Can I bless another person?

In 2011 I was working as a heating technician and my job for the evening was to work with a heavy-lift crew on a large boiler repair. Their job was to do the heavy lifting and remove a boiler section that weighed near 800 lbs. During that evening a member of the heavy-lift crew sneezed and I said, “God bless you.” The redheaded foreman, a man who stood about 6’-4”, turned and instructed, “Nobody on Earth has the authority to bless.” I was a bit stunned as I had never heard such a reply, or rebuke. Later during break I asked the foreman, “isn’t there anybody on Earth who can bless?” He thought a second and said, “I suppose Pastors and Priests can.” I grinned assuredly, “Well then, I guess I am all set.” He looked at me and I looked at him. My eyes confident and his inquisitive. “You are a pastor?” I smiled and enlightened him, “Pastor Mark, at your service.” He shook his head and conceded, “Well, I guess you’re okay, then.” 

Are you like this man, where you do not bless others because you are not “authorized?” Or, do you not bless because you are not worthy, or perhaps maybe you lack the confidence. Be assured you can bless.

What is a blessing? 

At the root level, a blessing is simply one person pronouncing good will, that is, some sort of benefit like good health or favor on another person. For instance, one day while sitting at a Mexican restaurant waiting for my food I smiled at one of the Mexican workers and she smiled back and said, “Provecho.” Being a new Spanish student I quickly looked up the word and discovered that it means, “benefit.” She was blessing me with the hope of receiving a benefit from the meal I was about to consume. A blessing is not a wish based in happenstance or luck. A blessing is based upon knowledge and authority and this kind Mexican server based her blessing on the knowledge that Emiliano was the head chef and whatever meal he prepared you were surely going to enjoy. Had she said, “Suerte” (good luck), then the meal would have been left to chance and I may or may not have had a good experience. She had knowledge that informed her blessing, and it was a fabulous meal. 

Who can bless? 

Bible verses like Romans 12:14 encourage followers of Jesus to bless and not curse, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and curse not.” NASB Believers are not to be accusers, gossips, slanderers, or speak ill in any way. Why? Because believers are united through the Holy Spirit and have the authority to bless based upon the truth that they are children of God and co-heirs with Jesus, “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, :17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, …Rom 8:16-17 NASB Followers of Jesus have the unique position to be able to use this partnership with Christ to intercede for others. Believers have direct access to the throne of God. 

Part of the authority of a blessing can be found in Jesus’ teaching about forgiveness when He instructed, “ "Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” Matt18:18 NASB. Christians are living representatives of Jesus here on Earth and when a believer blesses another believer as a child of God they have the authority to bless because they have His presence through the Holy Spirit.

A few years ago, when leaving a dear friends house I said, “God bless you,” to he and his wife. As was his normal parting he bid me good-bye, that is, he didn’t return the blessing. I turned and asked why he never blessed me when we said our good-byes? He is from the Roman Catholic faith originally and confided that he held a similar line of thinking as the foreman mentioned above, "only pastors/priests bless.” I quoted him Romans 8:16 & 17 that we are, “…children of God, :17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” NASB. You see, as a believer you are one with our Lord through the Holy Spirit and as such have authority to bless others. You do not need to be a minister, elder, pastor, priest, or deacon. 

Receiving a blessing

Back in the 80’s an itinerant preacher named Derek Prince spoke of blessing his children. His wife was Jewish and taught that the Jews had a practice of blessing their children every Friday evening. The father would use his parental authority and intercede for his children by asking God to bless them. 

When my children were school age I would daily bless them before school. Somedays I would have to chase them down to bless them. Other days they would run into my arms before the bus would come and say, “Bless me.” I would embrace them and say a combination of Aaron’s prayer, the prayer of Jabez, and a bit of my own, like so, “Lord thank-you for (insert child’s name) please bless and keep him/her with wisdom, knowledge, great understanding, discernment, may Your face shine upon them, Lord bless them, bless them indeed, may You keep them from evil and evil things, and expand their territory, in Jesus’ name, Amen.” 

We don’t hear much from, or about, Jabez in all of Scripture, but his contribution is worth our consideration. The prayer he shares is found in 1 Chronicles 4:10 were we read of Jabez seeking God and His blessing, "Oh that You would bless me indeed and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from harm that it may not pain me!" And God granted him what he requested. 

The other portion of my daily blessing is from Aarons famous prayer, “Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, :23 ”Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, 'Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them: :24 The LORD bless you, and keep you; :25 The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; :26 The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.’ :27 ”So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them.”” Numbers 6:22-27 NASB

Go and do likewise

Now that the children are gone I still pronounce that same blessing everyday over my wife and I as we embrace to say our daily good-byes. In the evening I bless us for a good nights sleep and for protection. That evening prayer goes something like this, “Lord, thank-You for this day, please bless us with a good condensed sleep, build a hedge of protection around us and keep us in Your care. Would You wake us totally rested, in Jesus’ name, amen.” 

Now it is your turn to bless others. Your spouse, your children, your parents, and especially the grand-children are waiting for you to take authority and bless them.