Purpose-driven blessings

        May God be gracious to us and bless us
        and make his face to shine upon us,  Selah 
       that your way may be known on earth,
        your saving power among all nations. 
       Let the peoples praise you, O God;
        let all the peoples praise you! - Psalm 67:1-3 (ESV) 

In these tough economic times it is easy for us to focus our prayers on asking God to bless us and to shine His face upon us.  It is even easier to lose focus of the fact that our prayers for blessing are for a specific purpose – to bless others to the end that God’s ways would be known, His saving power experienced, and His praise proclaimed.

This vision needs to be the driving force behind our prayer.  The goal is not the blessing itself but the reason for God bestowing it.