Priesthood blessings are meant to be sacred moments of healing, comfort, and direction. However, many members struggle to reach out and ask for help in times of need. This is especially true of those with mental illnesses, such as anxiety or depression. Shame can make it extremely hard to trust others and be vulnerable.
If you find it hard to ask for priesthood blessings, consider how these following suggestions might bolster your strength and give you courage.
Go Through a Loved One
The key to asking for help is to feel safe. When we are asking for priesthood blessings, we are often sharing a deeply personal struggle or trial. If you don’t have a priesthood holder you feel safe talking to, consider talking to someone else you do trust. Express your desire to have a priesthood blessing and ask if they know anyone who would be willing to help.
Copy & Paste
Sometimes the struggle is just finding the right words. You may find you have more courage if you take some time to write down your request and keep it in your phone. You’ll be able to choose the perfect words you are most comfortable with, and then you can just copy and paste them in a text the moment you find the strength to send it out.
Write Down Your Struggles
Scarier than asking for a priesthood blessing is describing what we a need a blessing for. Sometimes, we manage to get a blessing but end up leaving most of the truth of our struggles out when our priesthood holders ask us what is wrong. The truth of our pain just doesn’t come out.
Write down your struggles in a way you would feel comfortable expressing them to your priesthood holder. You can bring it with you, or just practice saying the words. The more you say them out loud, the more confidence you’ll gain.
Positive Truth Statements
Shame tells us we aren’t worthy of help. We don’t want to be exposed to someone else. The culture of the church can often be perfectionistic. Instead of letting these voices weigh you down, try to hold onto positive truth statements.
These can include the ideas that you are not weak by asking for help, that you are not bothering priesthood holders, that your priesthood holders aren’t judging you, and that God wants to talk with you and be with you.
It may take some time to internalize and begin to believe these things, but God can help these truths grow beautifully if we will plant them.
Schedule It
Making a schedule may help you become more comfortable with priesthood blessings. These blessings can be for less intense situations, such as a blessing on your birthday, at the start of a school year, or once a month when your home teacher comes to visit you.
While we can definitely abuse the availability of priesthood blessings and we never want to get one flippantly, finding some consistency can raise our comfort level.
Build Comfortable Priesthood Relationships
At the heart of a priesthood blessing is the idea that we can trust and be safe with our priesthood holder. We trust them to act as a conduit for Heavenly Father. Many people, especially women, who have been abused, mistreated, or left without a righteous priesthood holder find it hard to be comfortable with men.
Do all you can to study the purpose of the priesthood. Work to build relationships with worthy priesthood holders. Find those you can trust and turn to. Pray that God will open your eyes to see those who are in your life and full of willingness to help.
If you’ve struggled with asking for a priesthood blessing, what has helped you?
Other Article In This Series:
- How to Enjoy Church If You Have Anxiety
- How to Enjoy the Temple If You Have Anxiety
- How to Enjoy Visiting Teaching If You Have Anxiety
