1Kings 8, 56-61 Blessed be the LORD

(1Kings 8, 56-61) Blessed be the LORD

[56] "Blessed be the LORD who has given rest to his people Israel, just as he promised. Not a single word has gone unfulfilled of the entire generous promise he made through his servant Moses. [57] May the LORD, our God, be with us as he was with our fathers and may he not forsake us nor cast us off. [58] May he draw our hearts to himself, that we may follow him in everything and keep the commands, statutes, and ordinances which he enjoined on our fathers. [59] May this prayer I have offered to the LORD, our God, be present to him day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and of his people Israel as each day requires, [60] that all the peoples of the earth may know the LORD is God and there is no other. [61] You must be wholly devoted to the LORD, our God, observing his statutes and keeping his commandments, as on this day."

(CCC 2645) Because God blesses the human heart, it can in return bless him who is the source of every blessing. (CCC 2646) Forgiveness, the quest for the Kingdom, and every true need are objects of the prayer of petition. (CCC 2647) Prayer of intercession consists in asking on behalf of another. It knows no boundaries and extends to one's enemies. (CCC 2626) Blessing expresses the basic movement of Christian prayer: it is an encounter between God and man. In blessing, God's gift and man's acceptance of it are united in dialogue with each other. The prayer of blessing is man's response to God's gifts: because God blesses, the human heart can in return bless the One who is the source of every blessing. (CCC 2627) Two fundamental forms express this movement: our prayer ascends in the Holy Spirit through Christ to the Father - we bless him for having blessed us (Cf. Eph 1:3-14; 2 Cor 1:3 7; 1 Pet 1:3-9); it implores the grace of the Holy Spirit that descends through Christ from the Father - he blesses us (Cf. 2 Cor 13:14; Rom 15:5-6, 13; Eph 6:23-24).