals the anointing.These words can be very important,but their content is not essential andthey are not recorded on the recordsof the Church. In some priesthoodblessingslike a patriarchal blessingthe words spoken are the essence ofthe blessing. But in a healing blessingit is the other parts of the blessingthe anointing, the sealing, faith, andthe will of the Lordthat are the

essential elements.Ideally, the elder who officiateswill be so in tune with the Spirit of theLord that he will know and declare thewill of the Lord in the words of theblessing. Brigham Young taught priest-hood holders, It is your privilege andduty to live so that you know whenthe word of the Lord is spoken toyou and when the mind of the Lordis revealed to you.13 When that

happens, the spoken blessing is ful-filled literally and miraculously. Onsome choice occasions I have experi-enced that certainty of inspiration in ahealing blessing and have known thatwhat I was saying was the will of theLord. However, like most who officiatein healing blessings, I have often strug-

gled with uncertainty on the wordsI should say. For a variety of causes,every elder experiences increases anddecreases in his level of sensitivity tothe promptings of the Spirit. Everyelder who gives a blessing is subjectto influence by what he desires forthe person afflicted. Each of these andother mortal imperfections can influ-ence the words we speak.

Fortunately, the words spoken in ahealing blessing are not essential to its

healing effect. If faith is sufficient andif the Lord wills it, the afflicted personwill be healed or blessed whether theofficiator speaks those words or not.Conversely, if the officiator yields topersonal desire or inexperience andgives commands or words of blessingin excess of what the Lord chooses tobestow according to the faith of theindividual, those words will not befulfilled. Consequently, brethren, no

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elder should ever hesitate to partici-pate in a healing blessing because offear that he will not know what to say.The words spoken in a healing bless-ing can edify and energize the faith ofthose who hear them, but the effectof the blessing is dependent uponfaith and the Lords will, not upon

the words spoken by the elder whoofficiated.

Will of the Lord

Young men and older men, pleasetake special note of what I will saynow. As we exercise the undoubtedpower of the priesthood of God andas we treasure His promise that Hewill hear and answer the prayer offaith, we must always remember thatfaith and the healing power of the

priesthood cannot produce a resultcontrary to the will of Him whosepriesthood it is. This principle istaught in the revelation directing thatthe elders of the Church shall lay theirhands upon the sick. The Lords prom-ise is that he that hath faith in me tobe healed, and is not appointed untodeath, shall be healed (D&C 42:48;emphasis added). Similarly, in anothermodern revelation the Lord declares

that when one asketh according tothe will of God . . . it is done even ashe asketh (D&C 46:30).14

From all of this we learn that eventhe servants of the Lord, exercising Hisdivine power in a circumstance wherethere is sufficient faith to be healed,cannot give a priesthood blessing that

will cause a person to be healed if thathealing is not the will of the Lord.

As children of God, knowing of Hisgreat love and His ultimate knowledgeof what is best for our eternal welfare,we trust in Him. The first principle ofthe gospel is faith in the Lord JesusChrist, and faith means trust. I felt thattrust in a talk my cousin gave at thefuneral of a teenage girl who had diedof a serious illness. He spoke thesewords, which first astonished me and

then edified me: I know it was thewill of the Lord that she die. She hadgood medical care. She was givenpriesthood blessings. Her name wason the prayer roll in the temple. Shewas the subject of hundreds of prayersfor her restoration to health. And Iknow that there is enough faith inthis family that she would have beenhealed unless it was the will of theLord to take her home at this time.

I felt that same trust in the words ofthe father of another choice girl whoselife was taken by cancer in her teenyears. He declared, Our familys faithis in Jesus Christ and is not dependenton outcomes. Those teachings ringtrue to me. We do all that we can forthe healing of a loved one, and thenwe trust in the Lord for the outcome.

I testify of the power of the priest-hood of God, of the power of theprayer of faith, and of the truth ofthese principles. Most of all, I testify ofthe Lord Jesus Christ, whose servantswe are, whose Resurrection gives usthe assurance of immortality, andwhose Atonement gives us the oppor-tunity for eternal life, the greatest of allthe gifts of God, in the name of JesusChrist, amen.I

NOTES

1. Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A.Widtsoe (1954), 163.

2. See Mosiah 4:27.3. See also Mark 10:4652; Luke 18:3543.

4. U.S. Religious Landscape Survey: ReligiousBeliefs and Practices: Diverse andPolitically Relevant(The Pew Forum onReligion and Public Life, June 2008), 34, 54,http://religions.pewforum.org/reports#.

5. See Steve Blow, Sometimes, Miracles AreJust That, Dallas Morning News, Jan. 30,2000, 31A.

6. See also Matthew 9:18; Mark 5:23; 6:5;7:3235; 16:18; Luke 4:40; Acts 9:12, 17;28:8; Doctrine and Covenants 42:44, 48;66:9.

7. See, for example, Exodus 28:41; 1 Samuel10:1; 16:13; 2 Samuel 5:3.

8. See Leviticus 8:1012.9. Teachings of Presidents of the Church:

Brigham Young(1997), 252; see alsoRussell M. Nelson, Neither Trust in the Armof Flesh, Liahona, Mar. 2010, 40; Ensign,Mar. 2010, 24; Teachings of Gordon B.Hinckley (1997), 474.

10. See also 1 Nephi 7:12; Doctrine andCovenants 35:9.

11. President Kimball Speaks Out onAdministration to the Sick, Tambuli, Aug.1982, 3637; New Era, Oct. 1981, 47.

12. Tambuli, Aug. 1982, 36; New Era, Oct.1981, 4647.

13. Teachings: Brigham Young, 68.14. See also 1 John 5:14; Helaman 10:5.

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