President Camille N. Johnson: What must women and men do to have access to priesthood power?

Editor’s note: The Church News invited President Camille N. Johnson, Relief Society general president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to write an essay about accessing priesthood power. The following is her essay.

“We need women who know how to access the power that God makes available to covenant keepers.”

This is the plea of our Prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, to the women of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He added, “The kingdom of God is not and cannot be complete without women who make sacred covenants and then keep them, women who can speak with the power and authority of God” (“A Plea to My Sisters,” Ensign or Liahona, November 2015). 

What is the power that God makes available to covenant keepers? It is priesthood power, which “flows to all members of the Church — female and male — as they keep the covenants they have made with Him” (General Handbook: Serving in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 3.5). Covenants are made in connection with priesthood ordinances in which “the power of godliness is manifest” (Doctrine and Covenants 84:20).

What must women and men do to have access to priesthood power?  

“[Priesthood] power comes from personal righteousness” (Gospel Topics, “Priesthood”). It is available to members of the Church who make covenants at baptism and in the house of the Lord and who keep them. President Nelson taught during November 2019 general conference, “Every woman and every man who makes covenants with God and keeps those covenants, and who participates worthily in priesthood ordinances, has direct access to the power of God” (“Spiritual Treasures,” Ensign or Liahona, November 2019). Through personal righteousness we invite God’s priesthood power to flow into our lives.

How do women and men draw upon priesthood power? 

We have the right to access priesthood power by virtue of personal worthiness. So then what must we do to draw upon the priesthood power to which we have access? How do we fill our vessels with the priesthood power that is already flowing so that we can use it?  

President Nelson candidly acknowledged in his 2019 address that the process for drawing upon priesthood power, “the Savior’s power,” is not “spelled out in any manual.” Rather, the Prophet invited women to make the Holy Ghost “your personal tutor as you seek to understand what the Lord would have you know and do. This process is neither quick nor easy, but it is spiritually invigorating. What could possibly be more exciting than to labor with the Spirit to understand God’s power — priesthood power?”  

I have undertaken the spiritually invigorating exercise to understand what I must do to draw upon the power of the priesthood. It has been a very personal examination — one that is ongoing.  

Section 25 of the Doctrine and Covenants is instructive to me. The revelation was given through Joseph Smith to Emma Smith in July 1830, shortly after the Church was organized. While the revelation was directed to Emma, it was the Lord’s “voice unto all” (Doctrine and Covenants 25:16). Emma, and we, were counseled to “lay aside the things of this world, and seek for the things of a better,” to “cleave” to our covenants, to be joyful, meek and wary of pride, and to keep the commandments “continually” (Doctrine and Covenants 25:10, 13–15). I am learning that in order to draw upon priesthood power, I must do more than just obey the commandments. I must set aside the things of this world and consecrate my talents, time and resources to God. It is a heart, might, mind and strength kind of commitment to the work of salvation and exaltation — the gathering of Israel — that allows me to draw upon the priesthood power with which I have been endowed. 

“Those who are endowed in the house of the Lord receive a gift of God’s priesthood power by virtue of their covenant, along with a gift of knowledge to know how to draw upon that power,” said President Nelson.  

As he promised, when I undertook to examine my life “meticulously,” the Holy Ghost prompted me about “what is no longer needful, what is no longer worthy of [my] time and energy.” I made a list: “What Do I Do in a Day/Week/Month?” Then I asked the question of myself, with a prayerful heart, “What is no longer worthy of my time and energy?” Just as the Prophet suggested, things that once seemed important receded in priority, and some activities were crossed off my list all together, because while seemingly harmless, they were a distraction.  

My self-examination was not a one-time exercise. I am learning that a meticulous examination of my time and energies is, as President Nelson said, a “lifelong process of consecrating [my] life to the Lord” and has changed my understanding about what I must do to draw upon the priesthood power to which I have access if I keep my covenants. 

For what purpose do women and men access and draw upon priesthood power? 

Women, men and children access and draw upon priesthood power, the Savior’s power, to help the people they love (“The Melchizedek Priesthood and the Keys,” by President Dallin H. Oaks, Ensign or Liahona, May 2020). The blessings of priesthood power available to all Church members who keep their covenants — women, men and children — include: 

• Guidance for their lives. 
• Inspiration to know how to serve family members and others. 
• Strength to endure and overcome challenges. 
• Gifts of the Spirit to magnify their abilities. 
• Revelation to know how to fulfill the work they are ordained, set apart or assigned to do. 
• Help and strength to become more like Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father (General Handbook, 3.5). 

The Savior is the source of all these blessings. Guidance, inspiration, gifts of the Spirit and revelation all come through the Holy Ghost, sent by the Father in the name of the Savior. The Savior explained:  

“I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. …  

“The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:18, 26). 

The blessings of strength to endure and overcome challenges and the help and strength to become more like Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father are available through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  

Priesthood power, and the blessings associated with it, flow to us and we may draw upon it to bless ourselves and others as we are joyfully bound to the Savior through covenants and ordinances. 

In my experience, priesthood power, particularly that with which I have been endowed in the house of the Lord, amplifies the companionship of the Holy Ghost and my understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. When I access and draw upon priesthood power, I am a more nimble instrument in the hands of God in helping His children return to Him and their heavenly home. Priesthood power increases my capacity. 

Sisters and brothers, God’s priesthood power is accessible. He desires to share it with you. It is yours to draw from, must be developed and can be increased (“The Price of Priesthood Power,” by President Russell M. Nelson, Ensign or Liahona, May 2016) to bless your life and the lives of others. It can “distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven” (Doctrine and Covenants 121:45) if you regularly do the spiritual work to keep it flowing.

President Nelson’s invitation to study priesthood power

The heavens are just as open to women who are endowed with God’s power flowing from their priesthood covenants as they are to men who bear the priesthood, said President Russell M. Nelson during the women’s session of October 2019 general conference.

“I pray that truth will register upon each of your hearts because I believe it will change your life. … I would like to leave a blessing upon you, that you may understand the priesthood power with which you have been endowed and that you will augment that power by exercising your faith in the Lord and in His power.”

Speaking during the women’s session of the 189th Semiannual General Conference, President Nelson addressed the topic, “Spiritual Treasures.” Just three days after announcing a historic policy change allowing women, youth and children to serve as witnesses of sealing and baptismal ordinances performed in and out of temples, President Nelson addressed women about priesthood power, covenants and holy temples.

President Nelson invited Latter-day Saint women to study prayerfully all the truths they can find about priesthood power. “As your understanding increases and as you exercise faith in the Lord and His priesthood power, your ability to draw upon this spiritual treasure that the Lord has made available to you will increase. As you do so, you will find yourselves better able to help create eternal families that are united, sealed in the temple of the Lord, and full of love for our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.”

In 2020, in an effort to amplify the Prophet’s invitation for women to seek an understanding of priesthood power, the Church News joined with the Relief Society, Young Women and Primary general presidencies and advisory councils to create a series of articles sharing personal stories, experiences and thoughts about priesthood power.

These articles can be found in the “Women of Covenant” section of the Church News website.