“Faith is Power and Power is Priesthood”

Elder Bruce R. McConkie said this, “Faith and priesthood go hand in hand. Faith is power and power is priesthood. After we gain faith, we receive the priesthood. Then, through the priesthood, we grow in faith until, having all power, we become like our Lord“ (The Doctrine of the Priesthood, April 1982 General Conference). I have pondered the power of faith and how God rewards faith and what faith looks like.

At times, faith is exercised by following every command of God with exactness. In the Pearl of Great Price we read, “And he gave unto them commandments, that they should worship the Lord their God, and should offer the firstlings of their flocks, for an offering unto the Lord. And Adam was obedient unto the commandments of the Lord. And after many days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him: I know not, save the Lord commanded me” (Moses 5:5-6).

It is apparent that sometimes we are given commands from God that we may not totally understand, but as we follow in faith, God rewards us with power in Him as we obey in faith. We grow in priesthood power. As Elder McConkie said, “Faith is power and power is priesthood.” Any sacrifice we make to follow God ends up blessing us with power. 

Another way we exercise faith in Christ is to do many things of our own free will and bring to pass much righteousness. The revelation in Doctrine and Covenants 58 says this, “For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward. Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward” (Doctrine and Covenants 58:26-28).

We note that the “power is in them” as we use our agency to exercise faith in Christ. “Faith is power and power is priesthood.” When Nephi went forth to get the brass plates he knew the Lord wanted him to get the records but the Lord didn’t tell him how. So he exercised his faith by acting. He tried asking for them and then he tried to buy them. His brethren murmured and were discouraged but Nephi kept going in faith. I love the description of his faith as found in the Book of Mormon record. It reveals this great truth about using our agency to act in faith and then seeing the power of God manifest. It reads, “I, Nephi, crept into the city and went forth towards the house of Laban. And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do. Nevertheless I went forth...” (1 Nephi 5-7). He “crept” forward. “Went forth towards.” The way he writes is that looking back he could see that the Spirit had led him but in the moment he wasn’t given a command by God how to obtain the plates. As he “went forth” the Lord delivered Laban, the keeper of the record, and the record into Nephi’s hands. In fact, once Nephi creeps forth and finds Laban drunken, then the Lord gives him a direct command through His Spirit to slay Laban. Power was given as faith was exercised. I love the combination here. God lets us exercise our own best judgment as we use our minds and our hearts and rewards us if we are using our agency to act in faith. Power is given to those who act in faith and don’t sit and wait for God to tell them exactly what to do. 

I have noticed that a father holds the hands of a toddler learning to walk and leads them along, gently letting go of the toddlers hands. The toddler inevitably falls but after time, the toddler takes steps on his own. His father eventually trusts him enough to and the toddler trusts his father enough that neither one of them need to hold hands at all. The toddler can now walk. 

The closer we become to God, the less we need Him to hold our hands. Like Nephi, we are expected to exercise our faith in Him by going forth, not knowing beforehand the way which we should go. Some of my most crucial decisions in life I wanted so badly for the Lord to tell me what to do. In His wisdom and mercy He allowed me to move forward, without a complete understanding of His will for me. But, even though I didn’t feel a direct command from Him, I knew that as I moved forward and tried to live my life according to His commandments that He would bless me. I could pray for His help, even though I didn’t know if I was on a decreed course given to me by Him. I have seen His arm revealed as I have sought to do this. 

I have felt the paralyzing effect of fear in some of these decisions. Sometimes when we don’t know exactly what He would have us do, we pause on the edge of the precipice, completely paralyzed with the fear that we are going to do something out of line with His will. Elder Oaks taught that if we don’t receive an answer, we can trust that God trusts us enough to allow us to use our agency to move forward and He will bless us as we seek to stay close to Him while moving forward (I believe that is in his book, “The Lord’s Way”). “God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). I love that! As we act with a sound mind and heart in Christ He will always bless us with His power and light and fear will completely dissipate. He doesn’t dwell in fear or darkness, but rather in faith and light. In fact, when Moses feared he saw the bitterness of hell (Moses 1:20). We must choose to act in faith. Choosing to sit and stew in fear is a debilitating choice. I would suggest when we sit and stew and refuse to move forward, we are not trusting the Lord. If Nephi waited until the Lord told him how to get the plates, it appears that he would have never received the plates or the Lord would have eventually told him how and in the process Nephi would have decreased in his faith in Christ. By contrast, he learned that if he’d move forward in faith, God would deliver him through His power. “Faith is power and power is priesthood.” This set a pattern for his life. 

The scripture that spurred this post was in Alma 18:35. It reads, “And a portion of that Spirit dwelleth in me, which giveth me knowledge, and also power according to my faith and desires which are in God.”

If our desires are truly set on God and our actions show this, then we can know that God will bless us with His power. I testify that when we move forward in faith that God gives us power in Him. I have made decisions that felt right, not knowing exactly His will, but have seen Him open the heavens on my behalf. I have also moved forward, knowing His commands to do so, and have been blessed by His power, as well. And thus we grow in the priesthood as we act in faith in Christ, receive His power and grow in priesthood until eventually we become one with God. I’m so grateful for His grace as I stumble along. He perfectly knows how to do this with me and with all of us. Praise be to Father, our heavenly Friend. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Following the Prophet and Receiving the Gift of Prophecy

In Numbers 11 and 12 we receive some great, clarifying truths about receiving the gift of prophecy but also understanding the supreme role of the Prophet of the Lord, the presiding high priest.

In chapter 11 of Numbers it reads:

“And Moses went out, and told the people the words of the Lord, and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the tabernacle.
25 And the Lord came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease.
26 But there remained two of the men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the spirit rested upon them; and they were of them that were written, but went not out unto the tabernacle: and they prophesied in the camp.
27 And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp.
28 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them.
29 And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them!” (Numbers 11:24-29).

There are several other examples of scripture of the gifts of the spirit given to common people that have received the gift of the Holy Ghost. Samuel the Lamanite is another example. He was given the spirit of prophecy and was told by an angel to deliver the prophecy to the people of Zarahemla, who were in a different land. He obeyed, even though there was a prophet amongst them by the name of Nephi. For some reason the Lord wanted to send an additional witness to those people. In the record, those that believe Samuel go to Nephi to receive the ordinance of baptism (Helaman 16:1). It appears that Nephi is the presiding high priest in Zarahemla.

Now we get to Numbers 12 that helps us understand the balance in the common man or woman receiving the spirit of prophecy and the Prophet, capital “P,” receiving prophecy for the church. It reads:

“And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.
2 And they said, Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it.
3 (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)
4 And the Lord spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out.
5 And the Lord came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and cal, led Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth.
6 And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.
7 My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.
8 With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?
9 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them; and he departed.
10 And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.
11 And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned.
12 Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother’s womb.
13 And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee” (Numbers 12:1-13).

In verse 6 it seems to imply that the Lord will give visions and dreams to anyone filled with the spirit of prophecy. But, verses 7-8 clarify that the Lord’s presiding high priest Prophet, He will visit in person and speak to mouth to mouth.

So, Moses sheds marvelous light on the spirit of prophecy in these two chapters. We are to be filled with the spirit of prophecy as we receive the spiritual gift of the Holy Ghost, one of those gifts being the spirit of prophecy. But, we must never lose sight of who holds the keys to direct the whole church and who is a special witness of the Lord, Jesus Christ. We must always be humble to whom the Lord has appointed. Samuel was an example of this. He delivered his message and then let Nephi fulfill his role of providing the ordinances that he presided over.

Thanks be to God for the marvelous gifts of the spirit and for the gift of a living Prophet for the whole world!

A great talk to help someone understand little “p” prophets and big “P” Prophets is the talk, “Spiritual Gifts,” by Dallin H. Oaks, 1986.” https://www.lds.org/ensign/1986/09/spiritual-gifts?lang=eng