"The Lord Bless You"

I really thought the phrase, "The Lord bless you," would be common in God's Word, but Scripture records this phrase only about half a dozen times. Ruth 2:4 (AMP) is one of these rare occurrences—

And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, The Lord be with you!

And they answered him, The Lord bless you!

Have you ever thought about what "The Lord bless you" really means?

The Hebrew word used for "bless" is barak. It has two basic meanings: to bless or to kneel. As I read Strong's definition and then the expansion on it that the Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon gives, I thought, what a simple prayer to pray for those you meet, "The Lord bless you." It gives the idea of prayer for the Lord to prosper them and for them to bow the knee before the Lord. And, actually, these two things work together. What better thing could anyone have than a life that bows itself before the Lord God Almighty? He is the One who describes Himself as—

The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.

Exodus 34:6b-7

Beth Moore wrote, "Blessing is bowing down to receive the expressions of divine favor that in the inner recesses of the human heart make life worth the bother." I want that for myself, for my husband, for my children, and for all humankind. It would mean a powerful life transformation for any of us.

So, a good question to ask ourselves is do we believe that our prayer of blessing has the power to transform someone's life?

I think if we really believed this to be true, nothing, not one thing, would keep up from a life where prayer is the priority appointment of our day and the place our mind and heart goes in and out of all day. Paul's words to the Ephesians were for them to "pray always. Pray in the Spirit. Pray about everything in every way you know how! And keeping all this in mind, pray on behalf of God’s people. Keep on praying feverishly, and be on the lookout until evil has been stayed." (Ephesians 6:18 VOICE)

Prayer is the one thing that empowers us to overcome the enemy who does not want anyone to receive divine favor. Prayer goes over his head to God Almighty whose Spirit works powerfully, then, to prosper one in a way that he/she bows down before the Lord and receives His blessing.

If you have no other words, "The Lord bless you," will do. These are powerful words of prayer over anyone's life.