Lately, I've been wondering..

Why do we pray before we eat a meal?

I mean, now that I think about it, I don't think it's ever really been a "command" per se. It seems more like tradition. My parents prayed, taught me to pray for my food and so now I pray and teach other little ones to pray for their food.

But is there any Biblical reasoning behind this? This is where my question began, and so I decided to do some research.

Here's what others on the web were saying:

"Does it depend on whether or not the one hosting the meal is a Christian? What if we're in the company of non-believers? Do we take into consideration the ratio of Christians to non-Christians gathered at the table? What if I'm the only Christian at the table? Is it a cultural thing? Do Christians the world over pray before they eat? And should the prayer always come before eating? What if the meal was prepared by a really bad cook?"

"[Previously stating the assumptive thought that prayer at every meal is important] Well, ask yourself why you don't pray when you go out for ice cream. Does it depend on the quantity of food you are about to consume?"

"Why is this is done by Christians in restaurants? Is it supposed to be evangelism? If so, it's not effective. If it is truly offering thanks to God for His provision, then doesn't it relate to Mt. 6:5 where the Lord commands that prayers NOT be done on street corners where others can see? When "saying grace" is done in the home, why?...obligation? habit? tradition? sincere heartfelt gratitude?"

"What if the food you are eating is leftovers? Do they need to be re-prayed over? How many times?

I thought all of these were really interesting thoughts, some I never really considered. Ultimately I would ask: Do we treat prayer before a meal as a simple tradition and we do it out obligation?

I would say I am definitely guilty of praying for my meal out of mere obligation. It has almost become a subconscious habit of "Dear God, thank you for this food, bless this food to my body. Amen." There have actually been times when I have prayed something similar to that and then forgot and nearly prayed again. How terrible is that?!
Let's take a look at what the Bible says...

"Bring them here to me,” he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.^"

Matthew 14:18-19

Mark 6:41 also has nearly the exact same wording as this verse.

From this we can see that Jesus, to some extent, gave thanks for his food. Yet still, it made me wonder if there were any other places. The first idea that came to my mind was the Last Supper. So I flipped to Matthew 26:26, and indeed it says...

"...While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples.."

With these verses in mind, I would say that it would certainly be a Christ-like thing to pray before we eat. Seeing that Jesus did it, then surely I can/should as well!

But there is still one problem. Are we truly grateful? Am I truly grateful? What pleases God is a sincere prayer, a sincere heart. Whether it's tradition, commanded in the Bible or whatever it may be, ultimately, doing it with a genuine heart is most important. Sometimes we are in a rush, or we forget, or maybe we may even feel ashamed to pray for our food in front of others. I definitely think that because of the unlimited amount of food we have in America, that we so easily forget how fortunate we really are. Having food is something we really should be extremely grateful for!! Whatever the case, let this be a challenge to you that when you pray for your meals, you pray sincerely - with a genuinely grateful heart. 

Note: All quotes were taken from "Should Christians Pray Before Meals?"

Lent anyone?

So technically, I don't really participate in lent (I'm not a Catholic), but I like the idea of giving something up for an extended period of time for the sake of Christ and my relationship with Him, that it may grow and flourish. 

A few days ago I made a post about giving up television/movies for a month, which you can read about here.

Typically, for lent, it's a 40-day period of time which runs from tomorrow (Wednesday the 9th) until around Easter, and is done as a remembrance of Christ and His death on the cross for us (AKA He made a sacrifice for us, so lent is us making a sacrifice for Him). 

After talking with some people and thinking about it, I've decided that I'm going to give up television/movies until then, as well as limiting my Facebook (such an addictive habit!) time to only once a week on Friday's for around two hours max. 

On top of that, there is also the idea of ADDING something, rather than taking away, so while I'm taking away these things, I'm going to add 40 days of prayer. 

I was actually presented with this idea last year around lent, but never actually followed through unfortunately. I still have the sheet and since I can't seem to find a link to it on the internet, I will write the days and such below for you to check out and possibly do as well! :)

I actually really love giving up certain things - it is unbelievably freeing! It can be such an awesome way to deepen your walk with Christ! :) Several months ago, I gave up Facebook for an entire week and IT WAS AMAZING. I had so much more free time and I felt so free from the constant habit of having to go on. I really encourage you to try it out and see for yourself. :) You won't know until you try though, so I encourage you to think about it and see if maybe there is something that is possibly taking up a little too much time in your schedule, and cutting down if not cutting it out completely for a time. If you happen to decide on adding or cutting something out, let me know! I would love to hear about it. :) Also, I do have other friends doing these with me, so that is going to be a big and encouraging help. If you do decide on something, it would probably be highly beneficial to ask around and find someone(s) that is interested in doing it with you! Not only can you encourage each other, but also keep each other accountable. :)

If you are interested in doing the 40 Days of Prayer, here is the list for it!

40 Days of Prayer:

Day 1. Share with God why you wanted to do this, ask Him what He wants to show you during this time.

Day 2. Praise God for making you His own, ask him how to better live in a manner worthy of His Name.

Day 3. Praise God for his faithfulness, ask him to show you how to be faithful like he is.

Day 4. Praise God for His love, ask him how you can possess Christ-like love.

Day 5. Praise God for His understanding and patience with you, ask him to soften your heart towards others.

Day 6. Praise God for knowing you completely, ask to know Him better.

Day 7. Praise God for his justice, ask that you might accept his sovereignty in all things.

Day 8. Praise God for his grace and compassion to save, remember all that Jesus washed away.

Day 9. Praise God for his forgiveness, ask for strength to forgive others without holding on.

Day 10. Praise God for the gifts he has given, ask how best to use them at this time.

Day 11. Praise God for his protection, dwell on what he has given you to protect.

Day 12. Prasie God for laughter and joy, consider all He has given you.

Day 13. Praise God for giving you opportunity to serve him, ask how you can more where you are.

Day 14. Praise God for our hope and blessed assurance, ask him to remind you daily of that hope.

Day 15. Focus on your family, start with your parents

Day 16. Respect and honor, where do these fit in your relationship with your family and with God.

Day 17. Pray for any unsaved family members.

Day 18. How do others observe your relationship with Christ, is your family involved in your walk?

Day 19. Pick a family member you would like to grow closer with, pray for them.

Day 20. Pray over another family member and then another, be specific - dig deep.

Day 21. You are a son, daughter, brother or a sister... how can you better contribute to your family?

Day 22. What have you been holding onto that needs to be let go.. so you can let God?

Day 23. Past sins can fester, time to repent. (Try Gods standard of purity, forget about your own).

Day 24. Habits are hard to break, habitual sins distance us from God.. they stunt our growth.

Day 25. Are you generous the way God is generous, is there something you covet?

Day 26. Do you find at times you judge others? Don't. It's not your place.

Day 27. Does your standard mirror God's?

Day 28. Do you hate sin? Do you want to? Pray for a Godly hatred for the things God hates.

Day 29. Ministry time, how have you made yourself available to God?

Day 30. Do you have a mentor? Pray for Godly mentors in your life, Praise God for those who have mentored you.

Day 31. Consider you church, are you doing your part to contribute to the body of Christ?

Day 32. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, all that you have is not yours but His.

Day 33. Are there any needs you could fill in your home church? Is there something holding you back?

Day 34. Are there any biblical concepts you are unclear on? Pray for motivation to pursue understanding.

Day 35. Do you have anyone you are mentoring, or keeping accountable? If so, pray for them. If not, why not?

Day 36. Praise God for the blessing of His Word, praise Him for this time of prayer.

Day 37. Search your heart; express your love for God.

Day 38. Think of your favorite praise song or hymn, reflect on the lyrics.

Day 39. Explore your dreams and desires, are they Christ centered?

Day 40. Today this part of your journey is complete, pray for what God has next in store for you. Trust Him.

Items needed: Popsicle sticks, markers, a wall, stickies. Optional: Cell Phone

How's your prayer life?

Mine could use a little bit of work.

Do you feel the same?

Yeah, I think there's always room to improve. :)

I decided to make a short (but sweet) little post about some prayer techniques that might help you in your own prayer life too! :)

1. Prayer Popsicle Sticks 

Nearly a year ago, when I visiting over at my nieces, she had a can full of popsicle sticks, with different names written on them, which she used to play a game. Suddenly, the idea hit me, what if I wrote down my prayer requests on popsicle sticks? It's a pretty cheap and simple idea - while still fun and easy to do. :)

All you need is some popsicle sticks, perhaps a couple markers, and a pencil/pen holder of some sort to contain them! Usually, I would pick out a few each day at random, pray for those specific requests (while keeping those sticks out), until I got through all of the sticks, then I would just start over again!

2. A Prayer Wall

Recently I decided to create a prayer wall in my bedroom, which I'm still working on currently. It's a simple and fun idea to keep track of your prayer requests!  All you need is a wall (yes, really), and the rest is up to you! You can design it in any way that fits you best. I'm still working on how I want mine done, but so far I just have what's up in the picture above - with my prayer requests on stickies. :)

3. Cell Phone Prayers

A few weeks ago during small group when we were discussing prayer requests, the subject came up of how sometimes we tell a person we'll pray for them, and then completely forget! Ever done that? Yeah, me too. (Insert guilty feeling here). Someone mentioned how sometimes, it can be really beneficial to send text messages prayers. At first, I thought it was kind of well... IMPERSONAL! I didn't like the idea too much. However, within the next week, I found myself with several opportunities to write out some cell phone prayers to my friends... which apparently were really encouraging and helpful! :) 

Now, I'm not recommending making text messages your ultimate way of prayer, but it can come in handy! Try it out sometime. :) (Sorry this doesn't apply to those of you without cell phones - Maybe it will in the future!)

4. Don't Wait to Pray

On the subject of forgetting prayers, why not just pray with the person when they mention it? That way, it's real, there's proof of you actually praying for it, the person is there to experience it there with you, they can see that you really care and have concern for their prayer AND, on top of it, you don't have to worry about forgetting. :)

Hopefully you can take, at the very least, one of these ideas, maybe even change it a little and apply it to your life! 

"Pray without ceasing."

1 Thessalonians 5:17

Waiting on my Jesus!

I'm waiting on my Jesus. :)

It all began a few months back. I knew our church, specifically my youth group was planning for an international mission trip. I was excited! I emailed one of my female leaders about any information she knew/could give about it. She responded with little and said that more would be coming out soon. What do you know, the next day my youth pastor sends out an email for the mission trip. It was going to be to Haiti! I was ecstatic! Within a few weeks, things changed and the mission trip was moved from being just youth to it being a church held trip, for several different reasons. While I was a little saddened by it not being my entire youth group, I was still seeking to go.

At the beginning of January, I found out about ANOTHER mission trip, completely apart and outside of my church. It's called "Never the Same Missions" held by Susie Shellenberger (creator of Brio magazines, "Ask Susie"). Dannah Gresh (one of my favorite Christian authors!) was promoting it on her website, since she and her daughter are going to attend. It was a mission trip to Ecuador for 13-19 year old teens!

Then began the conflict of two really attractive and appealing ideas! Which one to pick?

I was still waiting on more information about the Haiti trip, so I couldn't just make a decision. Then I noticed a early bird deadline for the Ecuador trip. If you applied by January 31st, you'd avoid an extra $100 fee. It gave me a few weeks to pray, and ask others to pray.

January 24th rolls around,

"God, can you PLEASE let me know soon about which mission trip to attend?" was a journal entry I wrote, seeking God's answer. Two days later, I attend a leadership meeting for youth group and find out that the Haiti mission trip was canceled due to political conflicts occurring there.

I couldn't believe it! I was excited and nervous at the same time.

After filling out a 12 page application, including two notarization's and a pastor recommendation, I mailed my application on January 31st. Receiving JUST enough grace from God to turn it in without having to pay the extra $100. Praise God!

Now the question is... Will I get accepted?

I'm waiting on my Jesus. :)

Note: Are you interested too? Check out the Never the Same Mission Trip to Ecuador here!