While driving to church yesterday morning, I caught a snippet of the radio preacher telling a story. He was describing the setting of a men's prayer meeting he had attended years ago. One by one the men would stand up and ask for the Lord's blessing...asking him to bless the church family, the missionaries, the evangelizing efforts, the church meetings, etc. Then, one man stood up and prayed a prayer unlike any other man had prayed thus far. He asked that God would only bless the list of things already mentioned only if He found them worthy to be blessed.
That made me think, "Am I living a life that God would find worthy to bless?" Hmm. What kind of people does God bless? I found my answer to that question in Matthew chapter 5. Here are examples from the Bible of people God will bless:
- blessed are they that mourn (verse 4)
- blessed are the meek (verse 5)
- blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness (verse 6)
- blessed are the merciful (verse 7)
- blessed are the pure in heart (verse 8)
- blessed are the peacemakers (verse 9)
Am I an example of these characteristics? Sometimes. Could I stand to work on building these characteristics in myself? Absolutely! I desire to have God's blessings upon me and upon my life so the above list will be printed out and hung on my fridge. I need the daily reminder to continually work on these things. I also need a daily reminder to not just always ask for God to bless something (bless my day, my work, my food, my family and friends). Before I ask Him to bless me or my requests, I want to make sure I am doing my best to be worthy of his blessings.
This is a good reminder sis, we can't expect God to answer our requests if we aren't walking in step with Him, can we? I think of a verse in the book of Psalms, if I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me. Blessed are the pure in heart. Thank you sis!
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