The Lord spoke to Moses and passed along a prayer of blessing that Aaron and the priests were to pray for the people:

May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.

The phrase make his face shine upon you can also be translated to mean may the Lord smile upon you. We can literally pray for God’s smile.

Aaron’s prayer was meant to help people experience the favor and protection of God. While we should remember this petition for ourselves, it was originally meant to be prayed for others, and we can do so today.

It’s easy to adapt these phrases for someone else. Just substitute the name of the person for whom you’re praying for the word you. Give it a try:

May the Lord bless ________ and protect________. May the Lord smile upon ________ and be gracious to ________. May the Lord show ________ his favor and give ________ his peace.

You and I can do few things for people better than praying that God show them his favor. Praying in this way is addictive. I spent a good bit of time this morning lifting up family and friends as the Holy Spirit brought each to mind.

Pray for God’s smile. It’s not silly or pollyanna-ish, but rather an encouragement from the Lord himself.

Numbers 6:22-27

Photo by Davide Cantelli