I always pray at meal times. This includes when I am by myself or with a large group. I pray at home. I pray when I am at someone else’s house. I pray at a restaurant. Sometimes I pray silently, and sometimes I pray out loud. Sometimes I lead the prayer, and sometimes, I listen while someone else prays.
There have been several times in my life when I have been at a restaurant with a group, and after the prayer, a stranger has approached and told us that he/she has appreciated that we were praying for our meal. I never once have prayed to make a public statement about prayer, or to draw attention to what I was doing. I simply want to thank the Lord for His provision of my food.
That being said, I have often wondered what Biblical grounds we use for meal time prayers? As Christians, we often take it as the 11th commandment that “Thou shalt pray before thy eateth.” So, as Thanksgiving is quickly approaching us, I thought I’d put together what I found into this blog and get it out.
What I see is that Jesus set an example for us in the New Testament on several occasions:
“Ordering the people to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds,” (Matt. 14:19 NASB).
“And He directed the people to sit down on the ground; and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.” (Matt. 15:35-36 NASB).
The fist verse came from the feeding of the 5,000. The second verse is from the feeding of the 7,000. After his resurrection, He met two men on the road to Emmaus. They urged Him to stay with them.
“When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them.” (Luke 24:30 NASB).
The Apostle Paul later took up this same type of example. During a violent storm at sea, everyone had gone 14 days without food. Paul urged everyone to have a bite to eat.
“Having said this, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of all, and he broke it and began to eat.” (Acts 27:35 NASB).
These are all good examples of what we should do. By all means, if Jesus is blessing food prior to eating or serving it, then we should too. Paul later followed that example and thanked God, in the middle of extraordinarily grave circumstances! I think we can probably find ways to be thankful in the middle of whatever circumstances we are in.
Still, there is not a command to pray before eating. What I find interesting is that in the Old Testament, there is a command:
“When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you.” (Deu. 8:10 NASB).
This verse is telling us to pray after we have eaten!
I have seen many homes today where the family does not even sit down together. Prayer before the meal doesn’t happen, much less prayer after the meal.
I have seen families that attempt a family meal. The children rush through eating and as soon as they are through, they ask to be excused so they can go do who knows what.
What if families stayed at the table until everyone finished eating, then, said a prayer of thanksgiving? I am not suggesting that the prayer before the meal be replaced. What if the meal was bookended by prayer? A prayer to start the meal and a prayer to end the meal. I’m sure it would not hurt anything, and I wonder what it might do to bless the family.
Why not give it a try this Thanksgiving?
Todd's Blog 