B.L.E.S.S. (A tool to use in praying for others)
B = Body (protection, health, strength)
- That God will surround them with a hedge of protection.
"Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land." (Job 1:10)
- That God will establish and maintain their health.
"Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security." (Jer. 33:6)
"Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well." (3 John 1:2)
- That they will be strengthened to accomplish God's will for their lives.
"I can do everything through him who gives me strength." (Phil. 4:13)
L = Labor (work, income, security)
- That they will work diligently and to the glory of God.
"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you." (1 Thess. 4:11)
- That God will enable them to enjoy abundant prosperity.
"But remember the LORD your god, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today." (Deut. 8:18)
"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" (Jer. 29:11)
- That they will enjoy a security that comes from the Lord.
"Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders." (Deut. 33:12)
E = Emotions (joy, peace, encouragement, hope)
- That they will know the joy and peace of living under the shelter of God's love.
"You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound. I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety." (Psalm 4:7-8)
- That they can face life with the encouragement and hope that comes from relationship with Jesus Christ.
"May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word." (2 Thess. 2:16-17)
S = Social (marriage, family, friends, church)
- That their social relationships will flourish as they allow God to cultivate the fruit of the Spirit in their lives.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23)
"If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interest, but also to the interests of others." (Phil. 2:1-4)
- That they will find their place in the Body of Christ (a local church) where they can worship, grow, and serve Him effectively.
"The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it." (1 Cor. 12:12-13, 27)
"Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen." (1 Peter 4:10-11)
S = Spiritual (salvation, faith, grace)
- That they will embrace the gift of God's salvation through Jesus Christ.
"I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels." (Isaiah 61:10)
- That they would be strengthened in faith to comprehend the fullness of God's love for them.
"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:16-19)
- That they would understand God's unconditional love, realizing their service for Christ is not the basis for His love, but is to be an offering of thanksgiving.
"In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all God's people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 2:4-10)
