Do women realize the spiritual power they have access to as baptized members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Three addresses, given during the October 1984 Saturday afternoon session of conference, talk about the spiritual power that is available to us if we will only call for it.
“The Joy of the Penetrating Light”—F. Enzio Busche
“In the light of this Spirit within him, he sees the people of this world as they are—running around in their vanity, in their vain ambitions, and in their lack of awareness of the greatness of God and His plan of salvation.”
This describes many of us who can’t seem to separate the world out of us when we sit right smack in the middle of it. So many voices shouting, “Lo, here, Lo there!” is not an exaggeration. YET, when we commit ourselves to the gospel of Jesus Christ, and ask for His spirit to be with us (which we do every time we partake of the sacrament), from that point on, it is up to us to follow through with this desire and understand this spiritual power and truly ask for it to be a part of our lives.
“Spiritual Power” –Devere Harris
“We can each have access to those great spiritual blessings and that great power used by David and Moses—but there is a price to pay. Let me quote: ‘There are many called, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen? Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men, that they do not learn this one lesson—That the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven’ (D&C 121:34-36).
“Now, brothers and sisters, what were the powers of Heaven? They caused the lame to walk, the blind to see, the dead to rise. And through these same powers the earth was organized. But here is the key—the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness. The key, then, to the future and to the use of these spiritual blessings is personal righteousness.”
We read about miracles all the time in the scriptures, but do we believe in miracles today? Do we believe that through our righteousness we can perform miracles because of the spirit that comes through us? And I’m talking to women here, not men.
How many journals have we read, by the early sister Saints, of healings, speaking and singing in tongues, and manifestations of the spirit overflowing in Relief Society meetings? These women recognized the spiritual power given to them and their unified righteousness allowed them these never-to-be-forgotten testimonies that God lives and loves them.
“Protect the Spiritual Power Line”—Russell M. Nelson
His talk is a warning to us, to not do anything that cuts off our spiritual connection with God.
“Power, if misused, can cut into the very source of that power.”
He states that the unrighteous use of priesthood authority will sever our connection. Women need to understand that they can receive spiritual power because of the priesthood, and through the priesthood, on a very personal level. We all can receive spiritual power through prayer and personal righteousness.
Relief Society Sisters and Spiritual Power
In these talks, we learn that we must recognize that spiritual power exists and that we have full access to it. We also learn that spiritual power comes from personal righteousness, and unrighteousness to any degree will lessen the spiritual power we have access to.
There are sisters in our church who don’t understand spiritual power. They think it belongs only to the men. They couldn’t be more wrong. This power is given to anyone who demonstrates righteousness. Personal righteousness can be defined as choosing God and leaving the world behind. When we choose to live by the spirit, we will see its power through miracles.
As individuals, this is a wonderful thing. But as entire Relief Societies, this can be monumental.
Women are amazing. We really can do anything. And we like to be involved and make things happen. There are amazing women who join worldly causes, but as Elder Nelson said, “One can be anxiously engaged in a meaningless cause.” Make sure your cause centers upon Jesus Christ and His purposes, because that is the only worthwhile cause.
Many women are non-committal when it comes to getting involved outside of their homes and their families. Again, Elder Nelson points out, “An electrical appliance consumes power. The use of His spiritual power replenishes our power.” When we join the cause for Christ our spiritual power will actually increase and energize us and make it so much easier to accomplish the work of heaven, as we turn from the world.
Heavenly Father has called upon His daughters to gather Israel and He offers us all of His spiritual power to do it. These talks are great motivating talks to further our understanding so we can catch hold, cling, and continue (1 Ne. 8) to use this spiritual power for His righteous purposes.
Think of Deborah. There are prophetesses among us. We are the prophetesses.