The Dinner Prayer

Recently I have been thinking about the prayer we say before we eat each day. Now I understand its a good routine to thank God for the food we are blessed with and whatever else we may receive from Him, but I feel like maybe that's what it has sometimes been reduced to, routine. However, I also understand that sometimes even a practice that has become too much of a routine can still be beneficial.

Often times I feel like we just close our eyes and say a few words that we have probably said before without a thought towards why were doing it and even caring. Now I'm not saying this is the case for everyone, but I feel like we should probably revaluate what we say and why we say it every once in awhile.

The other thing I don't really like about it is that we are in the middle of a conversation interrupt it the name of love, thankfulness, or respect for God then as soon as the prayer is over we go back to what we were talking about. I just feel like talking to God isn't something we can just "jump" in and out of.

From what I have learned one of the main reasons we pray before we eat is to thank God for the food. However, I feel like to be able to be truly thankful and not just be saying words we need to have a realization of how much God has done for us and be thankful for those things. The dinner prayer is a expression of thanks just like worship is, so the dinner prayer is in a way pretty much worship. Just like I feel like we can't just "jump" into a spirit of worship I feel like we can't just "jump" into a spirit of thankfulness in prayer. The reason that is, is because there is a difference between knowing you should be thankful and actually being thankful.

I guess what this all boils down to is weather you are truly thankful when you are thanking God for the food. I think we should profoundly evaluate what and why we pray before we eat. If we are to do everything wholeheartedly for the Lord I don't think we should treat it as some sort of routine.