Some Bible passages will forever remind me of acting out certain scenes on stage. In one scene, a disciple turned to me and said, seemingly out of the blue, “Lord, teach us to pray.” And, playing the part of Jesus, I answered, “You should pray like this: Our Father, who art in heaven, your name is holy….” This scene of course, is from Luke 11:1-4, wherein Jesus gives us the model for prayer commonly known as “the Lord’s Prayer.”
But there is an older prayer given to us in the Bible, a prayer that is entirely other-centered. Do you remember it? It makes an excellent prayer guide to use when praying for your family or anyone you care about. God dictated it to Moses specifically to help the Israelites know how to pray for and bless each other:
“The Lord spoke to Moses, saying… ‘in this way shall you bless the sons of Israel. You are to say to them:
‘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.’
In this way you will put my name on the Israelites and I will bless them” Numbers 6:22-27.
I know you’ve heard the popular song with these words—and the song is amazing. But I memorized these words years ago and have prayed them for my family many times. Think about it—how awesome is that, that God told us how to bless our families, and gave us exact words to use.
NOW DO THESE TWO THINGS—
- Read the prayer again and see if you understand all the phrases.
- Then pray the words over your family and friends. Take the time to actually ask God to bless them in each of these ways.
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Household Words: 