What did Jesus mean when he said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit”? What does it look like for somebody to be “poor in spirit”?

The story of King Ahaziah in the Old Testament gives us hints.

The Story of King Ahaziah and Elijah

Ahaziah was one of the kings of ancient Israel during the time of God’s prophet Elijah.

One day, he fell through the second-story railing of his house to the ground below. He was severely injured.

So he sent messengers to Baal-zebub, the god of the people of Ekron, to ask if he would recover from his injuries.

Elijah met the messengers on their way.

“Give the king this message,” he told them.

 ‘“Why are you going to the god of Ekron? Is there no God in Israel? Here is what the Lord God says to the king: “You will not be able to get up from your bed. You are going to die.”’”

King Ahaziah’s Attempt to Control the Prophet

The messengers went back to the king and told him what happened.

“What did the man who stopped you look like?” Ahaziah asked.

“He wore a hairy garment with a leather belt around his waist,” they said. 

“I know who that is!” the king said. “That’s Elijah!” And he ordered one of his military captains to take 50 men, arrest Elijah, and bring him to the king.

The captain and his 50 men located Elijah sitting on top of a hill.

“Man of God!” the captain yelled. “Come down here right now! I have orders to bring you to the king!”

“If I really am a Man of God,” Elijah said, “may fire come down from heaven and consume you all!”

Just then, a ball of fire dropped from the sky. It landed on the men, and they all burned up.

So, the king sent another captain with 50 men to arrest Elijah. They, too, found him on top of the hill. “Man of God! The king says, ‘Come down at once!’” the captain yelled.        

“If I am a Man of God,” Elijah said, “may fire come down from heaven and consume you all!”

Once again a fireball fell from the sky & killed all the men.

A Different Approach: The Humble Captain

So – can you believe it? – the king sent another captain with 50 men to arrest Elijah. 

But this captain was different. He climbed up the hill and fell on his knees at Elijah’s feet. 

“Have compassion on me and these 50 men!” he begged. “We know what happened to all the others. Fire from heaven fell on those two captains and their 50 men. Now, please, spare our lives!”

The angel of the Lord told Elijah, “Go down with him to the king. Do not be afraid.” 

So, Elijah went to the king with the captain and his 50 men. 

He gave God’s message to the king: “The Lord God says to you ‘Do you think there is no God in Israel for you to consult? Is that why you sent messengers to consult with Baal-zebub the god of Ekron? Because you did this, you will never be able to get up from your bed. You will surely die!’”

So King Ahaziah died as God said. He was king of Israel for only two years.

What Does It Mean to Be Poor in Spirit?

Being poor in spirit means realizing you are poor—you do not have what you need.

It also means realizing you are powerless. You not only don’t have what you need, but you also have no power to get it. 

To be poor in spirit toward God means that you come to him for what you need, realizing that you can’t bribe him to help you, that you can’t manipulate or trick him into helping you, and that you can’t force him to help you. All you can do is ask nicely. 

A prayer for us all 

Lord I am poor & You are rich. I can’t bribe You or pay You to help me.

All the power on earth is Yours. I cannot solve my problems today or force You to help me.

You are too wise for me to trick You into helping and certainly too wise for me to advise You on how to help. Have compassion on me, Lord. Please help me in my need. Amen. 

© 2019 Becky Cerling Powers, updated 2025

Becky Cerling Powers is the author of Sticky Fingers, Sticky Minds: Quick Reads for Helping Kids Thrive, a Bathroom Book for people who want to be better parents but live such busy lives that they hardly have time to figure out how.

All Things Bright and Beautiful by the Irish poet Cecil Frances Alexander is a Christian hymn that explains part of the Apostle’s Creed in poetry for children.Maybe Cecil Frances hid her poetry under the carpet because she thought her father would disapprove.

She was a timid nine-year old girl in Ireland in 1827, and her father Major John Humphreys of the Royal Marines was a stern man.

But her father saw the bulge in the rug in the back room of their house.

When he investigated, he found his daughter’s poems, and something about them must have touched him. Perhaps, he thought, his little girl had talent.

So he sent the poems to his friend John Keble, who was a clergyman and a poet. Keble wrote back.

Young Fanny, as the family called her, was a gifted writer, he said. She should be encouraged.

So Fanny’s father enlisted the family in encouraging the little girl. The next Saturday he called the family together and read Fanny’s poems out loud. Then he showed the family a box with a slot in the top.

Whenever Fanny finished writing a poem, he explained, she should put the poem into the slot. Then when the family came together the next Saturday, she would read the poem.

The family encouraged her with helpful remarks.

When Fanny grew up, she married and became well known as a writer of hymns.

One day Fanny was sitting next to a sick child trying to explain The Apostle’s Creed, which begins “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth...”

The child couldn’t understand the way the creed was phrased. 

So Fanny wrote children’s poems to put the meaning of the Creed into simple words children can understand. Here is one of the poems she wrote:

All things bright and beautiful,

All creatures, great and small,

All things wise and wonderful,

The Lord God made them all.

Each little flower that opens,

Each little bird that sings,

He made their glowing colors,

He made their tiny wings.

The purple-headed mountain,

The river running by,

The sunset and the morning,

That brighten up the sky;

The cold wind in the winter,

The pleasant summer sun

The ripe fruits in the garden,

He made them every one.

The tall trees in the greenwood,

The meadows where we play,

The rushes by the water

We gather every day;

He gave us eyes to see them,

And lips that we might tell

How great is God Almighty

Who has made all things well.

All things bright and beautiful,

All creatures, great and small,

All things wise and wonderful,

The Lord God made them all.

© 2019 Becky Cerling Powers - Story

Cecil Frances Alexander’s poem is in the public domain

Becky Cerling Powers is the author of Sticky Fingers, Sticky Minds: Quick Reads for Helping Kids Thrive, a Bathroom Book for people who want to be better parents but live such busy lives that they hardly have time to figure out how.

Do your kids need to review basic math? Develop reading readiness? Figure out how to reduce fractions?

Cooperation Concentration is an easy game for parents to make themselves and use to help their kids learn, review, or reinforce all kinds of basic skills.

Basic Cooperation Concentration

You can get the hang of Cooperation Concentration by playing it with a deck of Old Maid cards or regular playing cards. After that, you should be able to make up your own sets of cards to help your children review particular skills.

If your Old Maid deck has shrunk, that’s OK. Just be sure you have 14 to 20 pairs, plus the Old Maid odd card.

If you’re using regular playing cards instead of Old Maid cards, use a Joker for the Old Maid.

Any number can play this game, but you must have at least two players.

The object of the game is to see how many pairs the players can find together before someone turns up the Old Maid.

Shuffle the deck and lay the cards out in rows, face down.

Player 1 turns over two cards. If they are a pair, he lays them aside, face up.

If they are not a pair, he replaces them face down again, and everyone tries to remember where those particular cards are located.

Player 2 then turns up another two cards, trying to find and keep a pair.

Since this is a cooperative effort, players keep the pairs in a common pile and help each other locate pairs.

When someone turns over the Old Maid, the game is over. 

Count the pairs you collected as a team and start over.

Try to see if you can collect more pairs next game, before the Old Maid shows up.

Modify the game for review

Suppose you have a first grader who needs to review the alphabet. Make alphabet cards from pieces of cardstock cut into the same size or use a stack of 3-by-5 index cards.

Make two A’s, two B’s, etc. Then make two Time cards: write the word Time or draw a clock picture on two cards.

Now play the game the same way you played it with Old Maid cards, using the Time cards to end the game like an Old Maid odd card.

Since this game has more pairs, it has two odd cards instead of one.

So this time, when you turn up the first Time card, you keep on playing, leaving the Time card face up. When you turn up the second Time card, the game ends.

One additional rule makes review and reinforcement possible:

Every time someone turns up a card, he must say its letter name out loud. When he finds a pair, he must name it correctly, or else he will not be able to keep it.

And since this game is cooperative, whenever a child doesn't know a letter, the other players tell him what it is.    

Making this game both good review and good fun requires parents to be flexible.

If your child forgot the whole alphabet over the summer and can’t remember any of it, for example, don’t waste time making him feel bad because he doesn’t know as much as you think he should. 

Just make the game simpler.

The more your child succeeds, the more he’ll want to play. And the more he plays, the more he’ll learn.

To teach the alphabet over from scratch, put most of the cards aside and start out with only five letter pairs and one Time card.

Play until your child knows those letters, then add a few new ones.

Keep adding new letters gradually.

Take as many days or weeks as your child needs with the game to learn the letters.

Add a second Time card when you get up to 15 or 16 pairs.

Modify the game to review math.

To review math, you match cards instead of pairing them. One card will show a problem (3 + 7) and its matching card will show the answer (10).

You can review addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts this way.  

To review fraction reduction, match an unreduced fraction (6/8) with its equivalent (3/4).

For children who are not yet abstract thinkers, always match a picture card to a number card.

For example, review numbers by matching a numeral to a picture showing that many items; review fractions by matching a written fraction with a picture showing that fraction.

Other modifications

You can make matching cards for the alphabet, too, matching uppercase letters—A, B, C—with lowercase letters—a, b, c.

Or you can teach children to recognize cursive writing by matching a printed word with its equivalent written in cursive. Players should say the word or letter out loud in order to be permitted to keep each matching pair.

Just be sure to make a Time card for every 15 to 20 matching pairs in your game. The game ends when the final Time card is turned up.

© Becky Cerling Powers 1994 updated 2024

Use with attribution only   www.beckypowers.com

For more insights from Becky Cerling Powers see her book Sticky Fingers, Sticky Minds: quick reads for helping kids thrive in the Bookstore