Teryl Givens on Spiritual Gifts....

[Nofear]

Sure, we can say that everyone God wants to get better will be healed, and everyone He doesn't won't.

The question is what role fasting, prayer, prayer rolls, Priesthood blessings etc. have on determining which category they'll be in.

As far as I see it, God always acts in our best interest (potentially mitigated by the best interests of others). These activities have the potential to help a healing to be in our (individual/collective) best interest.

[Hamba Tuhan]

Maybe I'm not familiar enough with what used to happen in the past, but my first inclination is to disagree. As a member of the Church, I have personally experienced every single Gift of the Spirit listed in the seventh Article of Faith--inluding, for Cinepro's sake, restoring sight to a man whose optic nerves had been destroyed and who competent medical authorities therefore said would never see again--not to mention several others. For me, one of the major appeals of 'Mormonism' has always been its overtly 'charismatic' nature.

[Hamba Tuhan]

Sure, we can say that everyone God wants to get better will be healed, and everyone He doesn't won't.

The question is what role fasting, prayer, prayer rolls, Priesthood blessings etc. have on determining which category they'll be in.

I don't think it's about determining which category a person will be in. In fact, I think you are asking the wrong questions full-stop. It really is about the blessings which stem from aligning ourselves with the will of God. I'll attempt to illustrate by sharing a very personal experience.

As a fulltime missionary, I was asked by a woman whom I had earlier taught to give a blessing to her grandfather, who was sick in hospital with a systemic infection which was attacking his organs. She was the only member in her large family, but she had got one elder sister to agree to the blessing, and she felt this was enough in order to proceed. The grandfather had been transported to a hospital about 400km from where most of the family lived (but in the same city where I was then serving), so this recent convert rang on a Thursday to ask about the blessing, but she and her elder sister could only make it up after work the following day. That gave my companion and me approximately 24 hours to prepare, and we did everything in our power to do so. We immediately began a fast. We prayed throughout the following day. And so forth.

When the two sisters finally arrived at our flat Friday evening to pick us up, I felt more filled with faith than I think I had ever felt before. I was completely confident that we would see a miracle. And, to be perfectly honest, I really, really wanted a certain miracle. With the exception of the grandfather, who had always been quietly supportive, this family had mostly given their now-Mormon daughter nothing but grief over her conversion. I was convinced that, if my companion and I could lay our hands on the grandfather's head and command him to arise and walk, so to speak, that the rest of the family could be 'won over.' It was this that I wanted, and it was precisely this which I was prepared to do.

In fact, I was so committed to this particular course of action that it caused problems a short time later. My companion had anointed the unconscious grandfather, and I then laid my hands on his head to seal the anointing, planning to command him to be made whole instantly. I still can't explain, even to myself, the exact nature of what happened next, but I immediately 'saw' that the man was going to die. I use the word saw, but it was actually somehow more than that. I somehow understood exactly when he was going to die. It was all so clear to me that I never doubted the information which I had been given, and that left me literally speechless because I had no idea what kind of blessing I was supposed to give to man who had been sealed up to death.

The silence was sufficiently awkward that my companion began drumming his fingertips on the backs of my hands in order to urge me to proceed. Inside, I was praying like mad. Nothing came. On our way to hospital, though, we had been told that the grandfather had been in extreme pain and was on a morphine drip, so I asked if could say something about that, and immediately I felt assurance that I could, so I started the blessing and promised this man that his physical pain would be removed from him during the short time he had left to live and that he would pass away peacefully surrounded by his family.

When the four of us stepped out into the hallway afterward, the non-member sister said, 'What the hell was that?!? I thought you were going to heal him.'

I explained the best I could that it was not God's will for him to be healed and therefore I couldn't provide that particular blessing. Amazingly, she seemed to accept this explanation, and then, out of the blue, she asked, 'When is he going to die?' Normally, of course, a question like that would have either panicked me or left me shrugging my shoulders, but this time I didn't have to do either. I told both women which day their grandfather would pass away, and I encouraged them to get the rest of the family to drive up so that they could be there for his passing.

Again amazingly, they did so. The following week, on the designated day, the grandfather passed away quietly in hospital, surrounded by his family. We were later told that the medical staff had removed the morphine drip from him the previous Friday night after we'd left since he was no longer writhing in pain as he been up to that point in time.

Now, would this man have died on the same day without the blessing? Yes. I can see no reason why he wouldn't have. The blessing had no impact whatsoever on the Lord's plan for the end of his life. So what was the role of a priesthood blessing? Well, it provided immense blessings of peace and comfort for everyone involved. It let the family know what to expect. It got them to a distant hospital on the very day they needed to be there. The dying man, as I mentioned before, was unconscious, whatever that means, so I'm unsure whether he had any way of knowing his family was with him or not, but it was without doubt of great peace to the family members themselves to be there. The blessing also seems to have alleviated some of the suffering the person who received the ordinance was experiencing, and that once again had been a comfort to his family, knowing--and actually seeing--that he had died quietly and peacefully instead of writhing in agony.

At the same time, the Lord in His infinite wisdom, saw to it that my desire did not go entirely unrealised as well. Until today (I talked to this sister just a short time ago), no other member of the family has joined the Church, but their attitude toward their daughter/sister/sister-in-law and her new faith immediately improved. They completely ceased mocking her and her decision. In fact, they have become classic non-member defenders of 'Mormonism,' standing up for it whenever it is disparaged around them.

Again, the role of fasting, prayer, prayer rolls, priesthood blessings, etc. is not to change the will of God; it is to provide us access to all of the consequent blessings which come when we align ourselves with the will of God.

[Nathair/|\]

I don't think it's about determining which category a person will be in. In fact, I think you are asking the wrong questions full-stop. It really is about the blessings which stem from aligning ourselves with the will of God. I'll attempt to illustrate by sharing a very personal experience.

As a fulltime missionary, I was asked by a woman whom I had earlier taught to give a blessing to her grandfather, who was sick in hospital with a systemic infection which was attacking his organs. She was the only member in her large family, but she had got one elder sister to agree to the blessing, and she felt this was enough in order to proceed. The grandfather had been transported to a hospital about 400km from where most of the family lived (but in the same city where I was then serving), so this recent convert rang on a Thursday to ask about the blessing, but she and her elder sister could only make it up after work the following day. That gave my companion and me approximately 24 hours to prepare, and we did everything in our power to do so. We immediately began a fast. We prayed throughout the following day. And so forth.

When the two sisters finally arrived at our flat Friday evening to pick us up, I felt more filled with faith than I think I had ever felt before. I was completely confident that we would see a miracle. And, to be perfectly honest, I really, really wanted a certain miracle. With the exception of the grandfather, who had always been quietly supportive, this family had mostly given their now-Mormon daughter nothing but grief over her conversion. I was convinced that, if my companion and I could lay our hands on the grandfather's head and command him to arise and walk, so to speak, that the rest of the family could be 'won over.' It was this that I wanted, and it was precisely this which I was prepared to do.

In fact, I was so committed to this particular course of action that it caused problems a short time later. My companion had anointed the unconscious grandfather, and I then laid my hands on his head to seal the anointing, planning to command him to be made whole instantly. I still can't explain, even to myself, the exact nature of what happened next, but I immediately 'saw' that the man was going to die. I use the word saw, but it was actually somehow more than that. I somehow understood exactly when he was going to die. It was all so clear to me that I never doubted the information which I had been given, and that left me literally speechless because I had no idea what kind of blessing I was supposed to give to man who had been sealed up to death.

The silence was sufficiently awkward that my companion began drumming his fingertips on the backs of my hands in order to urge me to proceed. Inside, I was praying like mad. Nothing came. On our way to hospital, though, we had been told that the grandfather had been in extreme pain and was on a morphine drip, so I asked if could say something about that, and immediately I felt assurance that I could, so I started the blessing and promised this man that his physical pain would be removed from him during the short time he had left to live and that he would pass away peacefully surrounded by his family.

When the four of us stepped out into the hallway afterward, the non-member sister said, 'What the hell was that?!? I thought you were going to heal him.'

I explained the best I could that it was not God's will for him to be healed and therefore I couldn't provide that particular blessing. Amazingly, she seemed to accept this explanation, and then, out of the blue, she asked, 'When is he going to die?' Normally, of course, a question like that would have either panicked me or left me shrugging my shoulders, but this time I didn't have to do either. I told both women which day their grandfather would pass away, and I encouraged them to get the rest of the family to drive up so that they could be there for his passing.

Again amazingly, they did so. The following week, on the designated day, the grandfather passed away quietly in hospital, surrounded by his family. We were later told that the medical staff had removed the morphine drip from him the previous Friday night after we'd left since he was no longer writhing in pain as he been up to that point in time.

Now, would this man have died on the same day without the blessing? Yes. I can see no reason why he wouldn't have. The blessing had no impact whatsoever on the Lord's plan for the end of his life. So what was the role of a priesthood blessing? Well, it provided immense blessings of peace and comfort for everyone involved. It let the family know what to expect. It got them to a distant hospital on the very day they needed to be there. The dying man, as I mentioned before, was unconscious, whatever that means, so I'm unsure whether he had any way of knowing his family was with him or not, but it was without doubt of great peace to the family members themselves to be there. The blessing also seems to have alleviated some of the suffering the person who received the ordinance was experiencing, and that once again had been a comfort to his family, knowing--and actually seeing--that he had died quietly and peacefully instead of writhing in agony.

At the same time, the Lord in His infinite wisdom, saw to it that my desire did not go entirely unrealised as well. Until today (I talked to this sister just a short time ago), no other member of the family has joined the Church, but their attitude toward their daughter/sister/sister-in-law and her new faith immediately improved. They completely ceased mocking her and her decision. In fact, they have become classic non-member defenders of 'Mormonism,' standing up for it whenever it is disparaged around them.

Again, the role of fasting, prayer, prayer rolls, priesthood blessings, etc. is not to change the will of God; it is to provide us access to all of the consequent blessings which come when we align ourselves with the will of God.

Thank you for sharing this.

Yours under the inspired oaks,

Nathair /|\

[yesucan2]

Years ago, I had a friend serve as a sign-language interpreter at a Temple Dedication. They were given a good seat in the Celestial Room along with a dozen hearing-impaired attendees. I didn't say anything, but I wondered if any of them felt any frustration between their faith that the Prophet and Apostles seated just a few yards away from them had the power to heal them, and the surety on some level of knowing it wasn't going to happen.

Responsibility attends holding the priesthood. When we bless someone, do we say whatever we want or do we listen to the spirit? Did Christ heal every deaf or blind person he came in contact with? Something to consider.

Edit: I guess I should have read the post immediately above first.

[yesucan2]

I also think of how there is no shortage of various accounts that are either miraculous or unexplainable around the church that we may discount because they are not officially documented or maybe they happened to someone who is not a recognized leader in the Church, yet they still have a ring of truth about them.

For instance, how many times have we heard stories like this story I heard from a very bright man who was a lead engineer for McDonnel Douglas for many years. He explained to me that when he was on his mission in England there were street meetings where anyone could talk, but the flip side of that was that there were always hecklers. On this day, he and his companion were trying to talk, but the heckling was especially bad. A well dressed man in a suit walked up and said, "It looks like you boys could use some help". He took over for a few minutes and spoke of Christ. He told me that, when the man was speaking, the spirit was so thick that you could practically cut it with a knife and the heckling completely stopped. Then the man told the crowd that the missionaries had a message for them and for them to listen. Then he walked away and headed down the street. The missionaries wanted to know who he was so they hurried up and finished and followed the man down the street and watched him as he turned the corner. Shortly after, the missionaries also turned the corner, but the man was gone.

I wonder; how often do miraculous events happen to us and we don't recognize it?

Or...

Could there be times that we may be in the presence of beings that are not mortal, and we completely do not pick up on the fact?

[Lamanite]

Wake me up when Jesus visits the Prophet and he then feels inclined to share the event with us.

It's a telling sign that if someone stands up in Church and says they have seen an angel, had a dream, witnessed someone receive sight, I start squirming in my seat hoping that this person remembered his/her Zyprexa that morning. It's not like the good ol days.

Matthew Cowley seems to be the last guy willing to just go out there and perform miracles in the the name of God and pull it off! I love his willingness to trust in the Lord, I love his faith, and I love his kindness in sharing it with those of us who like a sign or two now and again.

Big UP!

Lamanite