Faith to Receive

I wasn’t sick, I didn’t have a big project that I was working on, and I didn’t have any “real” reason to ask for a Priesthood blessing, but at the back of my mind was that whisper of the idea to ask for one. 

A day went by and in the middle of a conversation with my husband, before bed, I felt it again:

Ask for a Priesthood blessing.

I said a silent prayer and asked, “Heavenly Father, should I really be asking for a blessing right now? Sione is tired, it’s been a long day, and I don’t even feel like I need one. Is this an actual prompting or just a random thought that keeps popping up into my head?”

The next thought came instantly:

Even if this isn’t a prompting from the Spirit, asking for a blessing would only help. It wouldn’t hurt.

“But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God.”

Moroni 7:13

And so, before he could get too comfortable, I turned to my husband, Sione, and asked for a Priesthood blessing.

I knew it was one of the most inconvenient times for me to ask, but I gratefully watched as Sione paused his preparations for bed, took a moment to say a prayer to prepare himself, and then laid his hands upon my head.

What followed was a steady stream of counsel and specific answers to things I’d been praying about for months. There were many things I’d prayed about knowing that the answers would come in the Lord’s timing. That night was the night the Lord saw fit to extend the answers I’d been seeking. 

As I realized this, I expressed my gratitude for the faith to act on the thought and impression to ask for a blessing.

Tears streamed down my face as I gained clarity, even, on things I had been struggling to articulate and put into actual words in my silent prayers throughout that week. As I sat on the edge of the bed with my husband’s hands laid tenderly on my head, I was enveloped in my Savior’s love.

While answers to prayer and faithfully sought after personal revelation will always come, they come in the Lord’s timing and require our faith to receive them.

“Let us plead with the Lord to endow our mind and soul with the spark of faith that will enable us to receive and recognize the divine ministering of the Holy Spirit.”

Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Your Potential, Your Privilege

As we pray in faith and keep the commandments, personal revelation can come in many ways. Personal revelation can come through inspiration as we are going about our day, while we’re doing things like writing in a journal, serving someone, spending time in the scriptures, and more. It can also come as past experiences related to the answers we are seeking are brought to our recollection. 

As it was in this particular experience, sometimes seeking personal revelation requires us to heed promptings as we move forward in faith with an open heart.

“Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said?—If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you.”

1 Nephi 15:11

As we seek personal revelation and answers to our prayers, our continued faith is necessary to receive that revelation and those answers.

It had required faith to pray and faith to ask for a blessing. My husband’s faith was also needed to exercise his Priesthood in giving that blessing, especially having been given no advanced notice for what and why I was asking for one. Faith was again needed to open my heart to receive whatever counsel and instruction that would come from that blessing. It will take continued faith to act on the counsel and instructions that I was given that night and continued faith to act on any further promptings that come as a result.

It takes faith to receive.

The answers we seek will come in the Lord’s timing, and as we exercise our faith continually, we will be blessed to receive the understanding and light of Christ that personal revelation can bring into our lives. The light will come, illuminating our way, from one act of faith to the next.

Alana is a wife, podcaster, vlogger, storyteller, and life lesson enthusiast. 

One of her favorite things is seeing others find joy in the progress of life.

Alana set out to define joy and its principles after years of being asked for her secret to being so happy despite difficult circumstances.

She went on to identify 7 Principles of Joy and started defining joy as: the peace felt as we recognize God’s hands in our life, acknowledge the progress we are making in becoming like Him, and find meaningful ways to uplift those around us.

You can often find Alana with her husband Sione. Together they explore the Pacific Northwest and share life lessons from their adventures on their YouTube channel, the Recounting Life Lessons podcast, and their blog: sioneandalana.com

Alana currently resides in Washington State, USA, but frequently visits Utah and Hawaii.

You can connect with Alana on Instagram here and here, on YouTube, on her Podcast, or on her Website.