Praying for Blessing
“May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine on us—
so that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.” (Ps 67: 1 – 2)
I once heard someone say, ‘I don’t ask God for help; he has enough people to worry about without me adding to it as well’.
But that concern shows a huge misunderstanding of the heart, ability and purpose of God.
This psalm is a request for the Lord’s favour, likely based on the Priestly blessing of Num 6: 24 – 26 (“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”). It reveals a desire that has come from the depths of the heart of God. He put it in Scripture. He wants us to pray it.
The psalmist prays for God to be gracious. God loves to give us more than we deserve – an intimate relationship with Him for starters. The psalmist then asks for God’s blessings to fall upon him and his community. Material benefits, health, healing and harmony between each other. His power.
The most important request is that God’s face might shine upon us. God’s face is a metaphor for his presence. Unlike Ps 44: 23 – 24, when God hides his face, withdrawing his presence and ignoring the cries for help, this prayer for his face to shine on every person in the community is a prayer for his love and his life to be powerfully amongst us.
Why has God given us this prayer to pray? That’s easy, the psalmist tells us: so that His ways might be known on earth, his salvation among the nations. When God blesses his people, blessings spill over to the world around them.
God has always loved to bless Israel, but not just for Israel’s sake; it was also that His people might be a conduit of blessings to the nations. That is the same for us who follow Jesus today. We receive His grace, His provisions and His life-giving presence in order that those around us might find themselves drawn to Him too.
So, let’s pray these words. Over our families. Over our Churches. Over our ministries. God gives abundantly so let’s pray abundantly. That the world may see and hear and experience God for themselves.
God once said to Abraham, “all people on Earth will be blessed through you” (Gen 12: 3). God then stretched a line from the patriarch to his family, to the nation of Israel, to King David, to the Messiah and God’s Son, Jesus, to the Apostles, to the church throughout the ages, and finally to you and me.
The people on Earth will be blessed through us. So, let’s keep praying:
“May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine on us—
so that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.”
Suggested prayer: Think of your family, each member, and then pray this prayer of blessing ‘over’ them. Then pray this prayer of blessing over your church and over your ministry. Perhaps you can think of other contexts to pray over