Copyright: © 1998 Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. This document may be freely reproduced for non-commercial purposes with credit and mention of the Lift Up Your Hearts web site http://www.worship.ca/ as the source.

Acts of Worship appeared as a series of articles in Canada Lutheran, the magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. Richard Stetson is Assistant to the Bishop with responsibility for worship.

A blessing bears power.

Continually blessing and being blessed in God's service sets life itself apart for holy use.

The concept of blessing is principally a spiritual one; even though when we are told to count our blessings it is the material things like food, shelter and human family and companionship that often come to mind, the concept of blessing sets apart or sanctifies someone or something for holy use.

The words of blessing used at the end of the Communion celebration and at the close of the service set Christians apart and send them out for God's purposes. A blessing bears power, so much so that Jacob tricked his brother Esau and father Isaac out of the blessing that traditionally belonged to the firstborn (Genesis 25:29-34 and 27).

The history of God's people shows that we are not meant only to receive blessings, but also to offer them. "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name." The familiar words from Psalm 103 are one of the many calls in scripture to bless our God.

Spontaneous blessings like this have long been a part of Jewish prayer and devotion. Such blessings would have been deeply embedded in the prayer life of Jesus.

At the time of Jesus, Jewish prayer life was taking on the form that it has now kept for nearly 2,000 years. The weekday prayers, morning, afternoon and evening, begin with 19 blessings, the tefilla. Opening with praise and thanksgiving to God, they continue with prayers for discernment, forgiveness, health, well-being and peace.

The berachot (Hebrew for blessings) are short prayers for various occasions. They each begin, "Blessed are you, Lord " A Jewish authority, Norman Solomon, has commented, "These blessings are said on occasions when one derives enjoyment or inspiration from God's world, as for instance when eating, drinking, hearing thunder, seeing beautiful things or smelling the fragrance of flowers."

He notes that through these simple, short prayers, uttered dozens of times a day by observant Jews, the most humble person learns to appreciate God's daily blessings.