Previously, we spoke of blessings as setting things aside for God's purpose. Blessings can also be used to ask for God's favor and protection.
The Book of Occasional Services has some great examples of these types of blessings. The service for the Celebration for a Home (BOS 2018 pg. 156) starts with prayers asking for not only God’s grace and presence, but also asks for God’s defense. It even includes an optional prayer asking God to cleanse the place from “every residue of evil”. The service ends with “The Blessing of the Home” asking, again, for God’s presence to “guide, comfort, and strengthen” all in the household.
The Book of Occasional Services also has a service for the Blessing of a Pregnant Woman (BOS 2018 pg. 139). The many possible blessings include ones for both the parents, the mother specifically, and the coming child. The opening prayer makes it clear that the hope is for a happy time at the birth and asks for God’s “loving providence”.
Blessings like these remind us how much we need God in all aspects of our daily lives. They help us remember that it is through God’s love, grace, and favor that we make it through the day. They also invite God to be an active and loving presence in all we do and throughout every stage of our own lives and the lives of those we love.