So, in our opening prayer, we acknowledge our dependence upon God and then we ask for His blessings. But what is a blessing? What are we actually asking for?

The English word blessing has ancient roots and goes back to at least the Proto-Germanic word blodison, which means to “hallow with blood”¹—in other words, blessings were what pagan cultures would ask the gods for when sprinkling their altars with blood.

But, of course, that just tells us that a blessing is essentially a sacred request. The question remains, what are the requests we’re making? What are the blessings we’re seeking?

I suspect most of us, if we do pray, ask God to bless us with nice, pleasurable things, like good health, smooth travel, a passing grade on a test, for our parents to let us go out with friends, a victory in our lacrosse game, and so on. And those can certainly be blessings. The founders of this country spoke often of the blessings of liberty, i.e., the earthly freedom from tyranny that is always a divine gift—a blessing—from God.

But don’t make the mistake of thinking that begging God’s blessings upon us is the same as just asking Him for a good day. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus expounded a very different idea of blessings in what have become known as the beatitudes. To the crowds gathered, He declared that the blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those who are persecuted because of righteousness.

Notice, he doesn’t ever say, blessed are those who win, those who have the most fun, those who hunger and thirst for success or comfort or pleasure. Instead, we learn that true blessings come to those who suffer for doing good.  

So, when we ask for God’s blessings each morning, it is not the same as asking for a good day. It is asking that today, even if through mourning, or persecution, or conflict, or temptation, God would make us a little more good.

I wonder: Deep down, do we really “beg thy blessings upon us”? Or would we rather just ask for a good day? Think about it, and have a wonderful day.

1. “Bless,” Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed August 26, 2026, https://www.etymonline.com/word/bless. ↩︎