----"God said to Solomon, "Because your greatest desire is to help your people and you did not ask for wealth, riches, fame, or even even the death of your enemies or a long life, but rather you asked for wisdom and knowledge to properly govern my people--I will certainly give you the wisdom and knowledge you requested. But I will also give you wealth, riches, and fame such as no other king has had before you or will ever have in the future!"
Our Lord came not to be served but to serve others" (Matthew 20:28) ~~ Solomon could have had anything he wanted. God told him, "Ask, and I will give it to you!" (2 Chronicles 1:7). So Solomon asked for wisdom, because he genuinely wanted to help his people more than he wanted to help himself. And because of that, God blessed him more than he could have imagined.
We're blessed when we bless others. Solomon affirmed this in Proverbs: "Those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed" (Proverbs 11:25). With that in mind, the "blessing prayers" are among the most refreshing in the Bible. There are prayers for exalting God, prayers that seek His kindness for others, and also requests for personal blessings.
Most of the blessing prayers in God's Word are prayers of intercession that were prayed aloud for others to hear. They start early in the Old Testament and keep coming all the way through the Revelation. They are beautiful examples of "love on its knees" where the benefit of others is the main goal of what is asked.
Praying like this lifts our vision to the goodness of God and stretches our souls. The blessing prayers of the Bible help us follow in the footsteps of Jesus who "came not to be served but to serve others" (text).
God wants to replace the unfulfilling "lean and hungry" self-focus of our old sin nature with better things. His Word encourages us in Philippians to "take an interest in others" just as Jesus did. He "gave up his divine privileges" so that we may be saved and blessed forever. As a result, "God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all names" (2:4,7,9). God's best personal blessings often come into our lives through unexpected routes, in moment when we're reaching beyond ourselves for what pleases Him most of all.
Need to be encouraged and refreshed? God's Word makes the way to this blessing clear. May He richly bless others through you as you pray, and as you bless Him for His faithfulness! In the end, you will be blessed most of all. ~~
--"Praying The Prayers of the Bible/JB~ --"What A Beautiful Name" // Hillsong / Brooke Ligertwood // https://youtu.be/CUBBIddm_rM ~~~~~~~~~~
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." [John 14:6]
