Parents, as we make disciples in our homes and model what living a life that blesses God looks like, we should be giving thanks for our food. Many people do not gather around the traditional family dinner table anymore. Whether you do, or you do not, I want to encourage you to say a prayer of thanksgiving with your children before they eat. Train them up in the Lord. Train them to live a life of thanksgiving unto God. Jesus set the example for us many times in scripture when He would pause before eating and say the blessing. In Matthew 15:36, as Jesus began to perform the miracle of the feeding of the 4,000, He did just this. “And He directed the people to sit down on the ground and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and after giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.” Jesus did this, in part, out of a grateful heart to God for giving them their daily bread, but also as a training lesson to those who were there that day.
Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he grows older he will not abandon it.” How many of us desire for our children to grow up loving Jesus and praying daily to Him? We must train them to do so, while they are still young.
When praying before meals with your family, encourage your children to take turns praying so that they become more comfortable praying to God in front of others. What better place to learn to use our words to express and share our faith than in the safety of our homes with our families who love us the most! They may say they are uncomfortable in the beginning. Help them. Have them repeat after you as they learn to talk to the Creator of the universe and the One who loves their soul. As toddlers, you can teach them “God is great, God is good, let us thank Him, for our food.” (Although as a child, I tried to make food rhyme with good. LOL) They can grow in this life skill as they practice daily in your home. Prayers are not just for mealtimes though. Tuck in time at night is the perfect time to end your day with the Lord by praying together. Again, take turns. The simple and heartfelt prayers of a child are precious to the Lord and to parents. As we all get into the car for the day is also a great time to surrender our day to the Lord in prayer. It also makes it much less likely that we will fight and fuss on our way to school and work. Deuteronomy says to talk of the things of the Lord as we wake, as we go down the road, as we lay down, pretty much at all times. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 states, “…pray without ceasing…” but to be truthful, to start praying before our meals is a great start! Let’s start today.
Parents, as the Faith Builders in the Home, you can start here:
Resources
For a complete Bible story worship experience with your child, please go to ministrygrid.lifeway.com and create or log in to your free account. Then follow this link for this week’s lesson: Jesus Gave the Great Commission.