“When you reach up for the Lord’s power in your life with the same intensity that a drowning person has when grasping and gasping for air, power from Jesus Christ will be yours. When the Savior knows you truly want to reach up to Him–when He can feel that the greatest desire of your heart is to draw His power into your life–you will be led by the Holy Ghost to know exactly what you should do. When you spiritually stretch beyond anything you have ever done before, then His power will flow into you.”

Russell M. Nelson | "Drawing the Power of Jesus Christ into Our Lives"

Topics: Diligence, Holy Ghost, Priesthood

“Pride is a switch that turns off priesthood power. Humility is a switch that turns it on.”

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf | "Pride and the Priesthood"

Topics: Humility, Pride, Priesthood

“We cannot afford young men who lack self-discipline and live only to be entertained. We cannot afford young adult men who are going nowhere in life, who are not serious about forming families and making a real contribution in this world. We cannot afford husbands and fathers who fail to provide spiritual leadership in the home. We cannot afford to have those who exercise the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God, waste their strength in pornography or spend their lives in cyberspace. Brethren, we have work to do.”

Elder D. Todd Christofferson | Brethren We Have Work to Do, Conference October 2012

Topics: Aaronic Priesthood, Priesthood, Purpose

“I too believe that God will always make a way where there is no way. I believe that if we will walk in obedience to the commandments of God, if we will follow the counsel of the priesthood, he will open a way even where there appears to be no way.”

Gordon B. Hinckley | If Ye Be Willing and Obedient", Ensign, Jul 1995, 2

Topics: Commandments, Obedience, Priesthood

“During the Great Depression, Harold B. Lee, serving then as a stake president, was asked by the Brethren to find an answer to the oppressive poverty, sorrow, and hunger that were so widespread across the world at that time. He struggled to find a solution and took the matter to the Lord and asked, “What kind of an organization will we have … to do this?”…And “it was as though the Lord had said [to him]: ‘Look, son. You don’t need any other organization. I have given you the greatest organization there is on the face of the earth. Nothing is greater than the priesthood organization. All in the world you need to do is to put the priesthood to work. That’s all.’”

Harold B. Lee | transcript of welfare agricultural meeting, Oct. 3, 1970, 20.

Topics: Being Called & Callings, Church Organization, Melchizedek Priesthood, Priesthood, Service

Brethren, when we stand before the Lord to be judged, will He look upon the positions we have held in the world or even in the Church? Do you suppose that titles we have had other than “husband,” “father,” or “priesthood holder” will mean much to Him? Do you think He will care how packed our schedule was or how many important meetings we attended? Do you suppose that our success in filling our days with appointments will serve as an excuse for failure to spend time with our wife and family? The Lord judges so very differently from the way we do. He is pleased with the noble servant, not with the self-serving noble.

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf | Lift Where You Stand

Topics: Being Called & Callings, Priesthood

“As to the question of authority, nearly everything depends upon it. No ordinance can be performed to the acceptance of God without divine authority. No matter how fervently men may believe or pray, unless they are endowed with divine authority they can only act in their own name, and not legally nor acceptably in the name of Jesus Christ, in whose name all these things must be done.”

Joseph Fielding Smith | Gospel Doctrine, 102.

Topics: Covenants, Ordinances, Priesthood

“I know of many cases where a man has gradually failed to magnify his priesthood and moved away from activity in the Church. As a result, a man who has been very active loses his testimony and the Spirit of the Lord withdraws from him, and he begins to criticize those in authority, and to persecute the saints, apostatize, and fight against God.”

N. Eldon Tanner | Conference Report, Apr. 1970, p. 52

Topics: Apostasy, Failure, Priesthood

“[The keys] will be given to those who have passed off this stage of action and have received their bodies again. . . . They will be ordained, by those who hold the keys of the resurrection, to go forth and resurrect the Saints, just as we receive the ordinance of baptism then receive the keys of authority to baptize others for the remission of their sins. This is one of the ordinances we can not receive here [on the earth], and there are many more.” (JD, 15:137)

Spencer W. Kimball | “Our Great Potential,” Ensign, May 1977

Topics: Baptism, Baptisms for the Dead, Priesthood, Resurrection

“One of the ways we can come to understand the divinely appointed mission the Lord has for us is through our patriarchal blessings. These are very specific and individual messages we can each receive by the power of the priesthood.”

Susan W. Tanner | “Daughters of Heavenly Father,” April 2007 General Conference

Topics: Patriarchal Blessings, Priesthood

“He [Joseph Smith] conducted us through with all the ordinances he rejoiced very much, and [said], now if they kill me you have got all the keys, and all the ordinances and you can confer them upon others, and the hosts of Satan will not be able to tear down the kingdom.”

Orson Hyde | Times and Seasons, September 15, 1844, 651

Topics: Joseph Smith, Ordinances, Priesthood, Prophets

“I have learned over the years that the strength in a quorum doesn’t come from the number of priesthood holders in it. Nor does it come automatically from the age and maturity of the members. Rather, the strength of a quorum comes in large measure from how completely its members are united in righteousness. That unity in a strong quorum of the priesthood is not like anything I have experienced in an athletic team or club or any other organization in the world.”

Elder Henry B. Eyring | "A Priesthood Quorum," Ensign, Nov. 2006, 43

Topics: Priesthood

“When I find myself drawn away from my priesthood duties by other interests and when my body begs for rest, I give to myself this rallying cry: ‘Remember Him.’ The Lord is our perfect example of diligence in priesthood service. He is our captain. He called us. He goes before us. He chose us to follow Him and bring others with us. This evening I remember Him, and it stirs my heart. This is the Saturday night before Easter Sunday, when we remember His resurrection. I remember His example in the days before. Out of love for His father and for us, He allowed Himself to suffer beyond the capacity of mortal man.”

Elder Henry B. Eyring | Act in All Diligence (April 2010)

Topics: Atonement, Being Called & Callings, Easter, Priesthood, Resurrection

“There is no other relationship quite like that which can and should exist between a boy and his dad. It can be one of the most nurturing, joyful relationships in life, one that can have a profound impact on who boys become and also on who dads become. Now, I understand that some of you young men do not have fathers with whom you can have these kinds of conversations. And some of you men do not have sons or have lost your sons to accident or illness. But much of what I say tonight will apply to uncles and grandfathers and priesthood leaders and other mentors who sometimes fill the gaps for these significant father-son relationships.”

Elder M. Russell Ballard

Topics: Fathers & Fatherhood, Parenting, Priesthood

“When I lay hands on the sick, I expect the healing power and influence of God to pass through me to the patient, and the disease to give way. … When we are prepared, when we are holy vessels before the Lord, a stream of power from the Almighty can pass through the tabernacle of the administrator to the system of the patient, and the sick are made whole.”

Brigham Young | Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young (1997), 252;

Topics: Health, Priesthood

“Your priesthood quorums provide opportunities for friendship, service, and learning. But the responsibility to develop power in the priesthood is personal. Only as an individual can you develop a firm faith in God and a passion for personal prayer.”

Russell M. Nelson | Personal Priesthood Responsibility, Conference October 2003

Topics: Friendship, Priesthood, Service

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints affirms her possession of divine authority for the use of the sacred name, Jesus Christ, as the essential part of her distinctive designation. In view of this exalted claim, it is pertinent to inquire as to what special or particular message the Church has to give to the world concerning the Redeemer and Savior of the race, and as to what she has to say in justification of her solemn affirmation, or in vindication of her exclusive name and title. As we proceed with our study, we shall find that among the specific teachings of the Church respecting…”

James E. Talmage | Jesus the Christ

Topics: Jesus Christ, Priesthood, Testimony

“We cannot afford husbands and fathers who fail to provide spiritual leadership in the home. We cannot afford to have those who exercise the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God, waste their strength in pornography or spend their lives in cyberspace.”

Elder D. Todd Christofferson | Conference October 2012

Topics: Fathers & Fatherhood, Leadership, Marriage, Pornography, Priesthood

“Why should this matter so much to each of us—young or old, deacon or high priest, son or father? It is because our priesthood obligation is to put our families and the families of those around us at the center of our concern. Every major decision should be based on the effect it will have on a family to qualify for life with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. There is nothing in our priesthood service as important as this.”

Elder Henry B. Eyring | Eternal Families

Topics: Priesthood

“It has always been hard to recognize in fallible human beings the authorized servants of God. Paul must have seemed an ordinary man to many. Joseph Smith’s cheerful disposition was seen by some as not fitting their expectations for a prophet of God. “Satan will always work on the Saints of God to undermine their faith in priesthood keys. One way he does it is to point out the humanity of those who hold them. He can in that way weaken our testimony and so cut us loose from the line of keys by which the Lord ties us to Him.”

Elder Henry B. Eyring | "Faith and Keys," Ensign, Nov. 2004

Topics: Being Called & Callings, Joseph Smith, Leadership, Perfection, Priesthood

“Priesthood holders carry with them the antidote to remove the terrible images of pornography and to wash away guilt. The priesthood has the power to unlock the influence of our habits, even to unchain from addiction, however tight the grip. It can heal over the scars of past mistakes.”

Boyd K. Packer | Cleaning The Inner Vessel, October 2010 General Conference

Topics: Addiction, Pornography, Priesthood, Repentance

“If at this moment each one of you were asked to state in one sentence the most distinguishing feature of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, what would be your answer? My answer would be divine authority by direct revelation.”

David O. McKay | Conference Report, April 1937

Topics: Priesthood, Restoration, Revelation

“I repeat that plea to all fathers. Yours is the basic and inescapable responsibility to stand as the head of the family. That does not carry with it any implication of dictatorship or unrighteous dominion. It carries with it a mandate that fathers provide for the needs of their families. Those needs are more than food, clothing, and shelter. Those needs include righteous direction and the teaching, by example as well as precept, of basic principles of honesty, integrity, service, respect for the rights of others, and an understanding that we are accountable for that which we do in this life, not only to one another but also to the God of heaven, who is our Eternal Father. . . . With the obligation to beget goes the responsibility to nurture, to protect, to teach, to guide in righteousness and truth. Yours is the power and the responsibility to preside in a home where there is peace and security, love and harmony.”

Gordon B. Hinckley | “Bring Up a Child in the Way He Should Go,” Ensign November 1993, p. 60

Topics: Fathers & Fatherhood, Priesthood

“Every person is different and has a different contribution to make. No one is destined to fail. As you seek revelation to see gifts God sees in those you lead in the priesthood—particularly the young—you will be blessed to lift their sights to the service they can perform.”

Elder Henry B. Eyring | Help Them Aim High, Conference October 2012

Topics: Failure, Priesthood, Service