BLESSINGS
A blessing is like a prophetic announcement and a prayer rolled into one. We say and gesture to a specific person or people what we envision God doing on their behalf, knowing that the One who blesses is listening too.
The Ingredients of a Blessing:
+ Dwelling in Fellowship with God: Father, Son, Spirit are essential to blessing. We are blessed by God to be a blessing. When we bless, we draw this inheritance from the pockets of our Father and the Fellowship of His Love (think about the Apostle Paul’s prayer to the Ephesians in Chapter 3).
+ Impartation: A Spirit practice wherein the blessing is transferred through the words that we pronounce and the gestures that we make, such as uplifted arms or actual laying-on of hands.
+ The Enhancement of the Receiver. To bless is to envision something good for the other by proclaiming truth in love over them. Jesus, when he pronounced the Beatitudes, envisioned a goodness that would give comfort and hope to current & future believers. The power to bless is empowered to us by Jesus and is powerful to build up the receiver. It is the vision of divine enhancement, of a people resting in the palm of God’s hand. This is the hallmark of a blessing.
Here are three ways people can offer to bless, depending on how well they know each other:
· You can read one of the blessings below to someone. These are a selection of historical blessings that have been used down the centuries, both from the Bible and other Christian traditions. In this way we embrace our Christian heritage and can feel part of something bigger. This may be a good way to bless someone who you don’t know very well, perhaps if they are new, or if you feel awkward asking them more personal questions. This doesn’t make it superficial – using other’s words for a blessing can be a powerful and moving experience.
· You can ask someone where they would like to see God’s blessing in their life, and then say a short prayer for them. People may come with things on their minds that they want to talk about. This gives them the chance to share, and allows for a sensitive response. This may be a way you can approach someone you know better, or even a neighbour or sojourner, if you feel confident enough.
· You can also bless someone by pointing out ways you see God using them, positive qualities in their lives, gifts and skills they have, or general words of encouragement. In this way God is using you to bless them directly! You would need to know someone reasonably well to bless them in this way.
Identity Blessing (John 1:12 & Romans 8:14,15)
You are a Child of the One God, our Father.
You are now led by the Spirit of God and are a daughter (or son) of God.
For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear
You received a spirit of sonship (or daughtership).
And by Jesus you may cry, “Abba, Father.”
A Blessing of Completeness (Colossians 2:9, 10)
You are in Christ
You have been given fullness in Christ
Christ is the head over every power and authority
The Fruit Blessing (John 15:16)
The Father chose you and appointed you to bear fruit
Fruit that will last
The Father will give you whatever you ask in the Name of Jesus.
The Alive Blessing (Ephesians 2:4,5 & 10)
You are Alive in Christ
Because of God’s great love for you…
You are made alive in Christ
You are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works
The Unveiled Freedom Blessing (Romans 8:1 & 2 Cor. 3: 17, 18)
You are in Christ Jesus
Therefore there is now no condemnation
The Spirit of the Lord is in you and with you
And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom
Your face is unveiled to reflect the glory of God
Today and increasingly tomorrow
The Inheritance Blessing (Ephesians 3:14-19)
Out of God’s glorious riches
You have been strengthened with power through the Spirit in your inner being.
Christ now dwells in your heart through faith.
You are rooted and established in love.
May you have power, together with all the saints,
To grasp the wide and long and high and deep love of Christ.
May you know this love that surpasses knowledge –
That you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
The Franciscan Blessing
May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.
May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.
May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.
May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really CAN make a difference in this world, so that you are able, with God's grace, to do what others claim.
The Aaronic Blessing
The Lord bless you and keep you,
The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you,
The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.
Isaac’s vision for Jacob
May God give to you of the dew of the heavens and of the fertility of the earth an abundance of grain and new wine.
A Courageous Blessing (2 Timothy 1:7)
For God did not give you a spirit of timidity,
but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
An Irish blessing
May the road rise up to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
And the rains fall soft upon your fields.
And, until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.
Jesus’ blessing of Peace
Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.
Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are they not more valuable than they?
Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.
St Paul’s Prayer for the Ephesians
May (God) give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.
I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparable great power for us who believe.
Celtic blessing
Be the eye of God dwelling with you
The foot of Christ in guidance with you
The shower of the Spirit pouring on you
Richly and generously.
Blessing attributed to St Patrick
May you bind yourself today to
The power of God to hold and lead;
His eye to watch; His might to stay;
His ear to hearken to your need;
The wisdom of God to teach;
His hand to guide;
His shield to ward;
The word of God to give you speech;
His Heavenly Host to be your guard.
From Carmina Gadelica
May God make safe to you each step,
May God make open to you each pass,
May God make clear to you each road,
And may He take you in the clasp
of His own two hands.
St Paul’s blessing for the Philippians
This is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you will be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God.
A blessing from St. Peter
Though you have not seen (God), you love him;
And even though you do not see him now, you believe in him, and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your soul.