“Deep personal blessing carries more power when you become a treasure hunter who accurately discerns someone’s unique identity and potential. You can learn to mine the gold in others’ souls.”- Alan Wright
Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. . . . And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.”- Matthew 16:17-18 (NIV)
In Chapter 11 (“You Can Learn to Bless Anyone”), the final chapter of The Power to Bless, Alan Wright lists prayer and God’s Word as your most important spiritual tools. Above all, powerful blessing starts with prayer. As Martin Luther once said, “Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance; it is laying hold of His willingness.”
Hence, Pastor Wright concludes with four steps to craft a personal blessing.
Step 1: Remember the essentials of the Ephraim and Manasseh blessing. When you bless someone, Alan observes, this should be your first thought. How can this person, through my blessing, gain greater security in God’s love and mine? Because blessing empathizes, it heals rather than judges. In addition, your blessing helps others discover their gifts and virtues. That, in turn, empowers them to bear much fruit. And you affirm the unmerited favor of God.
Step 2: Highlight others’ virtues that you see more clearly than they do. As you bless, you excavate hidden wealth. You joyfully discover the gold in someone else’s life.
Step 3: Affirm true identity. Blessing moves beyond identifying unnoticed virtues and life opportunities. Above all, blessing assigns authentic identity as it globalizes the meaning of those possibilities.
Furthermore, Gary Smalley and John Trent, in their classic book The Gift of Blessing, advocate using ‘word pictures’ to bless others. Just as Jacob did with his twelve sons. For example, Jacob called Joseph a ‘fruitful bough.’
Step 4: Attach positive possibilities to the identity. Through pointing others to a positive future, you activate hope in their souls.
Today’s question: When have you bestowed a deep personal blessing on someone? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Loaded with the Master’s treasures”
