Those who use the title "bishop"

"This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work" (1 Timothy 3:1 King James Version 1611)

I have researched the internet, to find out who use the title “bishop”. And I also searched the evangelical, born again churches here in our country and in abroad. I have found out that those who use the title bishops are:

1. The Roman Catholic bishops. And as they use this title, it is not used in the Biblical sense.

The Biblical teaching is that “a bishop is the overseer of a local church” 1 bishop/ 1 church.

But the Roman Catholics teach and practice that “a bishop is the overseer of a diocese [groups of local churches]” 1 bishop/ many churches. For Roman Catholics, the overseer of a local church [which they call “parish”] is called “priest” which according to them came from the Greek word “presbyter” which is translated in English as “elder”. So the priests are the elders or pastors according to them.
2. The Episcopalian bishops. The same teaching and practice as of the Roman Catholic bishops.
3. The Evangelical bishops. But sad to say, they also follow the Roman Catholic tradition. Here in the Philippines, the leaders of national denominations are called “bishops”, or if these ministers have founded and planted many churches to form a denomination, these ministers are called “bishops”. Then the ministers under them, who oversee local churches, are called “pastors”. Because they are denominations, they have a national office, and their denomination is divided in regions or provinces or districts or cities or towns. Their leader is “bishop”. They have “regional pastors” or “district pastors” or “town pastors”.
4. KJV Bible-believing bishops. About this group, I’ve found only few. I researched the so-called “grace websites” even KJVO Grace websites, I’ve found out that if these grace preachers don’t use “pastors”, they will use “pastor-teacher”, “elder”, “teaching-elder”, “minister” and “bible teacher”. But they don’t use the title “bishop”. They avoid it, though it is a very KJVO word. The only ones I know who rightly use the title “bishop” according to its Biblical sense are Bishop David Dowell of Tri-cities Grace Fellowship Church and some who follow this teaching, such as me, myself, Bishop Marthy Austria. Here in the Philippines, I’ve heard from a fellow KJVO bishop, that some grace dispensationalists here who followed Dan Gross, use the title “bishop” for their leaders. This fellow who informed me, when he visited me in my church, although a KJVO, used the title “pastor”. But when I taught him 1 Tim 3:1, after a brief study, accepted the KJVO title “bishop”.
But despite the few who use this title “bishop”,

I myself will “hold fast the faithful word” And be faithdul and obedient to the KJV.

RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD OF TRUTH

We are now the Israel of God (Gal 6:16), the circumcision (Phil 3:3). And we must not divide wrongly. We must use the teachings of Peter, Paul, John and the Lord Jesus. Which means, we must teach “all scriptures” (2 Tim 3:16) or the whole Bible and “all the counsel of God” (Acts 20;27) according to Paul. And with Paul, we must be “witnessing both to small and great, saying NONE OTHER THINGS than those which THE PROPHETS AND MOSES [the old testament] did say should come, that CHRIST should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the gentiles” (Acts 26:22-23)


PROMISE – FULFILLMENT THEOLOGY
We must be teaching this: THE PROMISE – FULFILLMENT theology. The Old testament prophesied. The New testament is the fulfillment.
John 8:39 Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life and THEY [Old testament scriptures] are they which testify of me [Christ].
John 8:46 For had ye believed MOSES [the Old testament], ye would have believed me, for he [Moses] WROTE OF ME.

Now, acknowledging ALL SCRIPTURE and READING the OLD TESTAMENT in the light of the NEW TESTAMENT revelation, we must interpret the scriptures. We must be “rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15) according to Apostle Paul’s division “comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (1 Cor 2:13). These spiritual things are that “which the Holy Ghost teacheth” and the words that Jesus says “the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). So these spiritual things are the words of God. We must compare [not contrast] the Word of God with the Word of God. Contrasting the truth against truth is dangerous! Jesus said “Every kingdom divided AGAINST itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided AGAINST itself shall not stand” (Matt 12:25). Two kingdoms? To houses? Two peoples?

TWO COVENANTS
Paul’s division is the division between the “two covenants” (Gal 4:24). Paul said that “we are able ministers of the new testament” (2 Cor 3:6). The right division is between the Old Testament [covenant] and the New Testament [covenant].

“For the LAW was given by MOSES, but GRACE and truth came by JESUS CHRIST” (John 1:17)
“The LAW AND THE PROPHETS [Old Testament] were until JOHN: since that time THE KINGDOM OF GOD is preached, and every man presseth into it” (Luke 16:16)
“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in TIME PAST [Old testament] unto the fathers by the PROPHETS, hath in THESE LAST DAYS [New Testament] spoken unto us by his SON, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds” (Hebrews 1:1-2)According to these verses, the Bible is divided only in two.

OLD COVENANT NEW COVENANT Hebrews 8:13
LAW GRACE John 1:17
LAW & PROPHETS KINGDOM OF GOD Luke 16:16
TIME PAST LAST DAYS Hebrews 1:1,2
TIME PAST BUT NOW Ephesians 2:11,13

There are only two divisions: The Old and The New Testaments.
The OLD TESTAMENT/ COVENANT is the same as LAW and the LAW AND PROPHETS and TIME PAST.
The NEW TESTAMENT/ COVENANT is the same as GRACE and KINGDOM OF GOD and LAST DAYS.
The division of TIME PAST [Old Testament – 4 Gospels – up to Acts 8]; BUT NOW [Acts 9-28, Romans –Philemon]; and AGES TO COME [Hebrews-Revelation] is not accurate.
BUT NOW begins with CHRIST! Not with Paul! “BUT NOW IN CHRIST JESUS” (Eph 2:13)

THE AGES TO COME are not what happens after the rapture of the church, but it is ETERNITY, for when Christ comes “then cometh THE END” (1 Cor 15:24). “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall THE END COME” (Matt 24:15).

THE LAST DAYS are not what happens after the rapture of the church, but these days since the time of the LORD JESUS CHRIST until the COMING of the LORD. “But now once in THE END OF THE WORLD hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Heb 9:26)

THE KINGDOM OF GOD is not the time after the Rapture of the Church, the Millenial kingdom, but it is today, since the time of the LORD JESUS CHRIST in the flesh until his second coming. “Now after that John was put into prison, Jesus came into Galilee, PREACHING THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD, and saying, THE TIME IS FULFILLED, AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND: repent ye, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:14-16). “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1)

The GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD is the same as the GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD and the GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST. The Kingdom age is the same as the gospel age or the church age, the dispensation of the grace of God.
The dispensation of the grace of God given to Paul, doesn’t mean the age of grace or the new testament began with Paul. Grace came by Jesus Christ, not by Paul. The word “dispensation” in Greek is oikonomia, and it doesn’t mean merely a period of time, but “stewardship” or “house management”. When Paul said “If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to youward” (Eph 3:2), he didn’t mean that the age of grace began with his ministry. He meant that to him was given the stewardship of preaching the grace of God

"to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery" (Ephesians 3:9)

What is the mystery? Paul said that the MYSTERY is

"that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs and of the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel" (Ephesians 3:6).

This is Paul's ministry, to preach this mystery that God has made a ONE BODY, and there are no more Jews nor Gentiles. Today is the day of salvation, and everybody can be saved the same way - by faith in the blood of Christ. And all believers are now united in ONE BODY, baptized into ONE BODY by ONE SPIRIT. This is the ONE BAPTISM, and it is not physical but spiritual, like the circumcision which is spiritual.

Jesus said that THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS [Old Testament] were UNTIL JOHN THE BAPTIST. After John, comes JESUS CHRIST “for Christ is THE END OF THE LAW” (Romans 10:4). When Christ came, the law ended. Since that time, THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS PREACHED. Paul preached the grace of God as well as the kingdom of God “that I might finish…the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to TESTIFY THE GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD… PREACHING THE KINGDOM OF GOD” (Acts 20:24,25)

The Seven Purifications of the Bible

"The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified SEVEN times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever." (Psalms 12:6-7 The Holy Bible, Authorized King James Version 1611).

God has given to us a perfect BOOK with his “pure words” that have been “purified seven times”. Furthermore, this BOOK came through the Jews. “Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them [THE JEWS]were committed the oracles of God.” [Romans 3:2] And again: “The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.”

Here are the seven purifications [or translations] in the English to the English-speaking nations on this Earth:

* Tyndale’s New Testament in 1526.
* Coverdale’s Bible in 1535
* Matthews’ Bible in 1537
* The Great Bible in 1539
* The Geneva Bible in 1560
* The Bishops Bible in 1568
* The King James Bible in 1611

As the number seven is the number of spiritual perfection,

so this seventh book represents a completed book, a purified BOOK, and is the word of God in the English language. Therefore, we have this promise from God concerning these “pure words.” “Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.” [Psalm 12:6-7] “For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.” [Psalm 119:89] The A.V. 1611 King James Bible, or any of its editions [1613, 1644, 1676, 1680, 1701, 1769], is the settled forever. Amen!

The Great Commision

The Great Commission is the last command or marching orders of the Lord Jesus Christ to his soldiers – the church of God. Where can we find the great commission for the church today? It is commonly known and widely taught in Christianity that the great commission is found in Matthew 28:18-20, when Jesus said to his disciples

“All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you, alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

But some theologians and groups such as the Mid-Acts grace dispensationalists argue that the great commission for the church today is found in Pauline epistles, for the apostle Paul is “the apostle of the gentiles” (Romans 11:13). This commission according to Paul is “the commission of reconciliation”.

“All things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation, to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them and HATH COMMITTED UNTO US THE WORD OF RECONCILIATION”. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:18-20)


The argument is that the last marching order of Jesus is not in Matthew, but even after his ascension, he gave the last marching ORDER TO PAUL. And remember, to Paul was committed “the dispensation of the grace of God” (Ephesians 3:2) and to him was made known “the mystery of Christ” (Ephesians 3:2), “the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ” (Colossians 2:2). This mystery which “hath been hid in God” (Ephesians 3:9), “kept secret since the world began” (Romans 16:25), is NOW REVEALED to Paul (Ephesians 3:3), and also to other apostles and prophets (Ephesians 3:5).

This mystery is about the “Body of Christ” (1 Corinthians 12:27), the church of God – that “the gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel” (Ephesians 3:6). It means that Israel and the gentiles are now merged and joined as ONE BODY – there is no more “middle wall of partition” (Ephesians 2:14) between them. They are ONE IN CHRIST NOW. This is the message that the ascended Lord Jesus Christ revealed to Paul the apostle and not only to him but also to other ministers and to us his saints.

The people and the disciples of Christ, during the time of Jesus crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and ascension did not know about this message, for what they knew was that Christ, the messiah would die and shed his blood only for the Jews, and many people, would be saved through the Jews. They didn’t know that the cross of Christ is the beginning of a new dispensation, the New Testament; that redemption and forgiveness of sins through the blood of Christ, is not only “for many ” (Matthew 26:28), but “FOR ALL” (2 Corinthians 5:15). This is OUR GREAT COMMISSION today “ the commission of reconciliation” – the message of total forgiveness and justification to all men through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Matthew 28 great commission says “Go and teach all nations…”. Yes, Jesus sent them to all nations “Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8) This discipleship ministry includes water baptism. Yes, they baptized because of Israel. Jesus was baptized “that he should be made manifest to Israel” (John 1:33), as also there were signs because “Jews require signs” (1 Corinthians 1:22). But now, that the dispensation of grace is now manifested, there is no more need for water baptism. Why? Because there is no more Israel. Yes, there is no more gentile, also, there is no more distinctions “IN CHRIST” (Galatians 3:28). NO MORE ISRAEL, NO MORE BAPTISM IN WATER. Why need water baptism if it is the Holy Ghost doing the baptizing now? Why compete with him? There is only ONE BAPTISM and it is SPIRITUAL BAPTISM. Second reason: there is now the revelation of the cleansing blood of Christ for all (Hebrews 9:14,22). During the early Acts period, they the apostles practiced water baptism “for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38), but now, it is the Blood of Christ that washes all our sins. If there was a revelation of the blood before, it was the remission of sins of Israel and not of all men. But now, this is the revelation: “CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS” (1 Corinthians 15:3)

If we are going to take the Matthew commission for today as ours, then we can follow that except baptizing – which means we can “Go and disciple all nations and teach them to obey Jesus words, as ambassadors for Christ”.

Grace Information For Transformation

"Sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace" That is what Romans 6:14 says.

If we will closely examine this verse, this verse clearly teaches that the grace of God is the key to life transformation. A person will never be changed unless he or she has received and understood the gospel of the grace of God. The only thing that can liberate or make a person free in Christ, to be free from the power of sin is the grace of God.

Many so-called "believers" always say, "I under grace", so "it is okay if I sin or live in sin"... "anyway, I am sure going to heaven when I die!" Hogwashed! What a lie from the devil! It is called "cheap grace" or "false grace".

I know what the Bible teaches about grace. Titus 2:11-13 clearly says that "Grace saves!" and "Grace trains!" So we believe that grace does not only save a person, but after saving a person, teaches or trains or equips that person for holiness. So the believer has the power and ability to live above sin.

Those whose lives are under the dominion of sin are not under grace but under the law. It is clear! Sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under the law but under sin".

King James Version Only: God’s only Bible

Many who do not believe in the doctrine of preservation teach that King James Version have many errors.They cite some examples such as: acts 19:37 the word “churches” in the KJV must not be churches but temples. yes, that must be temples, but the KJV translators translated it as churches, so it may not be hard to be understood by ordinary people. like the Gk. words hades, tartarus and gehenna, the KJV translators used the word hell, because it is easier to understand. The KJV has no error. It is perfect.

The Gospel of Grace

I always speak of this motto: "Life transformation through grace information" because I believe that it is only through the grace of God that we will have and experience transformation. The grace of God which is "charis" in Greek means "unmerited favor". It also means "calmly happy". It also means "God's enabling power". I believe all three definitions: GRACE is God's unmerited favor that enables us and makes us calmly happy. Because of God's grace, we will be calmly happy. Because God's grace is unmerited favor, I cannot avail of it. I have no right for it. Yes, because it is unmerited, I cannot merit it. It is God's favor, unmerited, given not because I am worthy of it for I am not! It is the "GIFT" of God. Alleluia! It is not by works. It is not of me.

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9).

God's grace enables me. It empoers me. I am weak and helpless but because of grace I can say with Paul "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13.

Grace saved me and enabled me to live a life free and above sin. Grace delivered me from the power of sin It has no more power over me because "sin shall not have dominion over you because you are not under law but under GRACE" (Romans 6:14)

The Gospel of the Grace of God (Acts 20:24) is the Gospel Paul preached, the gospel of salvation, the gospel of Christ, which is the power of God unto salvation of every one who believes in it (Romans 1:16).

What does this gospel proclaim? Listen to 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

1Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

2By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

3For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

4And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again. That is the gospel that saves. If we believe it, we will be saved. Trust in Christ alone and in His blood, His atoning death. And you will be saved.

30And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

31And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31 King James Bible)

It's Your Time To Shine!

Recently, we have just celebrated our 10th year anniversary as a church. We have invited a speaker from Things To Come Mission, from our own regional organization, the CLAG which stands for Central Luzon Association of Grace Churches. That speaker is Pastor Mhel Guimba. He came to our church last Sunday with his wife, Mrs. Bhabes Guimba. He is a missionary, who had experienced being a missionary to Cambodia. This year, he and his wife are headed to Laos, to work as missionaries there.

He challenged the Pasig Grace Gospel Church (that's our church's name), the congregation, the deacons as well as the bishops (or pastors as commonly known), to arise and shine with Jesus in our time. He is so zealous and emphatic in his message. Yes, we are already ten years. It is a very very long time. And as far as I know, number 10 in the Bible stands for the gentiles or nations. Now, that we are already ten years as a church, it's now the time to get out of our comfort zone and shine as witnesses for Jesus in our community and nation.

I shared to the congregation once again our vision, which is this: "we dream to be a Biblical church that is committed to propagate the grace message in Pasig City and neighboring towns, by persuading people for Christ, planting multiplying grace churches and producing life-transformed ambassadors for Christ." I challenged them that it's now the time to win souls for Christ and to plant a daughter church.

I have been the bishop (or pastor as they know it) of Pasig Grace Gospel Church ever since the year 2007. I have expereinced many hurts, problems and challenges as I oversee this church. There were times I really struggled and decided to resign and start another ministry. But God is so gracious (His grace is sufficient for us), that I have now a renewed dedication to God. I now confess that I am a Bible believer, for I have dedicated myself now again to God as His servant, to be the minister of the New Testament as Paul was saying about himself. I am a faithful, loyal believer and defender of the King James Version of the Bible 1611. I believe in the doctrine of preservation, that God did not only inspired the original writings but also He preserved His word, and now we have it in the King James Bible. I preach and teach from the King James Bible as it says in 2 Timothy 1:13 "Hold fast to the form of sound words...". We must hold on to and keep the form of sound words. God inspired the words, and not only His thoughts. And we can find the pure Word of God today in the King James Version. many believers even my fellow grace preachers may not agree with me, but I have proofs of what I am saying. I campaign and proclaim the Biblical principle of "rightly dividing the word of truth" as it says in 2 Timothy 2:15. I believe in the King James Bible. It says in the same verse "Study...". In other versions or per-versions, we cannot find the word study for they replace it with "Be diligent". See the error of per-versions? The principle is this: to change the doctrine, change the Bible version. False teachers, in order to propagate their Satanic doctrines, they invented new versions. Of course, if they are no more using the preserved word, they will teach error. They say, "the King James Version is an old-fashioned book and it is no more up-to-date...Modern man will not understand it...so we have to create and promote new "easy-to-understand" versions. Many people, even believers, fall into their trap. So the challenge:

Be faithful to God's Word, the KJV only, and preach the truth thath it teaches.

Ephesians 4 teaches that there is one Faith, One Lord, One Baptism...And this is what we must be united for. We have ONE FAITH - that is one body of truth - that is the complete Bible, the King James Version. We have ONE LORD - that is Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord God, the Son of God. We have ONE BAPTISM - that is not water baptism, but the SPIRITUAL BAPTISM "By ONE SPIRIT are all baptized into ONE BODY" (1 Corinthians 12:13). The Bible teaches that there is only ONE BAPTISM today and that is BAPTISM BY THE SPIRIT INTO THE BODY OF CHRIST. The Holy Ghost is the only official baptizer today. Water baptism was practiced before Paul the apostle received the revelation about the "cleansing blood" of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now that we know it, there is no need for water baptism, for it is the blood of Christ that washed us. "We are COMPLETE IN HIM", why need baptism in water. The Holy Ghost has baptized us...isn't it enough, and look for water baptism performed by men?

It's now our time to shine as witnesses of Jesus to the generation of today. It's now the time to shout the truth from the Pure preserved Word of God, to teach what the Bible really teaches, and not the traditions and words of men. As for me, I don't please men, I don't preach to entertain men or to impress them. I want to please and obey only God. As I have begun doing, I magnify mine office (as Paul the apostle taught it), he said, he magnified his office as apostle of the gentiles. I, like Paul also magnify my office "as a bishop". "This is a true saying, if a man desire the OFFICE OF A BISHOP, he desireth a good work" (1 Timothy 3:1 KJV).

That's what the Bible teaches, so that's what I teach and practice. It didn't say, "if a man desire THE OFFICE OF A PASTOR...or THE OFFICE OF AN ELDER". No! It says "the OFFICE OF A 'BISHOP'." People may ask me, even my own congregation, why I use "BISHOP" rather that "PASTOR". I reply, because that's who I am as the Bible says I am. The Holy Ghost and Paul used the right word. Bishop is "episkopos" in greek, while Pastor is "poimen" in Greek. Paul in 1 Timothy, Philippians 1:1 and Titus 1:7 used "episkopos" instead of "poimen" which he used in Ephesians 4:11. Why "episkopos" or as the King James Bible uses "BISHOP"? The Lord knows the best, so He uses the right word. Hold fast to the form of sound words. One more truth: sheep in the Bible is used for Israel, the flock of God, and never to the gentiles, who are dogs. Now that the gentiles, the dogs are now believers, they joined the sheep of God, and became the sheep, the one fold, the one people of God. But instead, the sheep and the dogs became "THE BODY OF CHRIST". There is no more distinction between sheep and dogs, There is now only the BODY OF CHRIST. There is no more Jews and Gentiles today in the dispensation of the grace of God. Bishop is a general term which can be used for Israel, even as for gentiles, so God used it and taught us to use it for church leaders. So boldly, I say I magnify my office as a BISHOP.

If the gentiles who were dogs became sheep or the flock of God (Acts 20:28) according to Apostle Paul, then its leaders must be "pastors"! No! The flock of God belongs to God, and only God is the shepherd or pastor "The LORD is my Shepherd (Pastor)" Psalm 23:1. Jesus alone is the Shepherd!

We the leaders of the churches are not pastors but BISHOPS - the stewards of God, the Shepherd.

Titus 1:7.

This is Bishop Marthy saying "Grace to you!"

To God be the glory!

Lord, bless me!

"Lord bless me...", "Lord, bless them..."
This is the common prayer that we hear whenever Christians pray! They pray generally and not specifically. The question is, "Should we Christians during this present dispensation of Grace or during this New Testament time, pray to God that He will bless us?" I personally don't see any teaching in the New testament even in Apostle Paul's letters (who is our apostle, we gentiles), that teaches us to pray "God bless me". Instead, we can read in Ephesians 1:15-19
"Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power..."
Pauls's prayer was not "Lord bless them", but the specific prayer "God, give them spirit of wisdom and revelation". That's the Biblical and apostolic prayer.
And also, I believe we don't have to pray "Lord, bless me", because that prayer during this dispensation is a prayer of doubt and unbelief. Why? Because Ephesians 1:3 teaches "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ". It says, God HAS already BLESSED us, not He will bless us. I am blessed, you are blessed, we are blessed. Why ask God to bless you, if He has already blessed you. It's better to pray like this, "Lord, thank You for You have already blessed me!". We are already blessed. Receive it by faith. Don't doubt.
You may say, "hey, brother...Ephesians 1:3 says we are blessed with SPIRITUAL blessings, and not MATERIAL blessings". Yes, in fact it is "SPIRITUAL". But spiritual doesn't mean "not real" or just "psychological", but spiritual is a fact, it is truth. Proverbs teaches in Proverbs 10:22 "The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it." The blessing of the LORD which is "spiritual" maketh rich . Blessings are not the "MATERIAL" things. They are spiritual things that affect our material and physical world. According to Proverbs 10:6 "Blessings are upon the head of the just". Okay, blessings are upon the head of the just . If they are "material" or "money", how can they be "UPON" the head of the just? Think about this. So blessings are "SPIRITUAL", and are upon the head of the just. We are just, made righteous by the blood of Jesus, so because of this, we are blessed...in Christ! Being blessed is synonymous with "Having God's favour". Romans 8:31 says "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?". We have God's favour. God is FOR us, so who can be against us? That's the teaching of the grace of God. Just receive and believe this teaching, "We are already blessed...where? IN CHRIST!"

A blessed new year

This is now 2010. People of the world who believe in chinese astrology say this year is the year of the tiger.BUT for BIBLE BELIEVERS we believe that this is the year of the LORD JESUS! The BIBLE TEACHES that GOD HATH BLESSED US WITH ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES “in CHRIST” according to EPHESIANS 1:3 KJV. So being blest is not by doing many things traditionally or as suggested by the unbelieving world but by walking and thinking in the spirit, which means according to the Word of GOD.