For as long as my kids have been alive, we’ve made family dinners a high priority. For nearly 18 years, with rare exceptions, we’ve all gathered around the table to eat and talk together. It’s where we read through family devotional books when the kids were small, discussed what we were thankful for, and tried to talk about big ideas. It is also where we have a regular opportunity to pray together.
When We Sometimes Miss the Point About What to Pray
As Christians know, prayer matters. It’s not just sending thoughts out into the ether or vibes into the universe—it is talking to God, our Creator. And what can we talk to him about? Anything and everything. Nothing is out of bounds or too small for him. Yet, we don’t always act that way, do we?
See, you may have heard it said that what we pray about reveals what is most important to us. And this certainly isn’t untrue, but because we’re humans, we tend to misinterpret the idea. We treat it as a measuring rod for what we should and shouldn’t pray about. Only go to God with an eight or higher. And that starts to color our rhythms of prayer, to the point that we may begin to judge some forms of prayer as more perfunctory than others. Naturally, praying before meals becomes the foremost target of this charge.
But maybe that’s just because we haven’t paid enough attention to the way Jesus taught us to pray.
Dependence and Gratitude
In Matthew 6:11, Jesus taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” (NKJV). The point is fairly simple: We depend on the Father for all we have, big and small. In praying this way, we are acknowledging that dependence. And the same is true when I pray before a meal, whether alone, with my friends and coworkers, or with my family.
When I pray during this time, it’s not usually anything particularly profound. I don’t use a lot of flashy or flowery language.1 In fact, I typically use similar language with each prayer, especially during our family meal. It often sounds like this:
“Father, thank you for this meal and all that you provide for us. Thank you that we always have more than we need or could ask for. Help us to enjoy it with thankful hearts and to enjoy this time we have together.”
While this sort of prayer may not seem particularly profound—I’m not diving deep into God’s character or extolling the gift of the gospel—there is something significant in its simplicity. It’s a moment to remind myself of God’s provision—an example of his love for me and those around me. And it’s a moment to encourage those around me to consider this truth. To wrestle with it. And to take hold of it as well.
So, if there is any encouragement I can offer you, it’s this: What we pray about does reveal something of what is important to us. And the seemingly insignificant things are important. So, thank God for your meal. It matters more than you might think.
Photo by Rumman Amin on Unsplash
- I also avoid flourly language, too. (Sorry.) ↩︎