Blessing Others Through Your Prayers

I recently had someone share with me an acronym (B.L.E.S.S.) that can be used as a prayer guide to lead you in praying for others. It was simple and practical so I decided to turn it into a sermon outline preached it this last Sunday. Here it is.

Body – Pray for the person’s healing or continued health.

Matthew 15:29-31
29Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. 30Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. 31The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.

Asking for healing and continued health is nothing new to Jesus. He has been asked countless times and history is filled with the testimonies of those whom he has blessed with health.

Labor – Pray that the person’s actions, whether at work or at home, would honor Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:20
20We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.

As Christians we are the representatives of Christ. When we misrepresent Him through selfish actions we are showing the world a Jesus that doesn’t exist.

Emotional – Pray for the person’s emotional well being, that they would constantly feel the love and acceptance of God.

1 Corinthians 14:33
33For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. As in all the congregations of the saints,

Emotional stress seems to be a natural part of life and many people live in a world of confusion because of it. They don’t have to! Pray that they would submit to God’s guidance on their lives as they experience his love for them.

Social – Pray that the person would become the major influence among their friends rather than their friends becoming the major influence over them.

Romans 15:20
20It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation.

The influences that a person allows in their life greatly affects the way that they live. There are far too many Christians out there who are influenced by the world instead of influencing the world. They are “building on someone else’s foundation” by letting other sources set their standards in ethics and morality.

Spiritual – Pray that the person would understand what it means to walk in the spirit and that they would develop a strong desire to do so.

Romans 8:8-9
8Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
9You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.

One of the major reasons that people refuse to believe in God is because there are a ton of Christians out there who are walking billboards advertising to the world that Christianity doesn’t work. The “pray, read their bibles, and go to church” but yet there is absolutely no difference between their lifestyles and the person who doesn’t do any of those things.

Christians are to be drastically different from unbelievers because they have the Spirit of God living in them which means a God first instead of a me first attitude should develop.