Power In the Priesthood

This is the message I wrote in our quorum newsletter for April:

We all hold the priesthood of God and have been ordained to an office in that priesthood. As priesthood holders we have been given the authority to act in the name of Christ to build up the kingdom of God and to bless the lives of His children, but what about power in the priesthood? Contrary to popular belief, the term authority and power are not interchangeable when it comes to the priesthood. Authority is the right to do something, whereas power is the ability to actually do it.

Last year President Packer made it clear that we need to develop greater power when he said the following, “We have done very well at distributing the authority of the priesthood. We have priesthood authority planted nearly everywhere. But distributing the authority of the priesthood has raced, I think, ahead of distributing the power of the priesthood. The priesthood does not have the strength that it should have and will not have until the power of the priesthood is firmly fixed in the families as it should be.”

The question then is how can we develop maximum individual power in the priesthood? Elder John H Groberg taught clearly how this is to be accomplished saying that, “While the power of the priesthood is unlimited, our individual power in the priesthood is limited by our degree of righteousness or purity. Only purity of hand, heart, and mind will allow us to tap into the ultimate power of the priesthood to truly bless others.” Elder Groberg makes reference to keeping our hearts, minds and hands pure. In other words, we are to control our feelings, thoughts and actions. Exercising self control in this manner to comply with God’s requirements is known as obedience. Righteousness and purity is the destination, obedience is the vehicle that will take us there.

So why is it critical to develop this power? It is not simply to bless the lives of others as one might suppose, although that is a part of it. It is critical that we go through the process of developing this power, because that process is what will ultimately help us to become like our Father in Heaven. Elder Bruce R McConkie taught this profound principle back in 1982 when he said, ““What, then, is the doctrine of the priesthood? It is that we have power, by faith, to govern and control all things, both temporal and spiritual; to work miracles and perfect lives; to stand in the presence of God and be like him because we have gained his faith, his perfections, and his power, or in other words the fullness of his priesthood .” When we gain the fullness of the priesthood, we will have become like our Heavenly Father and our Savior.

The main obstacle to our own obedience and therefore our power is pride. Sometimes we may feel that direction from priesthood leaders or commandments do not apply to us, as King Saul once did. At other times we may decide that a calling or assignment isn’t important enough, thus displaying an attitude similar to that of Naaman the Syrian. Whatever the reason for our disobedience, we must repent of our mistakes and be strictly obedient if we are to become powerful in the priesthood.

Obedience doesn’t have to be drudgery either. In fact, it is only through obedience that we are able to find true happiness. Consider the words of King Benjamin when he said, “I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.”

Knowing our happiness and progress is the end result, let us cheerfully do all we can to be strictly obedient to the voice of the Lord, for as President Benson once taught, “when obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power.”