The Power to Bless

How many of you of prayed “the blessing” over your meal? I know I have. We bless the food we eat. We tell people “be blessed” but what are we really doing? Another term used more often in liturgical settings is “Benediction”. Do we know the power of blessing? Do we know what it really means “to bless”? Let’s delve deeper shall we?

Hebrew for Bless is barak which means to cause to prosper.

Greek for Bless is eulogeō which means to consecrate a thing with solemn prayers.

What do we bless? We bless our food. We bless our relationships and work. We bless the church service and bible studies. We bless many things but does it every feel cliché when we say it? Churchy even? Now I understand Church culture and the Christianese language well; I’ve been around it most of my life. But only in the past couple years have I really grabbed ahold of (loose term because God and His ways are higher) what it means to bless.

So what causes our blessings to have power behind it? Intentionality. When God blesses He is very intentional. Genesis 1:22 says, “And God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.'” God not only blessed but was specific in His blessing. His blessing provided instruction, identity, and purpose. God said. He spoke. The same mouth He used to create the animals was the same mouth He used to provide their identity. Remarkable as it is, this is even seen in human’s blessings.

We all know the story of Jacob and Esau so I won’t break it all down here. Esau was, according to tradition, the rightful heir or beneficiary to Isaac and his land and fortune. Rebekah overheard it and told Jacob to lie to Isaac. Isaac blessed Jacob with the blessing that Esau was meant to have. Here’s the kicker…Isaac couldn’t take it back nor transfer it to another. Once it was all said and done there was no going back. Such power in the blessing. So much so it established Jacob and Esau’s future from there forward. The power to bless. The power of the blessing.

So what? This was something written a long time ago. It couldn’t have any bearing on today could it? Why yes it does. Today, if you listen to the news, you’ll see the continuous conflict of two blessings that were spoken way back when. Isaac, a fallen human, blessed and changed the future immensely. So does that mean we, blood bought heirs of God, can do likewise? Yes and I would say more so. But how? Glad you asked.

Being as we are created in the image of God and are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, designed to co-labor with the Lord, we have the opportunity and unction to establish His Kingdom and dominion on the earth. What can we bless? Land, time, buildings, objects, etc. Rabbit trail commenced: have you ever heard of theology of the land? Probably not. Something I have never, ever heard anyone reference before though I just recently noticed myself, is the very common scripture 2 Chron. 7:14 which states the God will heal our land…rabbit trail ended. God blessed the 7th day (time) and made it holy. Eph 5:16 talks about us redeeming the time. (the concept of redeeming time is for another post). God blessed mountains and objects and certain foods.

God has given us the power to bless. We must be intentional, use our mouths to speak His words, and speak design, purpose, and instruction. Since we will be held accountable for the words we speak let it be blessing and not cursing. Let us bless with focus and legitimize people’s design and purpose.

In my next post I will talk about why we bless our spirits. I’ve posted a few YouTube videos and several blogs where I’ve blessed people’s spirits so I will talk about why I do so.

I bless you today! I bless your design and purpose. I bless you with God’s love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness, patience, mercy, power, and majesty. I speak forth healing to your whole self, spirit, soul, and body. I call you bless and highly favored. I speak to the light that is your spirit and tell it to grow, be nourished, and reflect the image of God. I call forth the treasure and inheritance that God has planted in you. I speak to the spark of creativity in you and call it forth and I bless it with God’s power. I bless your purpose and God’s plans. That they would collide in a beautiful array. I bless your whole spirit, soul, and body with God’s transfiguration power that as you behold Him you are changed from glory to glory. I bless you in Jesus’ name.