Weekly Words

Bless You For What?

All of us in some shape, form, or fashion want to be blessed! If we took inventory of our last prayer, I am sure at some point we asked God to bless our family, bless our finances, bless our relationship(s), bless our country, and/or bless our children. If we have prayed the prayer of Jabez (asking God to increase our territory), asked for “favor,” or requested “the anointing,” then in short we were asking God for a blessing. Even the most holiest and altruistic among us may ask for wisdom, self-discipline, or justice, but this still translates into asking God for a blessing. Asking God to move, manipulate and/or maneuver us or our situation, eventually adds up to asking God to bless.

Yet, have you ever thought about what your answer would be if God stopped you in the middle of your prayer and asked, “Bless you for what?” “For what reason do you want to be blessed?” “What do you want to do with your blessing?” “Will it matter to Me or the world if I give you this blessing?” What if God kneeled beside you at your bedside or sat in the passenger seat of your car while you were driving and asked, “Why do you want more money?” “What is the purpose of a bigger house?” “Why do you want more power or fame?” In short, what if God asked you, “What’s in it for Me?”

The point I am making is that many of us pray to a God who we expect to be a Grand Personal Assistant that exists for our benefit and our blessings. In a spiritual age where we are assured that we can “name it and claim it” and “believe it and receive it,” we are slowly being lured to a spirituality that is 99% about us. In short, we have become the center of our own universe and God is just a means to execute our plans, provide our pleasures, and assure our prosperity. When all our preaching is about how God can make your life better and richer, and all our praising is in hopes that the “blessings will come down,” we reduce religion, and God for that matter, to our very own whims and wishes.

I know that this sounds harsh, but just stop and think for a minute. When is the last time you have really, I mean really, been consumed with a cause that is beyond your life and higher than your existence? Don’t move on! Really think about that question!

Blessings are great and all of us want them. However, to see yourself as simply the receptacle of blessings is to lower your stature, diminish your greatness, and miss the point. When God gives the famous “blessing of Abraham,” we should listen carefully to what God says. “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you: I will make your name great and you will be a blessing.” I firmly believe we are all meant to be great, but greatness comes in being a blessing not getting a blessing. So, the next time you pray and ask God to bless you (and you will), be prepared to answer God, if God stops you and asks, “bless you for what?”

Humbly in Christ’s Love,
Pastor B.A. Jackson