Asking God to do things is something we all do as we pray. This is an important part of our relationship with God daily. We pray asking God to bless us and show us mercy as the day begins. God's Word has already acknowledged His provision of them each day.
In Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV we read that-
22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
We often think of His mercy and His blessing as the same thing. Although similar in the affect in our life they are different in what God does in each. The mercy of God is spoken of in the Old Testament often as seen in the verse from Lamentations I mentioned earlier. We understand it as Paul says in Ephesians 2:4 ESV-
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
Mercy is a divine attribute of God. He is always merciful. So we ask for His mercy and we can know it is there because it is an attribute of God. We are recipients of His mercy each day.
By His divine quality of mercy, God remains faithful to His covenant promises and His relationship with His people despite their unworthiness and faithlessness (Deuteronomy 30:1–6; Isaiah 14:1; Romans 9:15–16, 23; Ephesians 2:4–9)
In Hebrew, the word bārak is a verb. It is to bless, praise, greet. It denotes the act of blessing or pronouncing blessing on someone or something. In the New Testament, the word is eulogeō and it typically carries a more nuanced sense, rooted in the Hebrew background of the Old Testament concept of blessing. Like בָּרַךְ (bārak), it has connotations that extend beyond simply speaking well of someone or something and also expresses the favorable conditions resulting from the declaration of blessing.
In both the mercies and blessings in which we ask of the Lord, Scriptrure is clear that these are things He does each day. That does not negate our need to ask for His mercy and His blessings regularly and in specific circumstances.
Just as we know our sins are forgiven we are told in 1 John 1:9 Amplified Bible-
9 If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just [true to His own nature and promises], and will forgive our sins and cleanse us continually from all unrighteousness [our wrongdoing, everything not in conformity with His will and purpose].
Just as we ask to be forgiven for the sins we commit after we are saved, even though Jesus paid for them as the propitiation for our sins. We have spoken of the meaning for propitiation before. It is the appeasement or satisfaction, specifically toward God. Propitiation is a two-part act that involves appeasing the wrath of an offended person and being reconciled to him. We see this in 1 John 4:10 again using the Amplified Bible-
10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation [that is, the atoning sacrifice, and the satisfying offering] for our sins [fulfilling God’s requirement for justice against sin and placating His wrath].
Even though we are already recipients of His mercy, blessings and are forgiven of our sins daily, we ask Him to work in our lives. Acknowledging and hopefully understanding more of God and how He operates, we will certainly ask for what He already has said He will do. We will be stronger and at peace as we face each new day.
In God's Grace,
Elbert Nasworthy
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