Who Am I to Bless the Lord?

Scripture:

Psalm 103:1-2 (Amplified Translation)

1 Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul; and all that is [deepest] within me, bless His holy name!

2 Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul, and forget not [one of] all His benefits—

Observation:

Here, "to bless" means to sing the praises of; or, to practice adoration. This is an alternate meaning to what we usually mean by "bless" - to share ones favour (or the favour of God) with another in a way that empowers and strengthens.

Application:

I don't know if it is because I grew up in the Lutheran church, or maybe just an accident of how my peculiar mind works; but, I used to hear this Psalm (and the various prayers and worship songs that have been spun from it) as pridefully presumptuous. I would hear people say things like, "God, I just want to bless you and praise you..." and I would think, "Seriously? Who are you to bless the Lord? As if God needs, or desires my favour to empower the Divine will." Okay, I wish my response were that elegant. Honestly, it was more like, "yuck!"

A few years ago, I learned a simple acrostic memory aide for understanding some of the different aspects of prayer. It has helped me out of ruts in my prayerfulness more than once and it goes like this: ACTS

Adoration - intentionally (and often poetically) noticing the wonderful

things about who God is. This is a practice of joyfulness

and loving exultation.

Confession - taking a searching moral inventory and sharing this

with God in a spirit of reconciliation. This is a exercise

of humility.

Thanksgiving - we look for the many and various ways by which

God blesses us and we celebrate God's tangible

providence and activity in our lives. This is a

cultivation of gratitude.

Supplication - we pour out our longings and desires to God, asking

in hopeful expectation (as children as parents) for

God to intervene to bring justice, healing and mercy

to further fulfillment in the world. This is trains our

faith and trust in God alone.

So today, does God need my blessing, or yours?  Perhaps not.  

On the other hand, scripture and tradition seem both to commend our offering of loving exultation before and to the Lord. It is probably not a sufficient way to address God at all times if we are to grow as disciples of Christ Jesus. Then again, if we forego it completely, we might just be intentionally impoverishing our conversation and communion with the Lord.

Today, I feel a tug in the direction of adoration and confession. I will lean into those prayer postures and search for what God is offering me there.

How about you? What is your default prayer posture? What comes most easily to you? Why do you think that is? What do you buck against? Why might that be?

Prayer:

Holy God, Holy and immortal, Holy and eternal. To You alone belongs all glory and from You alone flows every blessing. You are Creator. You are Redeemer. You are Sanctifier.

Lord, I do not always return to You any portion of what You so freely and graciously provide. Sometimes it is an indication of my pride. Other times it is because of my shame. Either way, it is sinful. I ask for your forgiveness. I hope that You will continue the work you have begun in me and show me a better way to love and serve You and the world through You.

I thank you for the ACTS teaching and for the faithful teachers and Saints who have pointed me to more fruitful ways of praying. For Pastor Randy Mohr, for Pastor Randy Meissner, for many and various pentecostal brothers and sisters, I give you thanks. I pray you would continually pour out your grace and favour over them.

Amen.