In Numbers 6:22-27 it says that God spoke to Moses,  

Instruct Aaron and his sons to bless the people of Israel with this special blessing: May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace. This is how Aaron and his sons will designate the Israelites as my people.

Don’t miss what God says at the end. This is how the people will be known as God’s people. I want my people to be known as the people who are blessed by God. (And today Paul says that the blessings God has made available to us are spiritual blessings.) Some of us have this suspicion that God is stingy, that he’s always holding out on us, but God has no desire to hold back.  He wants to bless us and when we experience the blessing of God, it changes our story. That is the power of blessing.

Last week at Calvary we talked about God’s blessing and I closed with a blessing. A number of people asked me for the words to the blessing. I’ve prayed it over my kids. I’ve prayed it over children and over marriages. For what it’s worth, here it is, maybe you can use it to pray a blessing over someone.

In the Name of Jesus Christ, I bless you. I bless you with all the promises of God given a resounding yes in Jesus Christ. May the Holy Spirit make you healthy and strong and spiritually to know and follow Jesus with expectant faith. May you be blessed with supernatural strength to turn your eyes from foolish things, instead may you follow hard after God.

I bless your ears to hear words spoken in truth with grace, the life-giving words of scripture, words meant to build up rather than tear down. I bless your ears to shut out words spoken in anger and bitterness, the critical and demeaning. I bless your feet to walk the path of total commitment, your hands to be tender helping hands blessing those in need, your hearts to be humble, courageous and compassionate–loving people more than rules and God more than people. I bless your minds to be strong, disciplined, balanced and faith filled.

May God’s grace be upon the place in which you live, may it be a safe place that allows dangerous God-exalting dreams. May it be a place of renewal and unconditional love. May sounds of joy and laughter be heard often from your lips. May you be children of prayer, may God use you to love your neighbors and change your generation. May God open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing upon you, as you seek to be a blessing to those around you.

May God give you spiritual strength to overcome the evil one and avoid temptation. God’s grace be upon you to fulfill the dreams and visions He has given you. Goodness and mercy follow you all the days of your life. The Lord bless you  and keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. IN JESUS’ NAME. AMEN.