Praying the High Priestly Blessing
Praying the High Priestly Blessing.
“The LORD bless you and keep you;
The LORD makes His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
The LORD lift up His face onto you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26).
[Note: Since I generally pray this blessing over my family in morning prayers, I insert “us” in the place of “you.” When I pray this prayer over an individual, I naturally use “you.”]
May the Great I AM remain active in our lives. May Yahweh bless us, provide for us our daily bread. May He sustain us in our daily work and livelihood, enabling us to pay the bills and remain productive in our jobs. And may He keep us, protecting us against whatever may cause us harm. May He keep us from crisis, serious illness, accident or injury. May the Lord protect us in whatever spiritual warfare we may experience. Blessing us and keeping us, may God continue to provide for us and protect us.
May the Great Lord of Life shine His face upon us in friendship. May His eyes light up with fondness when looking upon us. May He deepen our friendship with Him, our union with Him. Thank you that you are not a God who hides His face out of displeasure or anger. May our relationship with the Lord be deeply personal, and may our faces reflect to others the light of your face upon us. May your face shine, Lord, and be the light of our world. Because of Jesus, may we see a smiling face when we see God. We thank you in all humility that we matter to you, that we actually matter to the creator of the universe.
Continue your graces upon us, Lord. Be gracious to us as we go through each day, vulnerable and helpless without your grace. We thank you for how you have been gracious to us in the past, and we pray that you would continue your mercies as we seek to follow you each day. Be tender with us, Lord, and understanding, and compassionate. Thank you that you are full of grace and truth. May our children and grandchildren realize at a deep level that you are a gracious God. We realize, Lord, that the word “gracious” is in the middle of this blessing, and we know that it is your grace that is in the middle of everything in this prayer and in our lives, that quality of yours that makes things happen according to your will. Thank you for your grace.
Lift up your face to us and look at us eye-to-eye, Lord. Look upon us with favor, and don’t pass us by. We pray for your loving attention, that you would turn your face in our direction and share with us a true glimpse of your loving countenance. Thank you, Lord, that you are a personal God who recognizes us, who gives us meaningful eye contact. We thank you that you are pleased to show us your face, King of Glory, that you would deign to be familiar with us, your servants.
O Prince of Peace, give us your peace. Give us peace in our spirit, our heart, our mind. May we be free from anxiety and worrisome thoughts as we seek our peace in you and you alone. May there be freedom from strife and disorder in our family, peace between parent and child, between spouses, between children, between siblings. Please heal any division or discord there may be that would take away from your peace in us. Grant us true shalom in our homes, Lord, a sense of flourishing and wholeness and abundant well-being. Give us peace within each of us and peace with others, through the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.