Why do we pray before eating meals?

1913 235 Why do so many Christians, on sitting down to meals, begin by praying? The appropriate thing on accepting a gift is to give thanks. The Christian recognises God as the giver of his food, and therefore should render thanks to Him. This indeed is consonant with scripture: "meats" are "created to be received with thanksgiving of them who believe and know the truth" (1 Tim. 4:3).

Scripture says that "every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer." The current idea is that each meal needs to be prayed about, before it can properly be partaken of. But the contrary is the truth: it is sanctified by the fact of the new position in which the Christian stands. "All things are yours … the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come, all are yours" (1 Cor. 3:22). The action on our part which scripture enjoins is not prayer but thanksgiving. "If it be received with thanksgiving" (1 Tim. 4:4). It is "created to be received with thanksgiving" (1 Tim. 4:3). Thus the Christian's meal-table becomes an altar of praise; the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name. How different from the dead formula which some of us have had to listen to with pain: "Sanctify, we beseech thee, O Lord, this food to our use, and us to Thy service, for Christ's sake. Amen." Not a word here of thanks to the Giver of all good for His bounties spread upon the table before us; and the prayer which is made is out of place, it being that God would do something which He has already done, and for which He expects thanksgiving or praise from loving hearts which know Him.

And even where formulas have long been laid aside, one has often to hear what is really only an expansion of the gloomy one just quoted prayer about the food, about ourselves, about our service, but never a note of praise to our God for His creature-gifts! Prayer is very, very blessed, but so also in its place is praise not only does it re-act subjectively upon ourselves, but it glorifies God. "Whoso offereth praise (or, thanksgiving, marg.) glorifieth me" (Ps. 50:23). At a meal-table it is sometimes said, Will you ask a blessing? and the appropriate reply would be, "No; the food is already blessed; it is sanctified to our use; and for this food, thus already blessed, I will cheerfully give thanks."

Does Scripture say anything on this subject? Yes, we read of food being “sanctified by the word of God and prayer” (1 Tim. 4:5). In Genesis 9:3, we find how ample food supply was placed at man’s disposal by the word of God. Sad indeed it is, if this sanctification is not completed in Christian households by prayer, as the food so mercifully provided is used.

As to private prayer we get the exhortation, “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). Again, “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6-7). Even the very food we eat is “sanctified by the word of God and prayer” (1 Tim. 4:5). That is why we should gratefully acknowledge the food given to us, and ask God’s blessing upon it. Saints are exhorted that, “first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty” (1 Tim. 2:1-2).

The Spirit of God through Paul assures us that any creature of God is good, and nothing to be rejected, if it be received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer. If that which God has made for the creature for its use is refused and rejected, it is sin. But all that the Creator has provided must be received from Him with thanksgiving, and the acknowledgment of a dependence upon Him. Prayer is needed for that, to sanctify to our use what He has so graciously given.

Question: Is there any scripture which guides us as to thanksgiving at meals? Do not all the good things we receive call equally for thanksgiving? As we sometimes give thanks so mechanically that we are afterwards uncertain whether we have done so or not, would it not be less displeasing to the Lord if we gave thanks less frequently and more earnestly and consciously?

It may be helpful, in the first instance, to say something upon the general subject of thanksgiving to God before dealing with the specific points raised in the query. We are bound to offer our thanks to God continually because we are entirely dependent upon the bounty of Him who ‘giveth to all life, and breath, and all things’ (Acts 17:25). The world generally ignores this elementary truth relating to human existence, but the believer in Christ is taught of God to own it fully. Moreover, because even he has a tendency to forget his indebtedness to divine mercy for ‘all things’, he is definitely enjoined to give ‘thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Eph. 5:20). Thanksgiving is not optional on our part, for the apostle declares that it is ‘the will of God in Christ Jesus’ that we should ‘in every thing give thanks’ (1 Thess. 5:18).

But in addition to this habit of general thanksgiving, we find that a meal is to be considered a particular occasion for the giving of thanks. In partaking of food for the support of our life we are, or should be, reminded of our great benefactor. Ignorance on our part of this obligation is inexcusable, because from the beginning God by special revelation, both before and after the fall, showed that vegetable and animal food alike are His gifts to man for his maintenance (Gen. 1:29–30; 9:3). He has never failed to send rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling men’s hearts with food and gladness (Acts 14:17). What a perennial cause for thankfulness to Him! But, alas, it is recorded as a signal mark of men’s sinful departure from God and forgetfulness of His mercies that ‘they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful’ (Rom. 1:21). Thus, despising the riches of God’s goodness in the things of nature has been true of sinners from earliest times. This is deplorable, but it is still more so if found in the children of God.

When the redeemed people of Jehovah were settled in the good land of Canaan they were warned not to forget God who brought them there. In their worship of the one living and true God they were to be an example to all the nations around them that forget God. The Israelites might, and should, rejoice in every good thing the Lord their God gave them in the land flowing with milk and honey, but they were not to omit to bring the firstfruits to the Lord of all the earth, and worship before Him in grateful praise (Deut. 26:10–11). When they thus came before the Lord to ‘eat the fat, and drink the sweet’ (Neh. 8:10), the inspired words of thanksgiving for their lips would be: ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits … who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s’ (Ps. 103:1–5). Now it is the believer who is called to show an example to all men of what is due to God for all His benefits, receiving them with thanksgiving according to the word of the apostle regarding foods ‘which God hath created to be received [that is, eaten] with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth’ (1 Tim. 4:3).

The New Testament gives us the Lord’s own teaching and example. He taught His disciples to say, when they prayed, ‘Give us this day our daily bread’ (Matt. 6:11). He taught the poor of His little flock not to be over-anxious concerning what they should eat and what they should drink, because their heavenly Father knew they had need of all these things (vs. 31–32). The Lord Himself, at the outset of the meals He provided for the multitudes, blessed and gave thanks (Matt. 14:19; 15:36; Mark 6:41; 8:6; John 6:11). The importance of His public thanksgiving may be gathered from John’s subsequent reference to the miracle: ‘the place where they did eat bread, after that the Lord had given thanks’ (John 6:23). He emphasises, not the multiplication of the loaves which we think so wonderful, but the Lord’s giving of thanks at the beginning of the meal. There was blessing as well, as there was at the institution of the Lord’s supper (Matt. 26:26–27). But it must be noted that in no case does the Lord bless the bread (there is no ‘it’ after the verb in the original in Matthew 26:26; compare Mark 14:22). The Lord Jesus, as the obedient man, blessed God the giver, not the inanimate food.

Another instance is after the Lord’s resurrection. At the evening meal in Emmaus, He ‘took bread, and blessed’ (Luke 24:30). On this occasion the meal was private, not in public; in the house, not on the hillside; with perhaps only two beside the Lord present, not a great multitude. It is especially helpful to note this in connection with the query before us. The risen Lord gave thanks at a little cottage meal!

While the eyes of the multitude were waiting upon the Lord, they could but observe that His eyes were upturned to heaven, as He gave thanks. Had He not taught His disciples to pray to their Father in heaven, and in addition to petitions of a spiritual order to say, "Give us this day our daily bread"? Now He who had taught to pray for daily sustenance teaches by example to tender thanks for the same.

Further, Paul, condemning an unnatural abstinence from certain foods on pseudo-religious grounds, laid down the fundamental truth that ‘every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer’ (1 Tim. 4:4–5). Again, it is implied that thanks to God is an habitual accompaniment of receiving or eating food. Like the early believers, we should eat, or receive, our food (meat) with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God (Acts 2:46–47). Note that every ‘creature’ good for food is already sanctified or set apart for this purpose by the word of God in Genesis, as we have observed above.

We will now refer briefly to the particular points of the query. (1) Some scriptures have been cited which afford guidance on the general subject. They undoubtedly show that thanksgiving at meals should be cultivated as a regular Christian habit. (2) It is true that all God’s gifts, such as fresh air and sunshine, should be acknowledged thankfully, but food is placed by God in a special category, and we are admonished not to overlook the giving of thanks for this mercy. (3) It is also true that the act of thanksgiving may be performed mechanically sometimes, but this is equally true of our prayers and Bible reading. A lapse into dry or dead formality does not provide an adequate excuse for occasionally abstaining altogether. It would be better to seek to overcome the tendency to legalism by recalling our direct indebtedness to God for the nourishment of our bodies.

It may be added that the above principles should be carried out in practice, not in a spirit of irksome bondage, but in the spirit of happy liberty ‘wherewith Christ hath made us free’ (Gal. 5:1). In one’s daily practice, problems are sure to arise, calling for individual exercise of heart and conscience. Food may be eaten under a variety of conditions, ranging perhaps from a glass of water or a biscuit or a bar of chocolate to a multi-course dinner. We may eat alone or in company, at home or at a public table, with fellow-believers or in the presence of unbelievers. One may say one’s own grace silently, or give thanks aloud for others. In all cases God looks at the heart and accepts the simple, real, earnest thanks rendered to Him. But where grace is said as a parade of piety, in a bold and conspicuous manner with the evident intention of being seen of men, it incurs the Lord’s condemnation of the hypocrites in their prayers (Matt. 6:5). Let us heed the words of the psalmist: ‘O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good … who giveth food to all flesh: for his mercy endureth for ever’ (Ps. 136:1, 25).

Verse 4. "Every creature of God is good." There is no evil whatever in the fact of eating any of the various meats therefore. The question of what may be harmful to health in specific cases, is not, of course, considered here, but the spiritual implications of eating. If one knows he cannot tolerate certain foods without suffering for it, then it is only sensible for him to avoid these. But eating or not eating makes no spiritual difference. "If it be received with thanksgiving" is an important condition noted here. If I do not thank God for my food, then whatever I eat, the spiritual implications are bad. That which sets the food apart as God's provision is the Word of God and prayer.