15 Then he blessed Joseph and said,

“May the God before whom my fathers
Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully,
the God who has been my shepherd
all my life to this day,
16 the Angel who has delivered me from all harm
—may he bless these boys.
May they be called by my name
and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,
and may they increase greatly
on the earth.” Genesis 48:15-16

Once again we see a fatherly blessing. The words in these blessings are powerful and meaningful for the ones being prayed over.

The prayers we pray over people have impact too. When you hear your name when someone’s praying for you, it encourages you to know that you are not in this battle alone. A person may not consider you for the rest of the week, but for that moment in time, he spoke your name to God Almighty.

I know the times I’ve prayed for people in a nursing home, for instance, it meant something to them.

Don’t be bashful about praying for someone in their presence. You don’t have to be eloquent or wordy. A simple prayer of blessing encourages more than we think it does.