{"id":34429,"date":"2012-08-18T21:43:00","date_gmt":"2012-08-19T02:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=34429"},"modified":"2021-04-22T21:46:41","modified_gmt":"2021-04-23T02:46:41","slug":"must-a-prayer-be-said-before-eating-a-meal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/must-a-prayer-be-said-before-eating-a-meal\/","title":{"rendered":"Must a prayer be said before eating a meal?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>Is it good to say grace before eating a meal whether it be big or small?\u00a0 Would it be a sin if I don&#8217;t give thanks to God before eating?<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<p>Being thankful to God is important. We need to express in prayer your recognition of where our blessings come from. &#8220;<em>Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ<\/em>&#8221; (Ephesians 5:20). One of those things that God gives us is our food. &#8220;<em>Give us this day our daily bread<\/em>&#8221; (Matthew 6:11).<\/p>\n<p>There is no command saying that we are to pray before eating. Instead, we see examples of Jesus giving thanks.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;<em>And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude<\/em>&#8221; (Matthew 15:36).<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;<em>Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, &#8220;Drink from it, all of you<\/em>&#8221; (Matthew 26:27).<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;<em>However, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks<\/em>&#8221; (John 6:23).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Paul also is mentioned giving thanks before eating. &#8220;<em>And when he had said these things, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all; and when he had broken it he began to eat<\/em>&#8221; (Acts 27:35).<\/p>\n<p>There are cases where a meal is described, but no mention is made of giving thanks, such as when Jesus eats breakfast with the disciples at the beginning of John 21. It is possible that a prayer was said, but not recorded. However, we just don&#8217;t know. Because of this, while we can conclude that saying a prayer of thanks before a meal is proper and acceptable, we cannot say with certainty that not saying a prayer before a meal is wrong.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: Is it good to say grace before eating a meal whether it be big or small?\u00a0 Would it be a sin if I don&#8217;t give thanks to God before eating? Answer: Being thankful to God is important. We need to express in prayer your recognition of where our blessings come from. &#8220;Giving thanks always&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1510],"class_list":["post-34429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-prayers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":42682,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-one-prayer-or-two-be-given-at-the-lords-supper\/","url_meta":{"origin":34429,"position":0},"title":"Should one prayer or two be given at the Lord&#8217;s Supper?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 1, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it proper to give thanks for the bread and the cup in one prayer instead of two separate prayers? I have been searching for scriptural examples that support one position or the other or both. Answer: \"And as they were eating, Jesus took bread,\u00a0blessed\u00a0and broke it, and gave\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27321,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/shouldnt-the-lords-supper-only-use-one-cup\/","url_meta":{"origin":34429,"position":1},"title":"Shouldn&#8217;t the Lord&#8217;s Supper only use one cup?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 22, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I do not believe you have it just right on the container for\u00a0you have said\u00a0the following about it: One container is not necessary because the cup was divided before it was drank -\u00a0Luke 22:18-20 Please notice with me what Luke 22:20 says: And the cup (\"the\" represents only \"one\")\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2664,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-the-lords-supper-be-served-with-one-cup\/","url_meta":{"origin":34429,"position":2},"title":"Should the Lord&#8217;s Supper be served with one cup?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 22, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: The texts in the gospels concerning the Lord's Supper all say \"and when he took the\u00a0cup ... \" denoting one cup. Does this bind one cup? Why or why not? Thank you for your help. I met a one cup brother and sister at a gospel meeting and we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27939,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/abounding-through-many-thanksgivings-to-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":34429,"position":3},"title":"Abounding Through Many Thanksgivings to God","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 25, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by R. J. Evans We are so fortunate to live in a country that realizes the need to set aside a special day of \"Thanksgiving.\" Our nation celebrates this holiday on the fourth Thursday in November - this coming Thursday. However, as Christians, every day should be a day of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IMG056_filtered-210x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":16860,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-bread-jesus-body-or-does-it-represent-jesus-body\/","url_meta":{"origin":34429,"position":4},"title":"Is the bread Jesus&#8217; body or does it represent Jesus&#8217; body?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 17, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good morning. I have looked at your site for many years and have found the devotion and the knowledge skill set to be very helpful, in my walk of life with God. Thank you. So often, in the Lord\u2019s Supper, the men presiding will say, \u201cwhich represents His body\u201d\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12797,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-is-grape-juice-a-part-of-the-lords-supper\/","url_meta":{"origin":34429,"position":5},"title":"Why is grape juice a part of the Lord&#8217;s Supper?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 22, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have been trying to find out the why's of 'the fruit of the vine'. I understand and have read about the Passover. I think I understand the meaning of the Lord's Supper in relation to the Passover. I know why the bread is represented to be Jesus' body,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34429\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}