Every person in life brings blessings and curses not only to themselves, but also to their descendants. Everything that comes from the Creator is good, for God Himself is Good. This is His name. God's blessing is the highest gift a Christian can receive.
In the 21st century, many people go to church, but have no idea what the essence of blessings from the Almighty is, and how important it is for being happy in this hectic life. Living in constant trouble and sorrow, a Christian must deal with generational curses. Knowing the principles of receiving a blessing, a person will try never to lose it.
God's blessing is true happiness
What is a blessing
Divide the word “Blessing” into two, we get “good” and “word”. Theologians know that Good is one of the names of the Lord, God’s word and it is God Himself. The Gospel of John begins with precisely these words.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The Lord cannot be separated from good, and everything that comes from Him is filled with purity and goodness for man. To bless means to give a gift.
About blessing in Orthodoxy:
- How to correctly ask and receive a blessing from the priest
- Icon "Blessing of Children"
- What icon to bless children with before the wedding
The word blessing hides Divine help, His approval and mercy, protection and grace.
Often Christians in prayer ask the Almighty to bless them, thus calling the presence of the Creator and Savior into life. Sometimes people say to each other: “God bless you,” thereby wishing a person good luck, a solution to a problem, or recovery.
Calling for help from the Almighty is based on faith in the almighty power of the Savior Jesus Christ, God the Father and the Holy Spirit.
Divine help
Everything in this life comes from God's word, for the Almighty gives blessing to humanity, and there is no end to it.
God's blessing is endless throughout the universe and time, He fills everything he has created:
- truth;
- order;
- gifts;
- laws;
- love and much more.
In search of mercy and compassion, law and mercy, guidance and expression of will, people ask for God's blessing.
Important! God's blessing is a special gift from the Creator for the spiritual, mental and physical life of a person, given through prayer, petition and faith.
How to turn to God before starting any good deed
Before work, or any other task, when the need for support from above is felt, a believer can read:
- “Our Father...” is a prayer commanded by the Lord Himself;
- “To the Heavenly King” is usually read before the start of the teaching;
- special prayers for the beginning of the work, placed in Orthodox prayer books;
- finally, having no time at all for even a short prayer, it is enough to simply cross yourself: seeing a person’s faith, the Lord will help him.
A special form of blessing is a church prayer pronounced by a clergyman. She calls upon pure grace for the work being started, if it is the will of God.
Prayer for blessing: what is it like?
In such cases, believers come to the temple or invite the priest home. Among the prayers read by the priest:
- a prayer to the Holy Spirit about the beginning of any work - read during the prayer service;
- for the blessing of every thing; at the same time, there are special prayers for the consecration of the pectoral cross and icon;
- prayers for travelers - read during a special prayer service;
- prayers for the blessing of the house - are part of a special sequence for the consecration of the home; There is also a separate ceremony for laying the “temple” and blessing the construction.
Interesting fact
In total, the Orthodox Trebnik contains several dozen similar prayers for different occasions.
Special prayers: for the beginning of the New Year, for students and others
There are also prayers performed under circumstances that require the conciliar prayer of the clergy and believers.
Prayer service for the blessing of the New Year
The tradition of this prayer developed relatively recently and is associated with the custom of celebrating the civil New Year. It appeared under Peter I, and took root during the Soviet years, when Christmas ceased to be the main holiday in December.
Despite the fact that the church new year traditionally falls on September 1 (14 New Art), as early as September 30, 1917, the Local Council decided on the desirability of prayer singing on December 31 or January 1. On this day, clergy and believers ask for help for the new “summer of God’s goodness.”
In many churches, a prayer service is held on the evening of December 31, and the festive liturgy begins at 12 o'clock at night. Thus, Orthodox Christians who want to spend the New Year's holiday with spiritual joy have the opportunity to receive Holy Communion on New Year's Eve.
Help for teachers and students
Another tradition in recent years is a special prayer singing on August 31, before the start of classes in schools and universities. Schoolchildren, students, and teachers come to these services. In addition to special prayers, the names of believers who hope for support from above in the new school year are remembered at the prayer service.
“Do not enter into judgment with Your servants...”
Finally, in recent years the Church has prayed:
- about peace in Ukraine, where civil conflict has been going on for several years;
- about overcoming the church schism that arose after the “autocephaly” of the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine”;
- about getting rid of the coronavirus pandemic.
Who may or may not receive a blessing
The Lord Himself has determined those upon whom He pours out His special anointing and help. No man has a right to divine benefits because of sinfulness, but God gives them to us upon request with humility. Only a humble heart can be looked upon by the Lord.
Through the prophet Isaiah (Is.66:2), the Creator says that His grace is poured out on those who are humble in heart and contrite in spirit.
A humble person can receive God's blessing
Only awareness of one's sinfulness will lead to humility and then to holiness.
You can measure the completeness of your humility by analyzing your attitude towards the expected praise from people, the desire to excel, the need to be recognized.
- A humble person will never allow himself to have high self-conceit, and will not praise his talents and abilities; he will give all the glory to the Lord.
- Humility does not live next to resentment and insult, the inability to forgive and a painful reaction to criticism.
- Humility suppresses grumbling about your life and financial situation, gossip and dissatisfaction with the world around you.
- A humble person tends to have a soft heart, a meek disposition, tenderness, compassion and a willingness to help any person in need.
The Lord is ready to bless not only good people, His rain of grace pours over all people. (Matthew 5:45)
Those who believe in the Savior Christ are especially blessed; the Apostle John writes that he who believes in Jesus already has eternal life. (John 3:36)
Important! This means that the Almighty, although a merciful Father, is also a strict Judge. He punishes disobedience for the good of the person himself. And this is His mercy.
God's blessing is poured out on those who put God first in their lives and revere Him.
God blesses people who submit to His will
There is a certain category of people in the world for whom the sun of the Creator’s mercy will pour out when they get rid of their shortcomings:
- lack of faith in the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ;
- pride and arrogance, because “God opposes the proud”;
- worship of the golden calf;
- disobedience and disobedience.
More about sins in Orthodoxy:
- Eight deadly sins and the fight against them
- The sin of vanity and the fight against it
- About the sin of love of money
Place of Grace
Now the place of God's grace is Anathoth. This place of fulfilled prayers was purchased for us by Jesus Christ and now belongs to us. We are now free to accept the blessing. Why didn't God give us simply fulfilled prayers?
Why would Jesus pay for this?
Because God is fair. God's love wants to give us blessing, but God's justice says, "You must be completely obedient in order to be in that place of grace, in the place of fulfilled prayers."
A comment!
None of us can be obedient. Therefore Jesus came as the Redeemer. He received the place of grace by paying with His Blood, and in that place of grace there is a place of fulfilled prayers - Anathoth.
God is going to show the evidence of His redemption in our lives, and He has put His seal on it.
(Jer 32:10 -12) And he wrote it in a book and sealed it, and called witnesses to it, and weighed out the money on the scales. And I took the bill of sale. Both sealed by law and charter, and open. And I gave this bill of sale to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel the son of my uncle, and in the sight of the witnesses who signed this bill of sale, in the sight of all the Jews who sat in the courtyard of the guard;
Someone has received a testimony of the work of redemption.
Types and ways of blessings
Just as a person consists of spirit, soul and body, so God blesses on three levels.
Spiritual path
At this level, Christians receive several types of special anointing from the Almighty.
All people on earth are sinners, but by the power of the blood of Jesus, Christians receive justification and forgiveness of all sins that they bring to the cross during repentance, confession and communion.
The Great and Almighty Creator is open to the depth of His knowledge; during spiritual growth, people are filled with spiritual joy and special values. The Holy Spirit is open to baptism and filling by Him to all who seek the face of God.
Christians gain strength to join the church, to serve in God’s field, so that at the end of the journey they will receive the greatest reward—eternal life.
Soulful path
When the Lord blesses Christians, there is peace of mind and peace of mind in their hearts. Where can anxiety come from if everything is under the protection of the Creator?
Families blessed by the Almighty live in love, respect, help for each other and mutual understanding. Where God's anointing is sent, there is no worry about tomorrow, food or finances.
The Lord grants blessing to believers
Bodily way
A person filled with spiritual and mental benefits also receives physical support in the form of healing and health. A morally healthy person adapts well to the work team, he quickly rises through the ranks and is treated with respect by management.
The Lord gives faithful followers of wisdom the wisdom to be enterprising in order to achieve financial prosperity, in which part of the funds is brought into God's house to support it and the servants.
The Almighty blesses the earth and what it produces.
Heals, thanks
We build our future with words. Blessings are those words that give us the opportunity to develop and move on. By blessing others, we put material in the form of words into the hands of God, and he will already prepare the future for us. Blessing is like a medicine that counters the “viruses” that infect our body and our soul, restoring our strength. You can’t slander yourself, claim that I can’t do anything, I don’t have the funds for it, and the like. Thank the Lord for what you have (health, children), and he will increase your wealth.
Gratitude is also a blessing because it is a sign of humility. And grace descends on the humble. If you thank people for some service or work, you thereby acknowledge the fact that you needed them. By saying words of gratitude, you are sending them words of blessing. What passes through your mouth will come back to you a hundredfold.
Laughing is Allowed in Church: The Birth of Isaac
Receiving a blessing means rejoicing
Abraham did not have children for a very long time. When God came and told Abraham they were having a child, what was the reaction? God came to Abraham with two angels and said that they would have a son.
Sarah overheard and said to herself: “I am already old and should I have pleasure with my master, who is also old?” (Genesis 18:12)
And she laughed. She had an interesting question: she didn't say she was having a baby. Her eyes weren't on the result. She wanted to enjoy her master.
As long as you enjoy your Lord, the result will be perfect.
She laughed inside herself. Sarah and Abraham had a sense of humor and loved to laugh. God said: I heard Sarah laugh. Is anything hard for God?
"I didn't laugh."
“No, I laughed.”
And then God Himself named the child Isaac - laughter.
The Ishmaels always mock those who laugh—the Isaacs. We didn’t even notice how the generation of Isaacs came - the generation of grace. And Sarah said: “God made me laugh, everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.”
Long after Sarah had mastered laughter, she was laughing inside before she saw Isaac outside.
(Isaiah 54:1) Rejoice, O barren, unbearable woman; shout and shout.
This is talking about Sarah.
Don't worry about the results - those who laugh will get more results. Do it God's way - laugh first. There is a verse in Job 5:22: “You will laugh at the desolation and famine, and you will not fear the beasts of the earth.”
