When you plant a seed, would you expect it to grow if you didn’t water it? I hope not. How about a child? Does he or she grow if not fed? No? What about if they’re fed once in a while? Maybe. Although feeding them often would be helpful. Obviously, if children are not fed frequently, things probably won’t go well – for them or for you. But what if they’re fed but with only cookies and potato chips? They’d probably be okay with that – for a while. Like any human being, kids need both nutritional foods and they need them often. If either of those conditions aren’t met, a child won’t thrive and possibly, he or she won’t even survive.

   The point?

   Our dreams are our babies, and if they’re not “fed” frequently and with the right stuff, they won’t thrive either. And yes – you guessed it – they may not even survive.

   But what do you “feed” a dream?

   The proper diet for any dream, goal, ambition or vision is words – words of blessing.

 

In our culture – even our spiritual cultures – we’ve completely ceased to recognize the reality of blessings – and curses, for that matter. But the Bible tells us that blessings and curses are very, very real.

 

   For example, right at the very beginning of everything, in Genesis, the very first thing God did after he created plants, fish, birds, animals and people is that he blessed them. He told them, “‘Be fruitful and multiply.’” And they did. However, when Adam and Eve sinned, God cursed the ground Adam was commanded to farm and it produced thorns. Then God cursed Eve’s childbearing and that produced pain in childbirth. (Thanks, Eve.)

   After God called Abraham to travel to the Promised Land, he said to him, “‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you’” (Gen. 12:1-3). And that has happened. The people of Israel, throughout thousands of years, have never failed to thrive, even in the midst of severe persecution and many attempts to annihilate them completely.

   That’s no coincidence.

   When Jacob stole his brother’s blessing from their father Isaac, Esau cried out to his father, “‘Is he not rightly named Jacob, for he has supplanted me these two times? He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.’ And he said, ‘Have you not reserved a blessing for me? . . .Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” So Esau lifted his voice and wept.…” (Gen. 27:36-38). What is illustrated in this passage is that the blessing is a very tangible and specific reality that brings multiplication to whomever it is given. Isaac, Jacob and Esau all recognized that.

   Curses are just as real. Balak knew it when, several times, he commanded Balaam to curse the nation of Israel. He understood that the words of a curse had real power to defeat Israel. Balaam’s response? “‘Behold, I have received a command to bless; When He has blessed, then I cannot revoke it’” (Num. 23:20).

   Even Jesus, when he had five thousand people to feed, first took the few available loaves and fishes and, the Bible tells us, he “blessed them.” And what happened? They multiplied.

   What this means is that for our dreams, our families and ourselves, we need to be implementing the very real power of the spoken blessing. As we’ve discussed before, words have creative power and we know this because God created everything with the spoken word. In addition, words are eternal in the spirit realm. (The post “IF” explains this principle in detail.) That means that every word ever spoken over anyone or anything is still alive in the spirit realm and still bearing fruit. If the word was blessing, then there will be success and multiplication. If the word was a curse, then the fruit is failure and barrenness. Fruit of both kinds, of course, takes many forms. Curses are mostly associated with witchcraft which, at its core, is based in a desire for control and manipulation of circumstances. Blessing, on the other hand, while affecting circumstances, is not manipulation because it is the will of God to bring about that which is good, which is why Jesus commands us to bless even our enemies.

   The fact is that our words have power and it’s time to loose that power through blessing. Bless your dreams, visions, endeavors, and destiny. Bless your families – your spouses, children, parents, brothers and sisters and their families. Bless your businesses, your investments, and your finances. Bless your health, your strength, your energy, and your peace of mind. Bless the work of your hands: your gardens, your writing, your music, your artwork, your schoolwork, your employment and certainly your employers because if they prosper, so too do you. Bless your church, your pastors, and all of your ministries.

   Blessing your destiny is like watering a plant or feeding a child; it’s not just a “nice” thing to do, it’s a necessity.

   Why wouldn’t we bless? God has.