bless – to celebrate with praises, to cause to prosper, to make happy, favored of God
God’s desire for us is that we speak well of/over others. In the previous post (in this series) we talked about the power of the tongue to direct or to demolish. I asked myself how gossip, lying, profanity, rudeness, inappropriate humor or disrespect toward God’s name can creep into my life.
Today’s post is a bit more enjoyable to write, as we want to focus on, not the bad things our mouths do, but committing our mouths to bless others. Some of the ways I wish to bless others is to encourage, praise, exude a thankful attitude, speak well of others, be honest, pray for others, take time for others.
An exercise we did for our homework was:
(1) Briefly describe the season of our personal life. It involved a paragraph that brought out some key words or thoughts such as, trust God, peace, patience, joy, submission, thankfulness etc. Next, we were encouraged to look up scripture that would apply to our season of life. A concordance is a big help when you have some key words.
(2) List the names of our loved ones, specific requests for them and possible scriptures for each of them.
If you have never done this kind of exercise, it is such a good way to learn how to pray. When you pray scripture, you know its Gods will. When my kids were in elementary school, I was part of a group of moms that prayed together and we did a similar exercise for each of our kids. We chose a verse, a strength and a weakness for each child, then a prayer that came out of that. I was always amazed, how at the end of the year, I could see how God had answered my prayers.
Praying a verse or scripture not only blesses the one prayed for, but blesses me, because the words encourage me even as I pray. Some scriptures to try . . . Proverbs 3:3, Proverbs 3: 5-9, Proverbs 3: 21 -23 Ephesians 1:17-20, Colossians 4:5,6, Philippians 1: 9-11, Psalm 17:6-8, Numbers 6:24-26
As I reviewed this section of my study, I was reminded anew of the power of a prayer of blessing spoken over me and praying God’s words of hope, blessing and strength for others.
8 comments:
Those times as mom's praying for our kids in their classroom and for their teachers and playmates was such a good example of using our tongue to bless.
I know that my heart is the happiest. .when I use my tongue to encourage and bless. .not to poke and cause people to squrim.
What a great lesson and reminder Anneliese!
Beautiful post...thank you for being my teacher this morning. I will take your lesson and do the homework. Thank you...the power to bless!
What a wonderful lesson...I remember some of that stuff from way back, and when I folded my children's clothing or ironed things, I would enjoy so much praying during that time...blessing there little socks off.
Thank you for this insightful lesson. It reminds me that I have great power in my tongue for good; even in the face of evil. I learned to pray scripture over my family a few years ago and the results have been life-changing. And every morning before we go our separate ways to work; my husband and I bless one another. It's just a simple "I bless you in Jesus name," but it means a lot during the day when troubles rear their ugly head-to remember that blessing!
There is always power in the word. Great post!
Thanks, Anneliese...for the reminder to use our tongue to bless! I immediately thought of a few friends who are so good at doing that...and such a good example to me.
A wonderful challenge, Anneliese! It just so happens that the Philippians passage you cited was the one I chose to pray for my son when he was a little boy. I must have prayed it hundreds of times-- on my knees beside his bed, outside his bedroom door, in my quiet place. And now that he's an adult, I can see how God has answered that prayer in specific and powerful ways. God initiates the prayer, and then He answers it! God is so good!!
Post a Comment