On a recent trip to the Middle East, I experienced a very powerful prayer practice that is common among Nigerian Christians. I was privileged to be the pastor at a special event of blessing a newborn’s name.
Patterned after Luke 1:57–66 where Zechariah declared that his child’s name was to be John, Nigerian believers do not announce the name of their child until the 8th day of his or her life. This is done at a prayer gathering of family and friends.
With everyone standing, the parents and child were positioned in the middle. We first sang some choruses. Next, I invited anyone who wanted to bless the child and parents to pray. In typical Nigerian style, we all prayed out loud at once. Then the parents prayed over their little one. Finally I prayed a prayer of blessing over the little boy.
After prayer, the father shared why he picked the names (for Nigerians most children have multiple names given to them by family members). In this case, the mother shared a testimony about some of the blessings of the pregnancy and birth. At the end we passed a plate and people chipped in money toward a bank account for the child.
It was a deeply moving experience. In our Western culture, people might not value the meaning and significance of a child’s name. But imagine what a blessing it would be for friends and families to bless a newborn’s family with such a prayer gathering! Blessings are powerful. Even though in some cultures a child’s name is usually given at birth, having a gathering to pray over a newborn would be very meaningful to a family. You can look up what the child’s name means and introduce it before prayer so that people gathered can pray those traits over and for the little one.
Creating this kind of new tradition in families and churches can serve to get people praying for a children at the start of their lives. What a beautiful beginning!
JONATHAN GRAF is publisher of Prayer Connect.
