Too Many Blessings?


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Years ago a friend of mine told me that when she had her baby and couldn't take medication for her bipolar disorder, she needed a blessing every day for months - a blessing of comfort. Another friend thought this was excessive.

Can a person ask for too many blessings? I didn't see anything wrong with her asking for one every day if she really needed one. What do you think?

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Years ago a friend of mine told me that when she had her baby and couldn't take medication for her bipolar disorder, she needed a blessing every day for months - a blessing of comfort. Another friend thought this was excessive.

Can a person ask for too many blessings? I didn't see anything wrong with her asking for one every day if she really needed one. What do you think?

I dont think. I know its ok. A lot of times someone needs spiritual refreshing because of stress and the influences it

brings upon us, it causes emotional weakness and we seem to loose our spiritual assuradness, negative thoughts

start to come e.t.c....Its always a good to get a strong blessing if and whenever we need it.

:mellow:

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Years ago a friend of mine told me that when she had her baby and couldn't take medication for her bipolar disorder, she needed a blessing every day for months - a blessing of comfort. Another friend thought this was excessive.

Can a person ask for too many blessings? I didn't see anything wrong with her asking for one every day if she really needed one. What do you think?

I think you can't ask for enough blessings. I was asking for blessings about every other day shortly after I left my first husband. I was okay at work and with Church members - but after I got home, it seem like the spirit couldn't depart fast enough.

The Sister Missionaries lived down the street from me and I saw them out on their bicycles getting ready to go tracting, so I went out and asked them if Mormons did blessings or exorcisms of homes? They said blessing yes - to call the Branch President and tell him why I think my home needed to be exorcised.

I did - and the Branch Presidency was over in half an hour. This was not the home I shared with my ex, but there was still unfriendly spirits there. After giving me a blessing, they blessed and dedicated my home. From then on I made sure that in my daily prayers to Father, I asked that He protect me, and to shield my home from the adversary.

I am remarried and we are living in my husbands home. For six years his addict brother lived here - the horrible things he did in the name of his drugs still affects this home. We have to have daily prayers to drive the evil from this house. If we allow ourselves to feed into the contention and negativity - then the evil comes back. Then we need to call on the big guns - The Suits! We both get dressed in our Sunday best, we fast the day before and on that day - and my dear husband calls on the priesthood keys that he has been endowed with, and on our Home Teachers to come and pray with us.

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This is interesting to me... i sometimes get sick of my MIL asking my husband for blessings. Most of them say exactly the same thing. What comfort is there in redundancy? What difference is there between a blessing given yesterday and one given today? I'm not saying that the priesthood can be overused... but i dont think people should keep asking for blessings for these reasons

1) getting blessings until they get the answers that THEY want

2) The priesthood is sacred and we should spend a few days contemplating what each blessing means, not getting another one the next day

I think there are other ways to receive comfort that you can do everyday. Praying, Reading scriptures, obviously, also fasting, paying tithing and fast offereings, going to the temple as much as possible, putting your name on the temple prayer roll. Re-reading your patriachal blessing, readin the ensign, or other uplifting books and magazines.

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After my husband passed away, I sold the home we had built and moved into my little cottage... I called upon the priesthood to come and bless and dedicate my home... and I cannot tell you the comfort and sweet spirit I feel here. It is my little haven...

I also marked the bounds of my property and "consecrated" it through prayer, to the Lord...

The Garden Girl

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  • 2 weeks later...

Blessings should not be given like medication. A blessing, whether for comfort or healing, works only by the faith of the person receiving the blessing, and always according to the Lord's will. Receiving a daily blessing by the laying on of hands, to me, shows impatience and lack of trust in the Lord. Let the Lord help you, but it's on His terms only, not yours.

Yes it's excessive.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Blessings should not be given like medication. A blessing, whether for comfort or healing, works only by the faith of the person receiving the blessing, and always according to the Lord's will. Receiving a daily blessing by the laying on of hands, to me, shows impatience and lack of trust in the Lord. Let the Lord help you, but it's on His terms only, not yours.

Yes it's excessive.

I agree. If a priesthood blessing is given on a specific problem, asking for another blessing for the same problem the next day shows lack of faith. Prayer mixed with faith is very powerful.

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In my experience most people who request endless blessings are relying on others, not on God. I think the best counsel would be for them to pray on their own for further comfort.

Saul had his failings but he still tried to hold on to a connection to God through Samuel. This got so bad that once Samuel was dead Saul tried to summon him from the dead rather than pray to God.

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In my experience most people who request endless blessings are relying on others, not on God. I think the best counsel would be for them to pray on their own for further comfort.

Saul had his failings but he still tried to hold on to a connection to God through Samuel. This got so bad that once Samuel was dead Saul tried to summon him from the dead rather than pray to God.

I agree that once the initial blessing is given they need to sit on that blessing and pray for comfort.

f4k

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I believe that those who are ordained unto His Holy Priesthood are bound to exercise it on behalf of those who ASK. Therefore, those who feel a need to call upon the Elders of His church in NEED of a blessing for "anything" will receive their request.

I have never seen any doctrine upon how many times a person may ask the Lord for his blessings? What a covenant these faithful men take upon themselves as they walk with the Master.

Ask and it shall be given...

How that comes to those who ask is not known to those of us who may be "looking" upon these situations from the outside, for we cannot judge the HEART of any individual, regardless of what we THINK we know. Personally, if something does not work for me, I stop buying it.

Faith is what is required, if only that of a grain of mustard. For some, that may literally be all that they have, and for them daily a blessing becomes manna unto life.

When ye have done it unto one the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. I believe we are speaking of the poor in spirit, health, means, knowledge, etc...

So when we give of ourselves to the least deserving of our time, who may least lack the ability to receive our offering... to the Savior this is as if it were giving unto Him.

He came unto his own and they received Him not... how much this must have hurt as evidence in the record of Third Nephi.

tdmg,

gVr

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I think sometimes people use blessings as a "lazy" way of recieving answers to prayer... When we pray, we need to listen carefully to hear the still small voice, and to hear what answers Father will give us... Some people think, why work so hard, when you can simply get a blessing and get the same answers, without as much work...

I knew a woman in my Ward who got a Priesthood blessing for "comfort and council" at least 4 or 5 times a week, on an ongoing bassis... She would call a different Brother each time, so people wouldn't realize how many times she was calling on the Bretheren... (She actually told me that, not my guess)... And then she would go off and tell everyone who would listen all about what each blessing said, and would quote them like they were scripture or doctrine... I never had a conversation with her that did not include a quote from her blessings... It made me feel a little sad for her.... I kept thinking, with a little more faith, and perhaps some scripture reading, she might have been more richly blessed....

Just my 2 Cents....

Silver Girl

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I was reading somewhere that for a blessing of healing, you annoint with oil the first time. For any blessing after that for the same problem, it should be a blessing of comfort. Last year I had a devastating experience and I hurried to my friend's house for a blessing when prayer couldn't calm me down. I would pray every day for help through this trial and then a setback would happen and I was overcome with grief or anxiety again. Several times I asked for blessings and they were very helpful. Then I worked with a counselor and she taught me how to deal with the situation. I was able to calm myself down so the Spirit could help me. There are times when I need a blessing for that added comfort, like when I become pregnant. I get a little overwhelmed by the heavy responsibility and worries.

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I was reading somewhere that for a blessing of healing, you annoint with oil the first time. For any blessing after that for the same problem, it should be a blessing of comfort. Last year I had a devastating experience and I hurried to my friend's house for a blessing when prayer couldn't calm me down. I would pray every day for help through this trial and then a setback would happen and I was overcome with grief or anxiety again. Several times I asked for blessings and they were very helpful. Then I worked with a counselor and she taught me how to deal with the situation. I was able to calm myself down so the Spirit could help me. There are times when I need a blessing for that added comfort, like when I become pregnant. I get a little overwhelmed by the heavy responsibility and worries.

But, it sounds like this was on a temporary basis, and not on an ongoing basis... I don't see anything wrong with that... The sister I was speaking of did the "get a blessing 5 times a week" thing for YEARS....

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But, it sounds like this was on a temporary basis, and not on an ongoing basis... I don't see anything wrong with that... The sister I was speaking of did the "get a blessing 5 times a week" thing for YEARS....

Yeah, I mentioned a sister earlier who got one every day when she had postpartum depression and couldn't take her medictation. It does seem excessive. But maybe it helped her be a better mom to her kids during that time.

Edited to add: I was responding to the thread in general. I just read your post and yeah, that lady was acting pretty strange! :)

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Yeah, I mentioned a sister earlier who got one every day when she had postpartum depression and couldn't take her medictation. It does seem excessive. But maybe it helped her be a better mom to her kids during that time.

Edited to add: I was responding to the thread in general. I just read your post and yeah, that lady was acting pretty strange! :)

She was strange, but she was a "nice" strange!! LOL ;)

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A few months ago I was going through a personal crisis (dealing with abuse issues) and I asked my home teacher for a blessing. He came over and told me that he had heard that I had received a blessing a week before. He said his mission president told him that a blessing was good for a month and that therefore he wouldn't give me one. He did, however, encourage me to pray (something which I hadn't done regularly for a LONG time--due to my perfectionistic tendencies, I had given up on my prayers because I didn't think they were long enough or eloquent enough and that therefore the Lord wouldn't listen).

While I am grateful that my HT helped me get back to saying my prayers again, and on a more effective level than before, I don't agree with the bit about a blessing being good for a month and refusing to grant one on that basis. First of all, I know of nothing in the scriptures or the teachings of the prophets to justify such a stance, and to my mind what another person's mission president used to tell his missionaries just doesn't cut it as doctrine. I MAY have needed the guidance at that time to be more spiritually self-reliant, but I hope my HT would realize that all blessings don't have a standard "expiration date" and that peoples' needs may differ at various points and according to their circumstances. I am not in the habit of asking for weekly blessings, but when things get intense, I do realize that a blessing may be needed on a more frequent basis than would normally be the case.

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A few months ago I was going through a personal crisis (dealing with abuse issues) and I asked my home teacher for a blessing. He came over and told me that he had heard that I had received a blessing a week before. He said his mission president told him that a blessing was good for a month and that therefore he wouldn't give me one. He did, however, encourage me to pray (something which I hadn't done regularly for a LONG time--due to my perfectionistic tendencies, I had given up on my prayers because I didn't think they were long enough or eloquent enough and that therefore the Lord wouldn't listen).

While I am grateful that my HT helped me get back to saying my prayers again, and on a more effective level than before, I don't agree with the bit about a blessing being good for a month and refusing to grant one on that basis. First of all, I know of nothing in the scriptures or the teachings of the prophets to justify such a stance, and to my mind what another person's mission president used to tell his missionaries just doesn't cut it as doctrine. I MAY have needed the guidance at that time to be more spiritually self-reliant, but I hope my HT would realize that all blessings don't have a standard "expiration date" and that peoples' needs may differ at various points and according to their circumstances. I am not in the habit of asking for weekly blessings, but when things get intense, I do realize that a blessing may be needed on a more frequent basis than would normally be the case.

I've never heard of an expiration date for blessings either. Weird!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I believe that those who are ordained unto His Holy Priesthood are bound to exercise it on behalf of those who ASK. Therefore, those who feel a need to call upon the Elders of His church in NEED of a blessing for "anything" will receive their request.

I have never seen any doctrine upon how many times a person may ask the Lord for his blessings? What a covenant these faithful men take upon themselves as they walk with the Master.

Ask and it shall be given...

How that comes to those who ask is not known to those of us who may be "looking" upon these situations from the outside, for we cannot judge the HEART of any individual, regardless of what we THINK we know. Personally, if something does not work for me, I stop buying it.

Faith is what is required, if only that of a grain of mustard. For some, that may literally be all that they have, and for them daily a blessing becomes manna unto life.

When ye have done it unto one the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. I believe we are speaking of the poor in spirit, health, means, knowledge, etc...

So when we give of ourselves to the least deserving of our time, who may least lack the ability to receive our offering... to the Savior this is as if it were giving unto Him.

He came unto his own and they received Him not... how much this must have hurt as evidence in the record of Third Nephi.

tdmg,

gVr

The Prophet Joseph Smith actually taught that the person who receives the blessing can ask as many times as is necessary for them to feel the Spirit. Granted the person receiving the blessing needs to make every effort to be in tune with the Spirit because the Spirit speaks to the heart and the words of the blessing are heard through physical ears. I don't think there is such a thing as excessive blessings if the person who is receiving it has prepared themselves and has humbled themselves to the will of the Father. Only the person who receives the blessing can answer that for certain.

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  • 2 months later...

I am actually going through a very hard time right now, and have gotten many. Maybe 3 times this week.

each time the spirit comes stronger, each time I am blessed. I hope God isn't mad at me.

God isnt mad at you. I think sometimes we need more blessings, No matter what one says........yes having faith in it is important, but sometimes bad times need extra help! and remember friends are also important, and if you dont follow what the spirits guides you to do, or are not listening for them you might miss something....... ya always got to be open to the Lords guidence.:)
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tiancum, I am sorry you are going through such a hard time. It is my opinion that the Lord will not be angry at anyone who is asking for His help. At least you are asking. There are those who will suffer through hard times, knowing they can ask for a blessing, but who struggle through on their own either because they don't want to "bother" a priesthood holder, or because they don't want others to know of their struggle.

As far as the OP goes, I am assuming the daily blessings of comfort were given by her Priesthood holder husband. He sounds like a compassionate, loving man. It doesn't matter if the blessings were given daily, or hourly. He was acting in the Lord's name on her behalf. What a guy!

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