Some weeks ago, i was reading this book
on faith by Derek Prince; one of the books he wrote on faith a long time ago.
While i was this book, i learned something very beautiful about praying before
eating. You don’t have to pray very long prayers before eating, it’s just
enough for you to offer a word of thanksgiving to God as Jesus did. Praying
before you eat is common practice for children who were raised by Christian
parents in Christian homes. But reading about it from this book changed my
perspective entirely on this matter. Permit say that when a child is told to do
something without an understanding of what he is doing it becomes a boring
ritual to him but when he is told the reason why he has to do it, it changes
even his attitude towards that activity. Most of what i will share will be from
Faith to Live By by Derek Prince. "As we receive our food from God
with a prayer of thanksgiving, it is "sanctified": it actually becomes
something holy, designed by God to do us good. Even if there were originally
impure or harmful ingredients in our food, their effect is nullified by our
faith, expressed in our prayer of thanksgiving. Our food is the source of our
natural strength, and God is the source of our food. Therefore our strength in
itself a gift from God. As we thus apply this principle of faith to our eating,
this while area of our lives gains a new significance. We can understand how
Paul could exhort the believers at Corinth, "Whether, then, you eat or
drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians
10:31). Through faith, even our daily meals take on the nature of a sacrament,
of which we partake for God's glory." God is awesome! I remember seeing my
mother praying over our food before we go to the table; she still does it when
she cooks. My grandmother(maternal) told us when we were younger that food can
make your family either happy or sad and so when you cook pray and invest as
much love as you can in the meal. Food truly makes a difference when eaten in
faith and acknowledging it's a gift from God our Father. Imagine if eaten
otherwise. This is what Derek Prince said about such a situation
"Throughout most of Ecclesiastes, Solomon is describing the 'natural man'-
that is, the man who through unbelief lives his life without the grace and the
knowledge of God. In Ecclesiastes 5:17, Solomon pictures such a man at his
table: throughout his life he also eats in darkness with great vexation,
sickness and anger. He further says to eat without faith is to invite vexation,
sickness and anger. He concluded this theme by saying, every activity to which
we apply our faith in Christ becomes permeated with divine life; it is no
longer drab or commonplace. It becomes fresh, exciting, joyous- an occasion for
worship and praise".
Brethren in Christ, eating is no small
activity, Acts 2:46-47 describes the Apostles of Jesus Christ in the first
century, how they ate their meals: " And they, continuing daily with one
accord in the temple and breaking bread from house, did eat their meat with
gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having favor with all the
people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved."
The manner in which they ate with joy and love served as a way to evangelize to
those around them. This is also to tell us that food contributes to unity and
peace in the home. The life of Christ is in us to saturate every area of our
lives: and every activity is done with joy. John 6:1-13, openly shows us that
Jesus Christ cares greatly about our sustenance; our physical welbeing matters
to Father God in every way.
Blessed with all blessings in Christ!!!
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