Read: Numbers 6:24-26; 2 Corinthians 13:14
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Cor. 13:14)
As we continue looking at the subject of prayer, I would like to turn our attention to some of the actual prayers that are contained in the Bible. There is much benefit in not only studying these prayers, but actually praying them as our own prayers.
The first of these are the words God instructed Aaron and his sons to pray as a blessing over the people of Israel. Along with that prayer, I would also like us to look at the apostle Paul’s prayer of blessing at the end of 2 Corinthians—because there is something very similar about them.
I have used both of these blessings as benedictions in a church setting at the end of a worship service. Although they are blessings, they are also prayers that God will be with his people who have gathered for worship as they go out to their homes and beyond. The message is that our gracious and loving God will never abandon his people but will be with them always.
Sometimes the best words to pray are the words of God directly from the Bible. They can somehow touch people’s lives in the way that our own prayers do not. As someone once told me after I prayed the Aaronic benediction, “It felt like God himself was praying over me.”
As you pray, use these blessings to bless someone you know.
About the Author
Rev. John C. Koedyker is an ordained minister in the Reformed Church in America. He has served as a missionary to Japan as well as pastor of several churches in Iowa and Michigan. Until recently he served Muskegon Classis as its Stated Clerk for 18 years. He resides in Grand Haven, Michigan.
