February 2026

A Contemplative Exercise for February 2026

The following is a possible framework for the Witnessing of the Word. It can be personalised or altered: its purpose is to serve as an example of how this Saying might be used primarily in the context of a Prayer Group, but it may be used by individuals too. It is not intended to be definitive.  In the context of a group: the periods of silence should be appropriate for your group - probably not less than 5 minutes, or more than 15 minutes.

Saying for the month: Genesis 12.2: ‘I will bless you … and you will be a blessing’ (NIV).  In your time of contemplation, you may like to shorten this to ‘you will be a blessing’.

To begin the exercise, first spend a short while in relaxation and preparing to be still; you may want to relax your way through your muscles or you may find it helpful to become aware of the sounds around you and then put them aside as you offer this time of prayer to God.

Say this introductory invitation to prayer, then keep a further minute or two of silence:  ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11.28).

Introduction to the first silence - a preparation for listening with the mind:

‘I will bless you … and you will be a blessing’.

The book of Genesis is a blockbuster, a drama on a huge scale. Beginning at the very beginning with the creation of a good world culminating in the making of human beings in chapters 1 and 2, we see a creator God passionate about relationship and pleased with everything He has brought into being.

In the chapters preceding our Saying, chapters 1 to 11 make a prologue providing us with a history lesson on humanity over some thousands of years. The language and style, speaking in a fresh and profound way of God’s work in His world across the centuries, reaches to all cultures. The scope is the whole universe, and all life on earth, recording a mixture of diverse peoples, clans, nations and languages. Sadly, we see this beautiful creation soured as a result of sin; jealousy, ambition and greed spoiling perfection.

Twice God has to react in grief to the wickedness of those He has created and start again: see Genesis chapter 6, the Flood and chapter 11 the Tower of Babel, which sees the Lord scattering His people abroad over the face of all the earth.

In chapter 12, the emphasis shifts. Up till this point, the story records God’s  interaction with many different individuals.  Now the focus is on one man, Abram and his descendants. Creation will not be wiped out. God’s man Abram will respond to God’s call to go as a means of blessing all the peoples on earth. The work is  begun through this man of God’s choice, and one nation of His choice for the renewal of His world. From here on we begin to understand God’s great purpose for humankind. 

Chapter 12 verse 1 records God’s call and promise to one man Abram and his obedient response. The consequences of this simple beginning would spread all over the world. A new nation is born, and eventually, the whole world reaps the benefits. As John Olley suggests: only in relationship to the creation can God’s subsequent actions in and through Israel be properly understood … God’s  work in redemption serves creation, the entire creation, since it reclaims a creation that labours under the deep and pervasive effects of sin.

God took Abram from security and a settled life in Haran to an uncertain future when he was already 75. Chapter  12 verses 1 to 9 describe how Abram ‘ went/departed/set forth/came/passed  through/ met the Lord/ received a promise/built an altar/moved on/pitched his tent/ built another altar and invoked  the name of the Lord’! We may note a pattern being established of God leading and Abram following. The response to God’s call takes His servant  on pilgrimage, the original promise only coming to fruition after 25 years of travel. 

The birth at long last of a son Isaac, Abram being by then 100, Is actually only the beginning of the fulfilment of God’s blessing. Genesis chapter 12 v. 2-3 states:

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 all peoples on earth

    will be blessed through you.

We take this Saying from Genesis then, into our minds today, allowing the saying to speak to us: ‘I will bless you … and you will be a blessing’.

A time is now kept for silence of the mind – perhaps between 5 and 15 minutes.  The silence concludes with a short thanksgiving, and/or feel free to repeat the Saying.

The first silence ends with the words: Father, we thank you for the gift of your Word.

Introduction to the second silence - a preparation for listening with the heart:

‘I will bless you … and you will be a blessing’.

Do we find the saga so far inspiring or daunting? Do we think we would respond with joy if asked to up sticks at 75 and move to God only knows where? Or do we recognise that we simply couldn’t do it? How do we feel when we think about all this: hopeful or sad? 

Whether we seek challenge or fear challenge, this story of Abram’s obedience can still speak to us today. We can see the impact of his faithful life well lived in obeying God. A willing heart prepared to go God’s way doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly (Micah 6.8) is all that is required of us until or unless God makes something else clear. Like Abram we put one foot in front of the other one day at a time, our heart set on the pilgrim way (Psalm 84).

Whatever our initial reaction to the drama played out in Genesis, we are surely in agreement that we receive God’s blessings with joy and long to be a blessing to others. May we indeed, in the words of a John Bell hymn, be saints who show God’s love in how we live, and where we move.

Reflecting on Abram’s life, we can usefully ask ourselves some questions: 

Where am I now on my journey of faith? 

Where have I been?  

Where  will I go? 

Shall I make  altars along the way? What will they look like? 

Are there things I need to leave behind me, impediments to wholehearted pilgrimage?

Do I expect the Lord to meet me in daily life? 

Do I still believe (Psalm 23) that He leads me beside still waters,  in green pastures, for His name’s sake? 

Today I am challenged by these foundational questions.

Do I believe God wants to bless me and make me a blessing? 

if so, how does this belief impact my daily life? 

God says to us just like he spoke to Abram: ‘I will bless you … and you will be a blessing’. Let’s believe and be thankful.

‘I will bless you … and you will be a blessing’.

Now we take this word into our hearts, as we allow Jesus’ words to speak in us, to let it touch us and let it work more deeply upon our lives.

A time is now kept for silence of the heart – perhaps between 5 and 15 minutes.

The second silence ends with the words: Father, we thank you that your Word is alive and within us.

Introduction to the time of intercession – taking God’s word outwards into the world.

‘I will bless you … and you will be a blessing’.

Even in our churches there are faithful worshippers who have no expectation of God blessing them or using them to pass blessings on. Maybe life has ground them down, disappointment has worn away hope they may once have felt, or maybe they’ve always labelled themselves as unworthy.

In this time of praying our saying out to the world, let’s lift to the Lord those who fill the pews Sunday by Sunday with little or no expectation in their hearts.

And what about those who minister to us? It’s not unknown for clergy and other preachers to become defeated by disappointment. Maybe once they trusted God, responded to His call, obeyed that voice, moved to a difficult area, believed in blessing ahead but have become disillusioned and worn out.

We can pray for them, and for those who struggle on exhaustedly but with diminishing faith where blessing is not yet seen.

As regards those who don’t deign to darken the door of a church, who believe that church isn’t for the likes of them, we know that God can break into an unwary heart and shine the light of his word where there has been no prior knowledge of His love for them in Jesus.

Let’s pray for them.

May the message get out! God longs to bless all people and we can be part of the process.  That is what this month’s Saying asks us to remember and offers us amid much rejoicing.

‘I will bless you … and you will be a blessing’.

Say the name of a person or a group of people, and after a short pause, repeat the saying. For example:

‘Alison and your family … "I will bless you … and you will be a blessing" '.

Or

‘Alison and your family … "you will be a blessing" '.

As we allow the word to speak through us we might direct Jesus’ word towards those people and situations where there is suffering, hurt and an absence of joy and where abiding in Christ would bring comfort.  Conclude this time of intercession with words of thanksgiving: Father, we thank you that your Word has gone out through us to those for whom we pray.

The Conclusion

Feel free to use the Fellowship Prayer (below) or another closing prayer to conclude your time of contemplative prayer:

Loving Heavenly Father, we thank you for all your unsearchable riches which pour forth from you as light from the sun, in boundless profusion and generosity, whether received, ignored or rejected. And now we offer to you, in so far as we are able, as an emptiness to be filled with your divine fullness, ourselves, our souls and bodies; all that we are, all that we have and all that we do. Amen

You may wish to say the Grace together before departing.