Bill Johnson - You Have a Mandate to Pray for God to Bless You
This prayer reveals what I believe is a very serious mandate: we are responsible to pray for the blessing of God in our personal lives. In a moment, let’s read Psalm 67 in its entirety. We’re going to focus on one verse, expand on it, share a testimony, and then read through the psalm with a bit of context.
Okay, verse one of Psalm 67: «God be merciful to us and bless us; cause His face to shine upon us, that Your way may be known on Earth and Your salvation among the nations.» Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You shall judge the people righteously and govern the nations on Earth. Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You! Then the Earth shall yield her increase; God, our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us, and all the ends of the Earth shall fear Him.
This psalm has required a change in perception, a change in our understanding of God and the tools He uses. We already know about His heart for the nations, but the tools He has designed and created to draw in the nations are part of what is represented in this psalm. I want you to look at verse six again. Let me talk to you for just a few minutes about it. It says, «Then the Earth shall yield her increase. God, our own God, shall bless us.»
I love that verse: «The Earth shall yield her increase.» In this unusual invitation to live in the blessing of the Lord and see nations come to Him, part of that process is that the Earth will ultimately surrender her increase. We have a wonderful prayer house over here. I remember the Sunday we presented a project to the church family years ago when the church had grown to a much smaller size. During that time, the Lord put the vision for the prayer house in my heart. I literally saw it sitting on this front row—it’s a long story, not for now.
When we went to raise the money one Sunday morning, Chris had just arrived and prophesied that all of that money would come in through pledges or offerings that one day. So, as soon as he gave that word, I believe he hid under the front row because we were going to take an offering to see if it happened. That’s a quick way to test if a prophetic word is real—you either have it or you don’t. I think we ended up with $850 over the amount that was needed, and one of the kids in the church gave $10. I think he believes he took us over the edge into the land of bounty.
That happened with that prayer house. My wife managed the prayer ministry there; she had a little office as you walk in—a small room to the left. She would pray there as well as in the main part and work from that little office. She had a plant in there, and if you can imagine being in this place with continuous worship—like 24/7 prayer and intercession for the nations—all that goes on there (no weddings, no Bible studies, nothing else, just prayer and worship). This little plant began to bloom, having flowers every November and December, but something happened to that plant during its time in prayer: it finally got to the point where it bloomed 12 months of the year, continuously.
You have to understand that the more pronounced the presence of God becomes, the more He messes with our understanding of seasons. Jesus said in John 4, «You say it takes three months, and then there’s a harvest.» Why did they say it took three months? Because when you plant the seed, three months later, you get the harvest. Jesus says, «You say it takes three months; I say the fields are ripe and ready for harvest.» Of course, He is talking about evangelism, but He’s using a natural parallel.
I remind you, the book of Ezekiel says, «And your trees will bear fruit 12 months of the year.» Here’s this plant that blooms 12 months of the year. Oh! A few years ago, I bought a new house. The previous owner did a masterful job with the landscaping, so there are flowers and trees in all the right places. Right up front, to the right of the walkway leading towards the house, there’s a beautiful section of iris flowers. I love flowers. I’m so impressed with God for creating flowers that don’t do anything except look beautiful. They just look beautiful! That’s what’s in His heart and mind. He’s different than we sometimes think. He’s not just this industrious, functional person; He loves beauty.
His first miracle took place at a wedding—it’s the heart of a celebratory Father who delights in beauty. A year or so ago, we noticed that these irises—typically blooming in March and April—had blooms in November that continued into December. Then, of course, they started again in April and May. But we noticed in the heat of the summer, in July, they bloomed again, then in August with the smoky heat, and again in September. After the recent flood here, they unexpectedly produced even more flowers. So, we now have that iris plant in front of our house giving us beautiful flowers almost 12 months of the year.
I feel like these little signs catch our attention, indicating a shift in seasons that allow Him to function outside of nature and outside of boundaries. It’s not that nature and those responsibilities aren’t fitting—they are—but they do not limit Him. I felt compelled to prophetically declare a shift in seasons where unusual things happen in the area of harvest and personal increase.
I have a friend—I won’t mention his name to keep the focus away from me—who has thousands of orange trees. We have an orange tree at our house that the previous owner planted, and it’s gorgeous. I just ate a couple of its oranges this week. We typically have oranges in November, December, and January. However, my friend’s orange trees, all 12,000 of them, have oranges in June and July, which is the wrong season! They are worth about ten times more than normal because they are of the best quality available, and he harvests them at this unusual time of year. No one has oranges then except him. He also has a whole bunch of pastors walking through his orange trees praying continuously—it might have something to do with the change of season. He told me hush-hush that he has six or twelve trees that bear oranges 12 months of the year.
I believe these occurrences are starting to happen. They may seem completely different for you, but they are simply lessons meant to increase our awareness that God’s seasons are different from ours. They are never restrictive; they are always avenues of expression and opportunities for Him to reveal His heart and His abundance.
Now, go back to Psalm 67, verse one: «God be merciful to us.» It all starts with mercy. Mercy is when we don’t get what we deserve; grace is when we get what we don’t deserve. «God be merciful to us and bless us; cause His face to shine upon us.» That phrase asks for the favor of a loving Father, for His countenance to be evident on our expressions. This prayer reveals what I believe is a serious mandate: we are responsible to pray for God’s blessing in our personal lives. It is the responsibility we owe to the world around us—a blessed life.
Again, I’m not talking about materialistic empires; I’m talking about pursuing the favor of God manifested in our lives. The next verse says that His way would be known on Earth. They won’t know what kind of Father you are unless you do something unusually bountiful with your life—your relationships, health, finances, and open doors. All these things should be marked with a sense of favor and blessing. We owe each other that kind of prayer life—"God bless me; let it come from Your mercy. God bless me; cause Your face to shine on me.» Otherwise, they won’t know what kind of Father You are.
But notice the next phrase: «and Your salvation to the nations.» Is it possible that a last-day revival—the billion-soul harvest, at least in part—comes because the nature of a perfect Father is seen upon a people who host and carry His favor and blessings? It’s the calling card; it’s the invitation.
We live in this privileged opportunity to introduce a perfect Father to a world of orphans, to be frank. Then verse three and four talk about what happens when the nations come to the Lord. They bless the Lord and live in joy; the nations are healthy. In verse five, «Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You.» Then the Earth shall yield her increase; God, our own God, shall bless us.
Here’s what I want you to notice: verse one says, «God, please bless us,» whereas verse six says, «God shall bless us.» There’s a point in your prayer life where you stop asking and start decreeing. There comes a moment when asking feels fruitless, as though if you ask again, it would be an offense—not that God is angry, but rather that you aren’t tapping into the moment He has created for you. It’s settled now; it must be decreed. And it’s in the decree that the purposes of God begin to unfold.
Jesus did this before He ever healed anyone. Before He opened blind eyes or caused the lame to walk, He declared in Luke that «the Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor, to open blind eyes, to bring recovery of sight to the blind, and to heal the lame.» He made the decree before anything happened.
I encourage you all to decree over your own lives: «I am blessed by God as a testimony to the nations.» Because of the billion-soul harvest, I have a role, a part to play because the favor of God is on my life, and someone will see it. I don’t mean we will all be broadcast on the news (who would want that, anyway?), but someone will notice. Another family, another individual will see something unusual resting upon you, and it becomes an invitation.
Here it is: «God shall bless us.» That’s right; God, our own God, shall bless us. Verse seven: «God shall bless us, and all the ends of the Earth shall fear Him.» Don’t be confused by that fear, as the fear of God in the right sense draws us to Him, whereas the fear of God in a perverted sense repels people from Him.
This is a powerful declaration. This, right here, is a decree—a prophetic decree. It says, «God shall bless us.» In fact, say this with me, «God shall bless us!» «God shall bless us!» «And all the ends of the Earth shall fear Him.» «And all the ends of the Earth shall fear Him.»