Earlier, I wrote a post about the benefits of praying aloud, specifically when gathered with Christians before eating.
Recently, Fool’s Gold has written an excellent question: Should we pray before snacks as well? I want to also pose the question: what is the purpose of specifically praying before we eat fulfilling?
In other words, what’s so special about the time before eating that we must be praying? Where is the Biblical command for us to do so?
Thoughts?
3 Comments
September 23, 2008 at 4:17 pm
There is no biblical command. If there’s no purpose for it, we can ditch it. If, however, we see something more to thank about eating real meals with other people, it may be a useful thing.
The Germans pray a blessing after they’ve eaten.
September 27, 2008 at 8:45 pm
Haha, Jackson asked me the snacks question once. I was caught off guard.
The only reason I can think of is that in a lot of families, meal times are when everyone gathers together and talks. It therefore makes sense to pray together at that time also, as a unit.
September 29, 2008 at 12:59 am
I agree with your line of reasoning. However, I’m hesitant to reduce praying before a meal as something as routine and mundane as paying dues or taxes.
We ask the Lord blessing when we aim to do things that honor Him. That includes sitting down and nourishing our bodies to prepare ourselves for His work; of course, it also includes snacks.
However, asking for the Lord blessing 1) need not be limited to prayer, and 2) need not be limited to just before meals. In fact, we should strive to do as much as we can do with a joyful spirit and ask God to make our spirits delight all the more in His presence.