The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, the Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
– Numbers 6:22–26
Are those not incredible verses? What a picture of the priests, according to God’s Word, praying this blessing over the people. The Lord bless you and keep you, make his face shine upon you. What an image of the face of God shining upon you, his favor on you, his grace, and being gracious to you, just that God would pour out his grace on you and lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
Numbers 6:22–26 shows God’s desire to keep and protect his people.
Oh, I just want to pray that over you today, and at the same time encourage you to pray this over somebody else. Pray this over a family member, a friend, a brother, sister in Christ. Pray this over somebody that God brings to your mind today to pray this. So I want to pray this over you, and then I want to lead you to pray this over somebody else. So just verse 24, God, I pray for every single person listening to this right now. God, I pray that you would bless them, you would keep them amidst all the attempts of the adversary to pull them away from you. I pray that you would keep them today, that you would make your face to shine upon them.
God, I pray for your favor over the people listening to this right now. Each one of them amidst whatever they’re walking through, that you would be gracious to them, that you would overwhelm them with your grace, your goodness, your mercy, all that comes from your face shining for strength, for comfort, for help, for hope, for joy, for wisdom, for security that’s found in you. Lift up your countenance upon them that they would feel even in this moment, not because of anything they’ve done, but because of faith in Jesus. They would feel your delight in them as your children.
Numbers 6:22–26 teaches that God’s blessing includes true peace.
And I pray that you would give them peace, and I pray that you give them peace that passes all understanding to guard their hearts and minds in you today. And then, oh God, we want to pray this over somebody else.
So just picture somebody else in your mind. Maybe it’s a group of people or maybe it’s just an individual person and let’s just pray this over them. Lord, please bless this person. Please keep them. Please make your face shine upon them and be gracious to them. Lord, lift up your countenance upon them and we pray that you would give them peace.
Prayer for the Baloch People
And God altogether right now we want to pray that over the Baloch people of Afghanistan and Pakistan, this Muslim people group that has very few followers of Jesus that’s so hard to reach for so many reasons, dangerous to reach in many ways.
God, we pray for your blessing over the Baloch people of Afghanistan and Pakistan. We pray that you would draw them to yourself. God cause the gospel to be made known among them. Oh God, that your face might shine upon them in that way. Be gracious to them. Oh God, save them. Cause the gospel to spread to the Baloch people. Lift up your countenance upon them and give them peace that’s found in Jesus alone. We pray all of this in his name, according to your Word in Numbers 6:22–26. In Jesus’ name. In the name of our Great High Priest who makes all this blessing possible for us and for the nations. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
