Praying the High Priestly Blessing
Praying the High Priestly Blessing.
“The LORD Yahweh bless you and keep you;
The LORD Yahweh make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
The LORD Yahweh lift up His face onto you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26).
[Author Note: I imagine that it is acceptable to insert “us” in the place of “you” when praying this blessing over a family or group of people. This prayer of blessing was given to Aaron in a moment of divine inspiration. This high priestly blessing was discovered on two small silver scrolls dated 7th century BC, which makes it the oldest written Scripture known to us at this time. Needless to say, this sacred blessing has stood the test of time in the history of faith.]
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 I AM, the 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. May the radiance of His presence shine on us by taking pleasure in us, like a loving parent smiles in pleasure when with his or her child. May the face of the Lord reveal His divine approval of us. May His shining presence reveal the light of His glory to us in a personal way. May His shining face upon us be like the brilliant sun shining on the surface of the earth to bring about growth and blessing. May your face pulsate with heavenly light, Lord, and be the light of our world. May we see a smiling face when we see God in the holy ground of our heart.
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. We thank you that you have promised us a growing intimacy with you as we seek your face.
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.