Every believer and all those in ministry are invariably involved in praying for and seeking blessings for healing or a job or any other worldly issue for others. In this mostly we tend to forget and seek blessings for self or our close ones. If we do not bless ourselves in the name and authority of our Savior Lord, we either do not value our own life or do not feel it necessary to do so to seek and live life of abundance that He has promised.
Meaning of blessing oneself – The command from the LORD God is clear, ‘He who blesses himself on the earth shall bless himself by the True God, and whoever swears on the earth shall swear by the True God, for the first troubles have been forgotten and they have been hidden from My eyes’ (Isaiah 65:16). Firstly God expects us to bless ourselves and secondly, we can do this in the name, power and authority of the LORD for the Son of God has restored us to the lost relationship with God and made us a part of His Divine family. King Solomon has said, ‘I returned and saw under the sun that – the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill’ (Ecclesiastes 9:11). The same message is given by the LORD God to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power but by My Spirit’ for success is only under His guidance and power (Zechariah 4:6).
God assured the Israelites of abundance of everything and that they ‘shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; and My people shall never be put to shame. Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the LORD your God and there is no other. my people shall never be put to shame. And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions’ (Joel 2:26-28). All of these blessings shall be on ‘all flesh’ and not on the chosen few of a particular race or nation only. But it is in a way selective also, for only they can receive these who believe and receive the Son of God and develop a relationship with Him (John 1:12). The blessing is available to all, but only they can lay claim to these, who have the details of the source. The procedure of blessing will thus be that knowledge will be available to all but only those who use the name of the True God will know how to laud themselves for being the servants of the True God, the God of truth. Blessing source is given from God and once we receive Him, we receive the right to bless ourselves.
What is the meaning of this type of blessing? Basically when we bless ourselves we align ourselves with God and with His thinking about us. We have the option of aligning with God or with the devil and then live our lives as per that thinking. What does God think about a believer? ‘You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His (God’s) own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light’ (1 Peter 2:9). Every believer is personally chosen by God to be part of His family and as His children we become royalty, belonging to the King of kings and LORD of lords and His special people. What does the devil think of you? All the thoughts that crop up about being a failure or one with no future are from Satan for that is what he desires each one of us to be. These are his thoughts that he tries to plant into our minds.
The LORD God declares about His thoughts that He thinks towards us, ‘thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope’ (Jeremiah 29:11). This is not for the rich, wise and powerful people but for all (Matthew 11:28-29) who are heavily loaded with the burdens that the devil has put on them, to give those to Lord Jesus and find rest in Him. When I bless myself I declare these and all other blessings on myself for that is what the Lord desires to give me and the devil wants to keep me away. Blessing is firstly, to consecrate or render holy or prosperous; second, to give honor and glory and finally it is a call to God to protect and make it happen. It is just like saying ‘Amen’ at the end of our prayers.
The procedure for blessing oneself – When we try to do it, the first thought will be, how can I bless myself? But the Scripture is clear, ‘He who invokes a blessing on himself’ and not when someone else says a blessing. It is not about having positive thoughts but declaring the word of God over you. We cannot wait for the feelings about the blessings to come, to start declaring. ‘Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God’ and when you bless yourself and the blessing is pronounced, the ear hear and repetition starts affecting our thoughts (Romans 10:17). Our faith then starts acting in our lives and the results become visible.
God desires a close fellowship with His people and our Holy God is enthroned in the praises or worship of Israel (Psalm 22:3). The psalmist provided the way to enter into God’s presence ‘with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise’ and blessings proclaimed as per God’s Word and in His presence carry the weight of His power (Psalm 100:4-5). King David was called the ‘man of God’s heart’ for he learnt that the way to His presence is through worship and praise and in the wilderness with the sheep he wrote and sang songs of praise. He declares, ‘I will worship toward Your holy temple, and praise Your name for Your loving-kindness and Your truth; for You have magnified Your word above all Your name’ (Psalm 138:2). During captivity in Babylon, Prophet Daniel had an upper room ‘with his windows opening towards Jerusalem’ and he would pray three times facing Jerusalem, for He knew that is God’s chosen place (Daniel 6:10). To enter into God’s presence I must know where He is, now within each believer in His Spirit.
Since worship is about expressing our love towards God, He acknowledges and His love is poured out on us in return. God desires us to bless and ask in His name, that is as per His character and past behavior towards me and others. He chose me despite all of my sins and blessed me in so many ways and I can look forward to the same in future also. God is love, He is mighty and just and desires to give each believer ‘life of abundance’ but He has magnified His word above that also (Psalm 138:2). He surpasses all that we know of Him, when we declare a blessing as per His promises in the Scripture. His presence during worship and prayer provides an intimate interaction and a chance for us to join Him as He works in and through us.
For blessing generally placing of hands is necessary – While proclaiming blessings upon oneself placing of right hand on the head or any other body part as required may be done. The blessings must be spoken to be heard also and when I say, ‘I am healthy’ that starts in my body. When the medical reports turn positive, we accept a healthy state, though nothing changes before we see the report and after. In blessings it is the opposite, I have to first declare I am healthy so that good health could show up in me. God’s Holy Spirit works and deals with our spirit deep within us and the spirit then communicates to the soul and through that to the body the effect of the declared blessings. Once I start declaring health, the message is getting embedded in the soul and also the body and any action of any evil spirit also gets broken.
The subconscious mind receives the blessing spoken repeatedly and starts pulling us towards that result. I do not have to do this in front of other people or before a mirror, but when alone and anywhere, driving, bathing or doing other work, I would keep doing this. Abraham received a change of name by God to make him and Sarah, his wife hear this blessing in their changed name, from all who met him. Angel Gabriel conveyed God’s message to Zacharias, the priest, about birth of a son in his old age but before this that in his unbelief, he could say something like a curse to lose the blessing, he was told, ‘you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place’ (Luke 1:19-20). Solomon clarifies this further, ‘Death and life are in the power of the tongue’ (Proverbs 18:21). The psalmist claimed the blessing of God by blessing himself, ‘I will say of the LORD, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust’ (Psalm 91:2). He goes on to declare many other blessings on himself in the psalm.
When we bless ourselves, our subconscious mind starts pulling us towards what we speak. Every human being is of great importance to God but that does not help someone who does not feel valued from within. By declaring what God thinks about you, you affirm that to happen. When someone else blesses you, his words do not carry the same authority as your own words for you and doing this every morning is to prepare our inner man, the mind, soul, spirit, and emotions for the day. It is not a one time or one day thing but repeated declaration many times a day, every day. Simple statements about one’s inability to do something or to stop a habit is actually declaring a curse, for we can lift ourselves up or push down with our spoken words. In speaking defeat about the future, we cooperate with the forces of darkness, who are ever ready to lead us astray from our destiny.
The ten spies gave a negative report about the Promised Land that the LORD had already given to them but they called themselves ‘like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight (the Canaanites)’ (Numbers 13:33). Joshua and Caleb entered the land but the others died in the wilderness due to their self proclaimed curse on themselves. The Scripture says, ‘Let the weak say, ‘I am strong’ and we are to proclaim strength (Joel 3:10). Prophet Elisha’s house was surrounded by the Syrian army but in faith he could declare, ‘those who are with us are more than those who are with them’ (2 Kings 6:15-16). God opened his servant’s eyes and he saw ‘horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha’.
Every believer has the same blessings and Lord Jesus declared John the Baptist as greater than all those born of a woman before him (Matthew 11:11). But then He said about a believer, ‘he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he’. What higher blessing can a believer ask for? We have to declare and claim these blessings for self and pronounce to make the forces of evil hear this.
What blessings may be declared on self – All promises of God are for us since the Son of God has fulfilled every one of these. We can start by declaring the blessing that Aaron, the High Priest was commanded by God to place upon the Israelites. The LORD God is with me always to bless me, to keep me and to be gracious to me and to give me peace (Numbers 6:24-26)
God has chosen me to be part of His heavenly family and has forgiven all my sins and prepared a place for me in His heavenly mansion to let me have eternal life in His presence (John 15:16 & 14:1-4).
I am blessed with the indwelling Holy Spirit who teaches me all things and reminds me of the word of the Lord (John 14:26). He strengthens me, fills me with His love and helps me to exercise self control in all situations (2 Timothy 1:7).
Lord Jesus has given me authority over all demonic forces and over all ‘power of the enemy’ (the devil) and nothing can hurt me (Luke 10:19).
Lord Jesus bore all my sickness, curses and weaknesses on His body and by His stripes I am completely healed in my body and soul (1 Peter 2:24 & Isaiah 53:5).
The devil cannot steal or destroy anything that I have for I am blessed with abundant life in Lord Jesus (John 10:10) and have no dearth of anything for the LORD is my Shepherd (Psalm 23:1).
I have been promised by my Lord that I can ask Him anything that brings glory to His name and He will grant me that (John 14:13).
I am strengthened with all power, according to God’s glorious might and filled with patience and joy (Colossians 1:11).
I can do all things through Lord Jesus who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13) and I am blessed, that through faith I can do all that the Lord did and even greater things than that, for His power works in me (John 14:12).
I do not fear death for even though I die, I will live eternally with the LORD in heaven (John 11:25-26). In like manner we can claim and declare all blessings on self to live a life filled with success, peace and joy.
God has blessed us with the greatest blessing on us by restoring our close relationship with Him through the sacrifice of His Son on the cross. But invariably our focus remains on what we desire and do not have, rather than on innumerable things He has given and continues to provide. As a result we neither are able to enjoy what we have nor have peace due to our always chasing of future blessings to come. When we do not consider and declare ourselves blessed, how can someone else. We are children of God and nothing shall He withhold from us. We might as well believe this and enjoy life.
