Coming into the restaurant you could see her squirreled up
by the corner window all by herself. A
simple lunch of a baked potato and iced tea were pushed away from her making
room for her arms.
Hunched over with elbows on the table, tired hands
cradled her head. You could see that her eyes were closed as she massaged her
forehead and temples with the tips of her fingers.
Obviously she had a major headache … bless her heart.
Welcome new friends this week from:
See if your city/state/country made the list.
New on DFB – Hyderabad,
Telangana, India; Nairobi, Kenya; Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India; Lecco, Lombardia,
Italy; Toledo, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain; Kikinda, Serbia; Ho Chi Minh City,
Vietnam; Halifax, NS, Canada; Fiorano Canavese, Piedmont, Italy.
USA – Tuscaloosa, AL; Camano
Island, WA; The Villages, FL; Mustang, OK; Kaplan, LA; Baltimore, MD; Woodburn,
OR; Beckley, WV; Tucson, AZ; Toledo, New Kingstown, PA; San Bernardino, CA;
Tuscaloosa, AL; McKean, PA.
Thank you for your continued support and sharing Believing
Our Belief on Daily Favor. (DFB -
Daily Favor Blog) Living
my life before God and man, by sharing experiences as I walk out my faith.
You are welcome to leave comments or prayer requests below. All are private. I would love to hear from
you and how Daily Favor has worked in your life. Contact me by leaving a message in the box at
the bottom of this week’s post.
Don't miss
out on this week's challenge (below).
The Mormon Headache
I’ve never heard of this demonstration of “fake”
headaches as the Mormon headache. To be
fair it isn’t limited to any particular religion or faith when it comes to
silent prayers in public, so please stop blaming Mormons.
If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m that girl with
the fake headache in the restaurant. It
wasn’t that I was ashamed of being a Christian; I just didn’t know how to go
about living my faith in public without drawing attention to myself. The fake headache gag was something I did
quite often when I was a young(er) believer to overcome what I felt was awkward.
I’ve come a long way since then, but has my faith matured
with me? Have I become legalistic when it comes to the mandatory open prayer
over meals? What about when I’m a guest at someone’s table who doesn’t practice
what I believe, should I force the issue? Even Jesus gave thanks for the food
that He served to the multitudes.
“And He
commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves
and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to
His disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.”
(from Matthew 14:19 & 15:35-36)
Instructed to Pray
Have you ever had a time when you were reading something
for the hundredth time and then a phrase jumps off the page at you? That’s what happened last week in my evening
Bible reading.
I was simply reading my regular “Read through the Bible
Schedule” when I had to stop and back up in my reading. It was part of a letter the apostle Paul
wrote to Pastor Timothy, but these two particular verses caused me to do a
re-read.
It wasn’t the rebellious vegetarian aspect, because I
understand that every good gift is from the Lord. There was something else that made me stop
and take in what the Lord was saying to me concerning this reference on eating.
Take a look:
“For every
creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused if it is received with
thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer. If you put the brethren in remembrance of
these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the
words of faith and of good doctrine, which you have carefully followed.”
I agree Paul was teaching that food was to be received
with prayer and thanksgiving, but he wasn’t just speaking about things we eat. The
apostle was talking about faith, Christian lifestyle and tradition as well.
However, what stood out was that this came to my
attention about the time my husband and I were discussing the issue of people
not praying over their food in public.
We noticed Christians weren’t even saying grace.
Tradition or thankfulness to pray over meals?
In the Jewish tradition they don’t say “grace” or a “blessing”
before they eat, but rather after as acknowledgement to God for His provision
as indicated in Deuteronomy 8:10. The
after eating prayer is quite long and includes thanksgiving for other blessings
as well. They give thanks for the
blessed land that produced the bountiful harvest of food for their tables and
for being able to sow to the poor or needy.
“When you have
eaten and are full, then you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land
which He has given you.”
(Deuteronomy 8:10 NKJV)
Some believe that it is merely maintaining an attitude of
thanks that is more important than the actual prayer, but I don’t think that’s
what Jesus meant. Praying in public (not those long prayers where people want to make a scene to be noticed) is a witness of what we believe about God
and His Word. If we are truly thankful
for the food we are blessed to have provided for us, shouldn’t we give thanks
to the One who has given the provision?
I recently read about a woman who explained that when she
prays with thanksgiving for the food she is about to eat, she also prays for
those who are starving asking God to meet their needs. Praying for what we are
about to receive is a good way to remind ourselves of the favor of food in our
lives.
There are some who think it’s legalistic that they “have
to” pray openly because they don’t believe it is a valid vessel for sharing the
message of Christ. They want to keep it
private and thank God silently.
Maybe you fall in that area of not wanting to pray because
you know as soon as you start the waitress will show up to take your order.
That has happened to us a ton of times, but it hasn’t stopped us from praying
in restaurants. On the other hand, it has helped us with our timing of when we
pray.
A few months ago I posted a question on Google+ asking if
anyone felt they needed to pray again when they had leftovers since they
originally prayed over the meal.
The
response was rather humorous, though not intended.
Some said that since the food was already blessed, they
didn’t need to do it again feeling it was “safe” to eat. One man said he prayed based on who made the
meal, especially if it was his mother-in-law.
A few claimed that
they didn’t pray over snack foods because it really wasn’t a “meal”. Others said they prayed every time they ate
something, no matter how small the meal or how many times it had been reheated.
I remember not asking my little brother Alan to pray over
the food, because he would ask blessings on everything that was on his plate
listing food items one by one. We
finally had to stop him from praying over every bite explaining that if he
prayed over the meal he was good to go.
For those who don’t pray over their food at all, are they
living by faith hoping God will protect them or is it a step on the stupid
side? I’m not sure.
To me, praying for the food we’re about to eat is an
outward acknowledgement of what we say we believe. It ultimately makes the statement that we
give credit to the One who has made the food possible for us to partake.
Survey Says
The first survey asked over 6,750 people: “Do you bless your food in public?” Here
are some responses.
5% said they prayed before they went into the restaurant.
7% still do the religious headache bit. (I knew I wasn’t
alone.)
8% did the deep stare approach.
34% said they do a variety of things.
46% said they don’t pray in public, but do at home. (Hmm .. I wonder.)
The second survey I researched was even larger.
1,248 people said they weren’t raised to pray, but now do
it all the time.
312 said they have never said a prayer in public for
food.
14 people said they only pray when they eat alone or with
their family.
14 said they didn’t do it growing up and still don’t.
832 people said they were raised to say grace in public
and still do no matter what others may think.
The last survey that I want to share wasn’t that big, but
I like the results. The question that
was presented to Americans asking how frequently they said “grace.” You can see that the country is practically
split down the middle when it comes to daily blessings over food.
44% said they do say grace at mealtime and pray daily
46% offer occasional prayer or never say grace
10% admit they might say grace only once or twice a week
Here is something I think you might be surprised to
learn. If you are seen praying before
your meal in Mary’s Gourmet Diner in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, you will be
favored with a 15% discount off your meal!
God bless you Mary for acting on what you believe.
In a call to action, do your own polling or survey this
week observing how many people you see praying in public.
Remind Others of This
“For every
creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused if it is received with
thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer. If you put the brethren in remembrance of
these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the
words of faith and of good doctrine, which you have carefully followed.”
(1
Timothy 4:4-6)
Glancing back at the passage the Lord pointed out to me,
the surveys confirmed what we witnessed about people not saying grace. There is another reason why we should pray
over our meals.
Understanding that we are given permission by God to
partake of the bounty He has provided is great, but there is something that
goes with being able to eat what we want – thanksgiving.
When we give thanks, the food becomes sanctified by God’s
words through our prayer. When God
sanctifies what we want to eat, that means it’s now fit to be received into His
temple (our bodies). It’s like He gives
the caterer permission to enter the building.
Basically food becomes sanctified as safe when you pray,
so I think I’ll keep saying grace.
Washed in the Heart
Do you remember when Jesus reprimanded the Pharisees for
telling tales that the disciples hadn’t washed their hands before they
ate? He remarked that they were more
concerned with the outward cleanliness than actually loving God. (Mark 7:5-6) They weren’t washed in the righteousness
of God, but wanted to follow traditional law. They weren’t eating for the glory
of God.
“Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do,
do all to the
glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31 NKJV)
Does this instance coincide with what He taught on giving
thanks for what God has provided?
Following the practice of praying over our food isn’t
really the focus of why we should pray.
Our reason for praying is to bless God, the provider of all things and
give Him thanks for what He has brought into our lives. Prayer is an active part of a person who
believes God.
Whether or not you pray openly, a believer should make it
a practice to thank and bless the Lord for His provision. Saying grace with those who proclaim their
faith in Christ is something we all should be honored to do with one another.
Why We Gather Together
When I was in public elementary school we learned many
songs about giving thanks to God such as “We Gather Together to Ask the Lord’s
Blessings.” Why do you gather? Is it
just to have a meal or do you focus on the blessing?
 |
| Charles Wilden (BTW that's a dictionary not a Bible.) |
I love gatherings at my sister’s. She has a picture that
has hung in her kitchen for over forty years called “Grace” by the photographer
Eric Enstrom. It depicts an older
gentleman sitting at a table with a loaf of bread saying grace for what he was
about to eat.
The man in the photograph was a Swedish immigrant who lived
in a sod house in Minnesota. In 1926 the peddler Charles Wilden received the
sum of $5.00 for posing as if he was saying grace. Immediately the photograph sold thousands of
copies becoming one of the most popular pieces of artwork in homes across
America.
Although Wilden waived his rights to the photograph, Mr.
Enstrom tried looking for the peddler to pay his royalties, but was
unsuccessful in his attempt.
When I enter my sister’s home I look for that photograph
as a reminder of what I am thankful for, and to reflect on blessings of grace
(unmerited favor) from God. Isn’t that
what the gathering should be about anyway? Isn’t that another reason to say
grace?
Do Ye Likewise
Have I become a traditionalist or legalistic because I want
to pray over my food, whether or not I’m in public? No, I’m practicing what I
believe Jesus would have Christians do, without drawing attention to myself or
make others feel uncomfortable. If I pray openly in public I do it quietly when
with others, or share with my guest that I would like to pray.
Whether or not you choose to pray openly is between you
and the Lord, but I’d like to point out a few more things you may not have
realized about saying grace.
We learned about the Lord praying over the food when He
fed the thousands, plus He gave us examples on how and when to pray throughout
scriptures. Jesus even prayed before administering the Lord’s Supper, as
recorded in Matthew 26: 26-29. Likewise Paul did the same in 1 Corinthians
10:16 in what we call “Communion.”
Paul also stated that those who remind others to pray (over
food) are being good ministers of Jesus Christ and encourages in faith. (from 1
Timothy 4:5-6) I want to be a good steward for Christ and that’s why I pose
this week’s “grace” challenge.
This Week’s Challenge:
Remember to Say Grace
This week America will be celebrating the holiday Thanksgiving,
a day set apart where we are to actually give thanks to God for bestowing favor
and grace through blessings on His children.
Instead of going around the table having everyone share
what they are thankful for this year, have them say it in a prayer.
The Saying Grace Challenge: Say “grace” (the blessing) before you eat and give
thanks by asking each person to pray a continued prayer with the head of the family
closing.
When
the person praying is done giving thanks they squeeze the hand of the person
who is next in line to pray, signifying they are finished saying their grace
prayer.
Continue giving thanks in prayer until everyone around the
table has said grace ending with the head of the household where they close
saying, “In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Not only do I want to encourage you to participate in a
family grace prayer, I hope that you will gladly say grace every time you eat
whether it is open or silent.
“Continue
earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.” (Colossians 4:2
NKJV)
Thanksgiving Song - Mary Chapin
Carpenter
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Until
next time, favor God with prayers of thanksgiving!
“Pray with thankful hearts.”
Jesus Christ
Note:
The words satan or devil are not capitalized deliberately, because we give him
no place in our lives.
Disclaimer:
Article information is not meant to be used as treatment for mental or physical
issues, but geared toward spiritual awareness.
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