The Endowment of Power 

Close your eyes and bring your attention to your body. Whether you are sitting, standing, or laying down, make sure your body feels relaxed and supported. Relax the muscles in your face, jaw, neck, and shoulders.

Take a few deep breaths. As you breath in, imagine drawing peace, calm, humility, and openness into your body and mind. As you breath out, imagine expelling tension, negativity, pride, and stress from your body and mind.

In this state of calm and receptiveness, take a moment to say a brief prayer that your mind will be guided to any revelation the Lord has for you today as you ponder. 

As your breathing returns to normal, turn your thoughts and attention to the blessings promised through the temple endowment. As I share teachings about these blessings, allow your thoughts and the Spirit to guide you. Do not worry about focusing on every statement or question I share.

The Endowment Powers

When you participate in the endowment ceremony, you make certain promises and covenants, and exchange, you are promised a “heavenly bestowal of power”—that is what an endowment is.

Some of these powers are listed in the General Handbook of the church and some are discussed in the Doctrine and Covenants. Others are only mentioned inside the temple. And still others are natural positive consequences of the five main endowment covenants. Let’s take time to ponder the heavenly power that endowed members can receive when they strive to keep their covenants.

Blessings Described in the Handbook

The General Handbook of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints lists four “gifts that  members receive through the temple endowment.” As I read them, use the silence between each gift to ponder how this gift could benefit you personally:

• Greater knowledge of the Lord’s purposes and teachings.

• Power to do all that Heavenly Father wants [you] to do.

• Divine direction when serving the Lord, [your] families, and others.

• Increased hope, comfort, and peace.”

(General Handbook, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Section 27.2.)

Spiritual Blessings of the Church

Doctrine and Covenants 107 identifies the “spiritual blessings of the church” as follows:

“To have the privilege of receiving the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, to have the heavens opened unto them, to commune with the general assembly and church of the Firstborn, and to enjoy the communion and presence of God the Father, and Jesus the mediator of the new covenant.” (Doctrine and Covenants 107:19; see also verse 18.)

Let’s break this down into its four parts. The first blessing is to have the privilege of receiving the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, or revelation. Revelation can come in the form of guidance, discernment (D&C 52:14), warning, or peace and comfort. What mysteries of the kingdom of heaven would you most like to understand?

The second blessing is to have prayers heard and answered. Are you, or should you be, praying for something? How would temple attendance help you receive an answer to this prayer?

The third blessing is to have the blessing of ministering angels to help us through life. Have you experienced the blessing of the ministering of angels? How could temple attendance help you recognize this blessing more in your life?

And the fourth blessing is to have personal knowledge of and a personal relationship with God and Jesus. The temple is the House of the Lord. Are you visiting Him enough to develop a personal relationship with Him?

Oath and Covenant of Priesthood Promises

Because the endowment covenants are entered into through the priesthood, and the endowment is an initiation into the Order of the Son of God, which is also referred to as the Order of the Priesthood, or the Order of Melchizedek (D&C 94:6, 107:3, 131:2; Ps. 110:4), both men and women who enter into these covenants and into this Order are eligible to receive the promises specifically given to those who enter into the oath and covenant of the priesthood. (see Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Fielding Smith (2013), 305–6; Becky Craven, “Sister Craven on Women and Priesthood: All the Spiritual Blessings of the Church”, Women and Priesthood Power; and D&C 84:36-39.)

These promises are mentioned in D&C 84, and we pondered these blessings in detail in a previous meditation about the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood, so I will list them only briefly here. After I read this list of blessings, take a moment to ponder any that stand out to you.

God promises that faithful covenant keepers will:

• Be “sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing their bodies” (D&C 84:33);

• Become “the seed of Abraham” (and thus receive all the blessings promised to Abraham and his posterity) (D&C 84:34);

• Become “the elect of God” (D&C 84:34.); and

• Receive “all that [the] Father hath,” including eternal life. (D&C 84:38.)

• Be under the watch and care of ministering angels (D&C 84:42, 88.)

• Be forgiven for their mistakes and shortcomings as they bear testimony of the gospel. (D&C 84:61.)

Blessings Mentioned in the Temple

More blessings are specifically described during the Initiatory and Endowment inside the temple and will not be mentioned here. Next time you do Initiatory or do an endowment session, listen for the blessings that are promised.

Blessings from Obedience, Sacrifice, Law of Gospel, Chastity, and Consecration

Finally, each of the covenants we make in the temple comes with blessings that are positive natural consequences of living those laws. For example, we are told that those who sacrifice, or lose their lives for the Lord’s sake, will find it again. And those who keep the law of chastity will be blessed with stronger relationships and confidence before the Lord. Those who wear garments will receive spiritual protection. And so on.

We pondered some of these blessings in detail in their corresponding covenant meditation of this series. But some of the quotes and promises are so powerful they are worth more thought and attention.

All of the five laws require us to allow our will to be “swallowed up” in the will of the Lord. Elder Maxwell explained that “the more one’s will is thus ‘swallowed up,’ the more his afflictions, rather than necessarily being removed, will be ‘swallowed up in the joy of Christ’ (Alma 31:38).” (Neal A. Maxwell, “Swallowed Up in the Will of the Father,” General Conference, November 1995.) Have you had any afflictions you felt were swallowed up in the joy of Christ?

President Benson said that “When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power.” (Ezra Taft Benson quoted in Donald L. Staheli, “Obedience—Life’s Great Challenge,” General Conference, April 1998.)

Have you ever experienced a noticeable endowment of power when you chose to be obedient?

Here are some more recent words from President Russell M. Nelson, who promised that “As we keep our covenants, [God] endows us with His . . . power. And oh, how we will need His power in the days ahead.” (Russell M. Nelson, “The Temple and Your Spiritual Foundation,” Liahona, November 2021; emphasis in original.)

Which of these powers that we have discussed could help you with the individual challenges, choices, or difficulties you are facing right now? Is there anything you are prompted to do to better access the power you have been promised?

Finally, President Nelson explained that “[t]hose 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.” (Russell M. Nelson, “Spiritual Treasures” General Conference, October 2019.)

If you have been through the temple endowment and received your endowment, what knowledge have you been gifted with, or what inspiration have you received, about how you can further draw upon the endowment of God’s priesthood power?

When you are ready, take a final deep breath. As you open your eyes and return to your surroundings, take a few minutes to write down any thoughts, questions, or promptings that came to mind while you were pondering. And if necessary, make a plan to act on those things.