Genesis 28:1-4
“So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him: “Do not marry a Canaanite woman. Go at once to Paddan Aram, to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now reside as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.”
INSIGHT
-Blessing in Hebrew is written as berakah which can be termed as a declaration of God’s favor upon someone. Isaac having full knowledge of the covenantal blessings that his father Abraham assumed, he declared the same favor upon his son. The Lord had spoken the same blessing upon Isaac when he travelled to Gerar due to famine saying, “For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed,” (Genesis 26:3-4). Isaac was mandated to pass down the blessings to his son, and through the many generations to come. He also cautioned him from marrying; from the Canaanite community who were oppressive, but to get a wife from his own clan. Through the scriptures we see that, speaking God’s blessings upon our children bestows the grace of increase in offsprings and an eternal inheritance which Abraham inherited; upon their lives. We are called to bless our children and pray for them as often as possible knowing that if we are in Christ, we are Abraham’s seed and carry his eternal blessings.
PRAYER
How awesome is Your name Lord God Almighty. How powerful is Your name in all the earth. How excellent is Your name in all the heavens and the earth. You are highly exulted Oh King of glory. We thank You for this beautiful day that You have made. We appreciate Your great majesty and splendor in this season. Thank You for the rains and prosperity upon our land. Thank You for the gift of life and good health that You have given unto us. Thank You for blessing us, sustaining us, healing our wounds, directing us, providing for us, protecting us and for the precious gift of salvation. We speak Your salvation upon all our relatives, friends and the entire world merciful Savior. We humbly call on You dear Jesus to save us. Save us from every plan of the enemy and cover us with Your precious blood. Cover our children with Your precious blood and preserve them as they go back to school. Cover our jobs, businesses and purposes with Your precious blood and guide our every step. Heal our economy and give us God-fearing leaders come August; precious Savior. May You settle the hearts of all those who are mourning the loss of their loved ones loving Master. May You send Your angels to guide our steps lest we dash our feet against a stone. May You bless us, make us fruitful and increase us in number until we become a community of peoples. May You give us and our descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land that You gave to Abraham. May Your grace of increase abound in us and all our descendants for the glory and honor of Your name. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us now, and forever more. Amen
Further reading: Genesis 12:2-3, Genesis 35:11
Genesis 49:1-2
“Then Jacob called for his sons and said: “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come. “Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel.”
INSIGHT
-Jacob demanded a blessing as he wrestled with God and prevailed. He received a new name Israel for he struggled with both God and with man and have overcame (Genesis 32:28-29). The better part of Genesis 49 talks about Israel blessings his sons, one by one. This was Jacob’s last significant act as a patriarch and as the heir to Abraham and Isaac, as he made a prophetic declaration upon his children. Reuben the first born was mighty in strength but proud and therefore he would not excel (49:3-4). The second-born son Simeon and the third-born son Levi; received the same words for the same evil deed. They were instruments of cruelty when they wiped out all the men of Shechem in retaliation for the rape of their sister Dinah (Genesis 34:25-29). Judah was to be praised by his brothers: Judah wasn’t a completely exemplary character as he suggested a profit motive in getting rid of Joseph (Genesis 37:26). His blessing is an example of the richness of God’s grace to the undeserving, and shows as a picture of Jesus Christ as the Lion of Judah. Zebulun was to dwell by the haven of the sea and his border; Sidon. The tribe of Zebulun was noted for its faithfulness to David, supplying the largest number of soldiers to David’s army of any single tribe. Issachar was prophesied to be a strong donkey, lying down between two burdens. The tribe of Issachar was third in size according to the Numbers 26 census, and became a band of slaves. Dan was to be a serpent by the way, thus a troublesome tribe. Gad was to face a fierce troop but he triumphed at last. Asher was blessed with riches in bread and yielded royal dainties. Naphtali a deer let loose; had beautiful words, possibly a tribe of teachers. Joseph was blessed with fruitfulness, strength, and excelled the blessings of his ancestors. Benjamin was declared a ravenous wolf thus fierce in nature. These are diverse blessings and prophetic in nature, that map out the future life of children, which parents can adopt.
PRAYER
We come to Your throne of grace dear Jesus with confidence that we may obtain grace and mercy to help us during our time of need. You are worthy Oh Lord and righteous. You are excellent and able, nothing is hard for You. May You shape our lives and those of our children. May You make us strong and courageous. May You make us obedient and discerning, full of wisdom. May You help our families to achieve their purposes. May we inherit prosperity in destinies that we may achieve the purpose for which You have called each one of us and our children. May Your make us all fruitful in every way for the glory and honor of Your name. May You bless us with the dew of heaven and bless us with an inheritance. May we obtain favor before You Lord and before men and women. All glory, honor, power, blessings, strength and adoration belongs to You dear Jesus now and forever. Amen
Further reading: Genesis 49:1-28
1 Samuel 1:27-28
“I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there.”
INSIGHT
-We know the story of Hannah and how she travailed in prayer for the gift of a child. She cried before the Lord and Eli asked her, “How long are you going to stay drunk? Put away your wine.” (1 Samuel 1:14). We notice that Hannah took a long time to pray for her conception. Sometimes it takes times for children destined for greatness to be born. Sarah also prayed for a long time and conceived Abraham at an old age. Rachel waited in prayer for her son Joseph to be born. We are reminded to keep praying and blessing our children even before their conception, and the Lord will fulfill the destiny for which He has called them.
PRAYER
We exult You God our King, and lift Your banner high in all the nations. We praise Your name for ever and ever. Every day we will praise You and extol Your name for ever and ever. Great are You Lord and most worthy of praise. Your greatness no one can fathom. You are worthy of all honor and praise. You are able Lord, all creation bows down before You. You are lifted above all other gods. Only You are the one true God and all other gods are made of wood and stone, they cannot see nor hear our prayers. Only Your Lord and worthy of our praise. We humbly ask You to forgive us all our trespasses and cover us with Your precious blood. Children are a blessing from You Lord, we call on You dear Jesus to answer the prayer of all those who are waiting on You for children. May You touch the wombs of all those who are barren Holy Spirit, and make a way for them. We ask You dear Jesus to unite all those are unmarried with their spouses. May You touch every family and hear the hearts of all those who are heartbroken. May You move in our lives, families, businesses, careers, schools and the lives of our children Holy Spirit. All glory, honor, praise, blessings and salvation belong to You Lord now and forever. Amen
Further reading: Jeremiah 1:5, Psalm 127:3
Mark 10:16
“And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.”
INSIGHT
-Blessing from the Greek root word eulogeo, means to praise, celebrate, consecrate something or someone, and to acknowledge that ultimately, only God can surely bless our children. In this scripture we find parents bringing their children to Jesus and He placed His hands on them, and blessed them. Although the Pharisees hindered them, Jesus rebuked them and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” (Mark 10:14-15). Parents are reminded to always commit their children, their needs and future to God for He is our ultimate Source. As God and a spiritual Teacher, Jesus loves His children and blesses them. He has blessed us with every kind of spiritual blessing, and therefore we should always give thanks to Him (Ephesians 1:3).
PRAYER
Dear Lord Jesus we come to You today with thanksgiving in our hearts. We give thanks to You Lord, for You are good; and Your steadfast love endures forever. We praise You Lord, with all our inmost beings, we praise Your holy name. We praise You Lord, and forget not all Your benefits. You who forgives all our sins and heals all our diseases. You who redeems our lives from the pit and crowns us with love and compassion. How great is Your love Oh Lord our God. We count our blessings and name them one by one. Thank You for providing for all our needs, protecting us with Your righteousness right hand and Your precious blood, preserving us during disease out-break and war, leading us in the way that we should go, and giving us and our children the gift of salvation. We count our blessings and name them one by one. Thank You Jesus for loving us and taking good care of us. May You bless the work of hands and make all our plans to succeed. May You bless the poor and all those who are suffering among us. May You give us hearts of compassion so that we may reach the street children and empower them, for the glory and honor of Your name. We praise You and honor You, now and forever. Amen
Further reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Galatians 3:29
“If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
INSIGHT
The blessing came through Abraham having been promised that through him all people will be blessed. Christ redeemed us by His precious blood and now we are Abraham’s seed according to the promise. Jesus has thus given us everything that pertains to life and godliness, that is; our physical, material, personal, emotional, social and spiritual needs, and we should give Him all the praise and thanksgiving.
SUMMARY
First, a blessing was a public declaration of a favored status with God. When we bless our children, the favor of Lord locates them and they prosper in their ways. We know that favor before God and men is very important for us to enable us to move from one glory to the next. Jesus grew up in favor and stature. Second, the blessing endowed power for success. In all cases, the blessing served as a guide and motivation to pursue a course of life within the blessing. Genesis 12:2-3 outlines the blessing of God to Abraham, and ultimately to us through Jesus Christ. God said to Abraham, 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 will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:2-3). Blessing our children releases special favor that is intended to result in prosperity and success (Deuteronomy 28:3-7). Thirdly, blessings by parents is an invocation for God’s blessing: “May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful” (Genesis 28:3 ). By becoming joint heir with Christ, we belong to the family of God and possess the Abrahamic blessings. Isaac blessed his children in a special way, proclaiming the dew of heaven and earth’s richness; Abundance of grain and new wine; May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you (Genesis 27:28-29). He also proclaimed God’s blessings, fruitfulness and increase in number upon his children. He also declared the blessings of Abraham upon them where they would inherit land possessed by foreigners. God’s promise to Abraham again serves as a foundation for blessings. Fourthly, the pledge that “all peoples on earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3 ) is fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:8-14 ). He has borne the consequences of the curse for believers (Galatians 3:13 ), and blessed them with the forgiveness of sins (Romans 4:6-9). Fifth, believers are blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3), and now inherit the blessings promised through the patriarchs (Hebrews 6:12-15, 1 Peter 3:9 ). As a result of receiving God’s blessings in Christ, believers are called to be a source of blessing to the world, especially in response to those who persecute them ( Luke 6:27-28 ; Rom 12:14 ; 1 Cor 4:12 ; 1 Peter 3:9). Lastly, blessings our children should not just be a one off activity but we should make it a routine or daily way of prayer. When we bless our children, they obtain their inheritance here on earth and the awaited blessings of hope in the the kingdom of heaven.
PRAYER
Dear Heavenly Father, we come before Your throne of grace today with boldness and thanksgiving. We thank You for the love and mercies that You have newly poured upon us every morning. Lord You have been good to us.Thank You for the precious gift of eternal life that You lovingly gave us when you sent Your Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for us. Now we are Your sons as well. Thank You God for You have good plans for us to prosper us and not to harm us, to give us a future and a hope. Lord we thank You and we honor You for You have always fathered us well and showered us with Your blessings and promises to us as Your children. Father, may You teach us Your ways and guide our steps in You. Where we have sinned against You, may You forgive us and wash us with Your precious blood. We pray that You will remember all the orphans and fatherless children in the society and let them know and see that You are their eternal Father. May You release Your fatherly blessings upon them and walk with them for they are Your children. Remember the widows and be their husband according to Your promise to them. May you walk with us all and guide us for You are our Father and we trust in You and depend on You. May You pour out Your Holy Spirit upon us afresh and lead us in Your ways. May You bless us and keep us Lord. May You make Your face to shine upon us and be gracious unto us. May You turn Your countenance upon us and grant us peace. In Jesus Name we pray, Amen.
Further reading: Matthew 5:5, 1 Peter 1:4