Prayer Before Meals

There is a unique prayer that caught my attention. We were watching the movie, Sister Act (1992), starring Whoopi Goldberg as Sister Mary Clarence. She prays, “Bless us, oh Lord, for these thine gifts which we are about to receive. And uh... yeh, Lord, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of no food, I shall fear no hunger. We want you to give us our day of daily bread. And to the republic for which it stands. By the powers vested in me, I pronounce us ready to eat. Amen.”

I come from a tradition of offering prayers before meals. As a child, we recited, “Dear Lord, bless this food and drink, for Jesus’ sake, Amen.” When in Bible college I learned that one of the reasons for offering thanks (or grace) before meals is because Jesus did so in the Gospels. In Matthew 14:19, for example, it says, “He gave thanks and broke the loaves.” And, in Matthew 26:26, we are told, “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks, and broke it.” 

Marlene and I continue the practice of prayer before meals. We generally take turns praying. Whoever fixes the meal, offers the prayer. I admit that I am not always prepared or have not thought through what I am going to say in the prayer. This lack of preparedness has led me to seek out prayers-before-meals that are offered by different Christian groups and to learn from them. Following are representative prayers. Since these are prayers from the distant past, they use some terms that seem archaic today. These include Thy, Thee, Thou, givest, and openest. Most of the sources for these prayers are internet-based and are noted at the end of this post.

"Bless us, O Lord, and these, Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen." (Preceded and followed by the Sign of the Cross.) Latin Catholic

"The eyes of all wait upon Thee, O Lord, and Thou givest them their meat in due season; Thou openest Thine hand and satisfies the desire of every living thing. Our Father... Lord God, Heavenly Father, bless us and these Thy gifts which we receive from Thy bountiful goodness, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen." Luther's Blessing and Thanks at Meals

"Come, Lord Jesus, be our Guest, and let Thy/these gifts to us be blessed. Amen." Lutheran

"Be present at our table, Lord. Be here and everywhere adored. These mercies bless and grant that we may feast in fellowship with Thee. Amen." Methodist/Wesleyan

"Come, Lord Jesus, our Guest to be and bless these gifts bestowed by Thee. Amen" Moravian

"Come, Lord Jesus, be our Guest, let this food of ours be blessed. Amen." Australian (any denomination)

"For what we are about to receive, may the Lord make us truly thankful/grateful. Amen." Church of England

"Our Father, for this day, for our friends, for this food, we thank Thee. Amen." Used at some YMCA summer camps

"Gracious God, we have sinned against Thee and are unworthy of Thy mercy; pardon our sins, and bless these mercies for our use, and help us to eat and drink to Thy glory, for Christ’s sake. Amen." Presbyterian

“Almighty God, faithful Father, you have made the world and uphold it by your powerful Word. You provided Israel in the desert with food from on high. Also bless us, your humble servants, and renew our strength by these gifts, which, through our Lord Jesus Christ, we have received from your bountiful, fatherly hand. Give that we may use them in moderation. Help us to put them to use in a life devoted to you and your service, for we do acknowledge that you are our Father and the Source of all good things. Grant also that at all times we may long for the lasting food of your Word. May we so be nourished to everlasting life, which you have prepared for us by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, your Son, our Savior. In his name we pray. Amen.” Canadian and American Reformed

Based on the above, I have written my own prayer before a meal, and it looks like this:

“Bless us, Lord, and these the gifts that you have so generously and graciously given. May we show moderation in our eating and drinking and extravagance in our love and spiritual service. Forgive us our sins and help us to live with joy and thanksgiving through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

The above prayers are reminders of our dependence on God, his faithfulness to us, the many ways that he blesses his people, and that we are to give him glory and praise continually. I have enjoyed reflecting on the above prayers and hope that you have as well. May God help us to honor him with our prayers before meals.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_(prayer)

https://canrc.org/prayers/7/a-prayer-before-meals