Last fall, an unexpected message from one of my PCCWeb Daily e-mail friends contained the following Scripture:

Numbers 6:24-26 – The Lord bless you and watch, guard, and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon and enlighten you and be gracious (kind, merciful, and giving favour) to you; the Lord lift up His [approving] countenance upon you and give you peace (tranquility of heart and life continually). (AMP)

As I had been seeking guidance about my daily prayer practice, this Scripture proved to be a strong clue. At the time, each morning, I was saying intercessory prayers, but I had sensed that more was needed. My heart was not quite tranquil about what I was doing with my intercessions made unto the Lord.

I meditated on the passage and the surrounding verses in The Amplified Bible and in other versions, and I did a word study on the whole passage from Numbers 6:22-27 in order to understand. The Lord gave this instruction directly to Moses about blessing His people. After giving the exact words to say, as quoted above in Numbers 6:24-26, the Lord explains:

Numbers 6:27 – So they shall put My name on the sons of Israel, and I Myself will bless them. (Interlinear Bible)

The English meanings of the Hebrew words are:

• "put" – to impute an attribute, to ascribe a quality by vicarious substitution
• "name" (in the biblical sense) – character, attributes, and nature
• "bless" (as directed to people) – to give benefit

What He meant was that He gives His benefits to people who have His character, attributes, and nature marked, imputed, ascribed, attributed, or placed by vicarious substitution on them. God gave us His Word: His benefits will follow the saying of the blessing He gave.

I added blessing to my daily practice of prayers, supplications, intercessions, and thanksgivings. I also became much more intentional to speak blessing to other people. "Tranquility of heart and life continually" increased for me.

Prayer: We express joyous gratitude to You, Father! Thank You that we may increase in knowing Your grace, mercy, and favour. Thank You for the Bible, Your Word, that lets us learn Your ways. Thank You, too, Father, for Christ's redemptive work on our behalf. In Jesus' name, we come boldly to Your throne of grace in order to see Your kingdom come. Amen.

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About the author:

Pat Bell <llebpat@gmail.com>
Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada
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