The Power of blessing

‘Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is destroyed.’ (Proverbs 11:11)

Many people have been stirred by The Blessing song by Kari Jobe, particularly when it was sung by people from churches across the UK to create The UK Blessing during the lockdown period during the Coronavirus in April 2020. In this incredible performance people of all ages, races, backgrounds and denominations united to sing the Aaronic Blessing over our nation, the United Kingdom, with passion, power and conviction in a way that touched millions. As I watched it I sensed in my spirit that this was anointed by the Holy Spirit and was doing something deep and powerful in the spiritual realm as words of truth and blessing were declared through song into the atmosphere. It truly felt like an army rising up and advancing on the enemy who has no choice but to flee.

The UK Blessing

‘The Lord bless you and keep you;

The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;

The Lord turn his face towards you

And give you peace.

Amen, amen, amen; amen, amen, amen;

May his favour be upon you

And a thousand generations

Your family and your children and their children and their children.’

Amen, amen, amen. (based on Numbers 6: 22-27)

The principle of blessing

The principle of blessing was first made known to me when I visited Ffald-y-brenin, a Christian retreat centre in Pembrokeshire, Wales. At this time the centre was run by Roy and Daphne Godwin and was known for the atmosphere of peace and the presence of God that filled it and the surrounding area. In the centre the day was built upon a ‘rhythm of prayer’ and during these times prayers and blessings were spoken over the local area to bring health, prosperity, peace, faith and wellbeing to all who lived and worked there and to those who passed through. As a result there were numerous reports of physical and emotional healings, restored relationships in marriages and families, prosperity for local businesses, abundance of crops for farmers and multiple births among livestock. Many people had experiences where they were overcome with a sense of the presence of God, with feelings of intense peace, joy and an overwhelming need and desire to worship.

I would like to use one or two examples of material from Ffald-y-brenin to demonstrate the principle of blessing prayer:

1. Safe streets

Proclamation: We proclaim that God is the mighty shield over our communities:

Scripture: I am your shield, your very great reward (Genesis 15.1)

Declaration: We declare that God is the protector and shield over our communities.

Blessing: We bless our streets with the peace of Jesus and with being safe places to live

2. Knowing the love of God

Proclamation: We proclaim that God is love

Scripture: He who does not love does not know God, for God is love, (1 John 4:8) … because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us (Romans5:5)

Declaration: We declare that the love of God will be known and felt in our communities, being shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, as out of our innermost being flows rivers of living water (love).

Blessing: We bless our communities with the love and peace of God which passes all understanding. We bless our communities with being rooted and grounded in the love of God.

(Taken from “Keep on praying and bless”, compiled by Jill Gower and Robbie Bain- Call to Prayer –www.call2prayer.co.uk and Caroline Anderson- The Well-www.houseofglorynetwork.com

Declarations and Blessings for real life situations)

Let us rise up and bless our families, communities, workplaces and entire nation with a mighty and united song of worship and praise to Almighty God, speaking out and declaring His presence over us. May many believe and turn to Him at this time of fear, confusion and turmoil in the world and may many come to know His wonderful love and receive Jesus as their Saviour.

How can we do this?

There are many ways, I believe, but I will just list a few which I have experienced and which I have found to be effective:

• Speaking and declaring Scriptures over your home, family, children, neighbourhood, such as the Blessing shown above or the examples quoted from the Ffald-y-brenin materials.  The Psalms also provide a wealth of verses which can be read and turned into a prayer of blessing.
• Speaking out the names and attributes of God; He is great, mighty, holy, righteous, all-knowing, all- powerful, our Deliverer, Provider, Creator, Father, our Rock, Fortress, Hiding place, Shelter.
• Singing or playing worship songs cause words of truth and life to be expressed into the spiritual atmosphere.
• Praising and thanking God for who He is and what He has done in your life.
• Prayer walking around our home, street, local area, workplace. This might be praying the Lord’s Prayer or the Blessing, or blessing the people in these places by praying for them.

Evidence of effective prayer

To illustrate this, two years ago during the summer holiday season there was some trouble and disruption caused by groups of teenagers on the local streets where we lived, including a fire being started and motorists being blocked from driving along certain streets, causing serious inconvenience and public nuisance, as well as generating an atmosphere of fear to local residents. My friend and I felt a prompt from the Holy Spirit to pray over the area using the principle of blessing, so we walked to the local park and spoke blessings over the neighbourhood, blessing it with the peace and presence of God. We also prayed against a spirit of rebellion and lawlessness and blessed the teenagers with having wholesome and constructive interests and activities to pursue during the holiday, and with healthy friendships and positive role models to influence them for good.  We repeated these blessings over the following days and, praise God, there was no more trouble at all for the rest of the holiday period. 

Praise and worship, prayer and blessing are truly powerful weapons against the enemy! Praying and worshipping together with other Christians gives the added dimension of unity and builds faith, as there is great power in agreement.

“Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them.”  (Matthew 18: 19-20)

How wonderful it is that through our prayers and blessings, both individual and collective, we can bring the blessing of God, like a blanket over those in our communities! As we unite in love and agreement we form a covering of love and protection over and around them, sealed by the blood of Jesus, against which the enemy has no defence. So let us rise up, pray and bless, and see God move powerfully in our nation.

You can share…

If you would like to share any ways in which you have used blessings effectively it would be good to hear them.