As Pertaining to Blessings

[CommanderSouth]

I have had the privilege of giving my father and my uncle blessing this week while visiting in Florida, neither of them are members and the one thing I noticed was I got almost no promptings and everything was very dark in my mind, vs when my wife asks for a blessing and promptings and thoughts seem to flow.

Is this just me or has anyone else noticed anything like this?

[person0]

If the person receiving the blessing does not have the faith to believe that it will proceed from the inspiration of the Lord, He may withhold said inspiration.  I have not personally had this experience but could certainly imagine it happening.  It is the person receiving a blessing just as much as it is the priesthood holder giving one.  I would presume it has nothing to do with being a member or not, more to do with casting pearls before swine.

Additionally, the Lord may not need to provide specific flowing inspiration at times when our own thoughts and knowledge already grant the correct revelation and answers the person needs. In this case He might provide a stupor of thought or an impression to not speak ideas that are false. I feel you can take confidence in what you say until such occurs, so long as you are constantly paying attention to the influence of the Spirit throughout the entire blessing.

Personally, I have started blessings with long pauses as I awaited specific inspiration.  If I don't get any immediate promptings for a while, I start by proclaiming truths such as the individuals identity as a child of God, and declare only accurate gospel truth's until inspiration begins to flow.  It has always come, I have never experienced a 100% inspiration blank during a blessing; if I were to experience one, I believe I would simply close the blessing.

Edited August 3, 2017 by person0

[Fether]

Sometimes the spiritual advice needed to aid another is something that you already know and do not need direct inspiration. but rather consider the needs of the individual and counsel them using already revealed methods. I've done that a few times and things have so far seemed to turn out well

[mordorbund]

6 hours ago, CommanderSouth said:

I have had the privilege of giving my father and my uncle blessing this week while visiting in Florida, neither of them are members and the one thing I noticed was I got almost no promptings and everything was very dark in my mind, vs when my wife asks for a blessing and promptings and thoughts seem to flow.

Is this just me or has anyone else noticed anything like this?

I don't have anything to say about the revelatory experience when giving blessings (except maybe to refer you to Elder Oaks' talk on the subject), but I'll share a practice that I do when a non-member or recent convert receives a blessing of healing. I show them James 5:14-15

Quote

Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

Congratulations. You've had a New Testament experience.

[Guest]

Yes.

[CommanderSouth]

I spoke to my wife about it too, we thought about the possibility that the person receiving it was simply going through the motions for my sake, which would indicate (seemingly) a lack of faith in the process.