How to Bless Your Children

Introduction Our children are a gift from God. He calls us to gift them with the heritage of faith. One opportunity we have to do this is by blessing our children. The idea of blessing your children was first circulated by Larry Christensen in the early seventies in his book, ​ The Christian Family​ . In addition to praying for your children, Larry stated that a parent ought to present his children to God through prayers of blessing that minister directly to the child. He told how he and his wife had been exposed to the idea: “A family in Germany shared with us their custom of blessing the children as they go to bed. The father placed his hands on the head of each child and said the benediction from the service of Evening Suffrages: 'Our almighty and merciful Lord, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, bless you and keep you.' We began to do this when our own children were small – even before they could talk. I remember once forgetting to do it. Our little daughter began to jabber and carry on in a stream of baby sounds. When I stepped closer to the crib, she took hold of my hands, placed them firmly on her head, closed her eyes, and waited for the blessing. I knew then that this was no meaningless ritual. She was ​ receiving​ something through that simple blessing.”​ 1 Since then, many others have talked about this family practice including Gary Smalley and John Trent in ​ The Gift of the Blessing​ .​ 2 Another rich and rewarding little book is Rolf Garborg's, ​ The Family Blessing​ .​ 3​ I am indebted to him for many of the ideas I share on this topic. 2