Don't Bless Don't Get Blessed

Don't Bless Don't Get Blessed

November 14, 2016

Matthew 6:8  "Don't be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."

So much is misunderstood about blessing and cursing, praying for something and against something else.  The older I get and the more I try to understand Scripture, the more I realize I do not have the answer or the key to it all.  You've had days when it seems your life is so blessed and you've had days when it seems your life is so cursed.  You've had blessings fall into your life, the blessings that you prayed for, and you've had disaster hit you like a freight train.  Was the Lord present in the blessing and absent to protect you from the freight train?  Did you get a blessing you didn't pray for yet received a bad report when you prayed against such a thing?  Up, down, forward, reverse, it doesn't always make sense.  You remembered to pray for your child's good health but you must have clearly forgotten to pray that you wouldn't lose your job.  Isn't it a given, that you don't want to lose your job and He would know that?  Shouldn't the Lord just know that you want the good things and don't want the bad things?  Shouldn't the Lord just know how to take care of you best?

In reading Scripture, there are verses about blessings and curses, seemingly contradicting teachings in the New Testament compared to transactional circumstances of the Old Testament.  To be succinct, without going into too much detail, here is what I can say with certainty as backed by Scripture.  Don't pray harm would happen to anyone else, instead pray good things happen to them (even the people you don't like and of whom you happen to be jealous).  Pray the Lord protects you and keeps you safe, as well as your loved ones.  And that's about it.  Notice I did not mention anything about praying blessings for yourself.  Here is what I have found in Scripture about that.  You do NOT have to pray to receive blessings from the Lord.  You just don't.  The Lord is your father and He loves you.  A good father wants to naturally bless His Children.  The Lord will naturally bless you as you live for Him and live a righteous lifestyle.  Understand that the Lord is not willing to bless you when you are living in sin, living against His plan for your life, away from His will.  However, live the Life He has asked of you and blessing will naturally come from the Lord.  The Lord knows how to take care of you best; He is your good father.

Remember, here is the basic formula: don't pray harm on anyone else, pray blessing on everyone (even your enemies); pray for protection for yourself and others; live in His will for your life.

Take this one step further and understand He will not bless you if you are not praying for or actively seeking the blessing for other people (even the people you don't like and of whom you are jealous). The Lord is not likely to bless you when and if you are not willing/seeking for someone else to be blessed, if you are just indifferent of others.  This proves you are a selfish child and does not represent the life He has asked you to live.  If you do not have the blessing to which you are seeking, realize you don't need to seek it for yourself, but genuinely on behalf of others only, then just live a righteous life.  This is what He has asked you to do.  In doing what He has asked you to do, He will naturally take care of you, blessings included.  He can already see you and He knows what you need.  He also knows perfectly well how to bless you.  He also knows when you are being selfish and don't need that blessing.

I have several children and when I want to bless them I consider each one differently, according to what I know would truly bless each one.  One of my sons would appreciate tickets to a football game, while my other son would be so blessed by a model rocket.  One of my daughters would love a coloring book while another of my daughters would be blessed by a father/daughter date.  Because I love my children, I know them well and know exactly how to bless them.  They don't have to beseech me for a blessing.  When I'm ready to bless them, I will.  I will, however, not bless them in the middle of discipline or during their temper tantrums or during their insubordination.  I will not bless them when they care only for themselves, ready to receive but never willing to give.  If you don't bless other people, you certainly cannot expect a blessing in return.  You don't have to beseech Him for a blessing, when He sees you're ready to receive one you can rest assured it will be good.

Don't take my word for it; look it up:  Ps 109:17, Joel 3:1-7, Matt 5:44, Matt 6:8-15, Matt 7:9-11, Lk 11:1-13, Rom 12:14