has not gained the heart of God, it has
failed in its essential purpose.” The Lord’s
Prayer begins with “Our Father.” This was
never intended to
become a mindless
religious phrase —
it is recognizing the
Person to whomwe
are talking and the
privilege we have to
speak to Him.
I was asked to
pray at a picnic once
where most of the
people attending
were not followers of Christ. As I bowed
my head, I simply thanked my Heavenly
Father for giving us such a beautiful day
and some great food. The prayer was not
more than 20 seconds, but several people
talked to me about it. One young man said
when I prayed it seemed like I was actually
talking to a real person. That comment has
stayed with me as a great reminder that my
prayers are real conversations with a real
Person. E.M. Bounds said it this way, “We
regard it no longer as a duty that must be
performed, but rather as a privilege that is
to be enjoyed, a rare delight that is always
revealing some new beauty.”
The apostle Paul encouraged us to pray
“everywhere,” pray “in everything,” and
pray “without ceasing.” When we pray
before our meals, the prayer should be a
continuation of an ongoing conversation.
Recently I was at Bob Evans with a
friend. We ordered our food, talked for a
few minutes, and I asked if I could pray
I
once heard a story of how a business
manager did not hire a prospective
employee because he salted his food at a
restaurant before he tasted it. The manager
was not interested in hiring someone who,
without tasting it first, just poured salt on his
food whether it needed it or not.
I am afraid that at times I approach my
prayer life in the same way, bowing my
head out of habit before meals and reciting
prayers without thinking. It is far too easy
to go through the motions of prayer without
engaging our minds and hearts. Sometimes
with friends we even make a game out of
mealtime prayers — last one to raise your
thumb has to pray.
The loser has to pray.
Yes, I’ve played this game. And, yes, I
typically lose.
We know that Christ gave thanks with
His disciples before the Last Supper, but is
there a command that we must pray before
meals? If we don’t pray, will the food make
us sick? Who was the first to use the phrase
“Bless this food to our bodies,” and if we
don’t say this, is our prayer not official? If we
don’t pray really loud in restaurants, does
it mean we don’t care about evangelism?
Perhaps I’m asking too many questions, but
let’s engage and think about the simple act
of praying before meals.
Charles Spurgeon said, “We must
remember that the goal of prayer is the ear
of God. Unless that is gained, the prayer has
utterly failed. The uttering of it may have
kindled devotional feeling in our minds,
the hearing of it may have comforted and
strengthened the hearts of those with
whom we have prayed, but if the prayer
When this server
interruptedmy prayer, it
was as though she stopped
me frommindlessly
pouring salt onmy food.
Cedarville Magazine
|
29
by Jim Cato ’83
V i e w p o i n t s
Salty
Prayers
for our meal. Right after I started praying,
the server began putting our food on the
table. When I stopped and looked up, she
realized we had been praying, and she was
embarrassed that she had interrupted. I
told her it was not a problem and asked
if there was anything I could pray about
for her. She became emotional and asked
me to pray that she would find a new job
because, although she liked her job, it was
not paying the bills. As she stood with us at
the table, I began to thank God for loving
us and asked Him to provide for her needs.
The words of the old hymn seemed new to
me at that moment: “What a privilege to
carry
everything
to God in prayer.”
When this server interrupted my
prayer, it was as though she stopped me
from mindlessly pouring salt on my food.
I had to remember I was not fulfilling an
obligation, but connecting to the very heart
of God. Paul said it so well in his letter to
the Thessalonians: “Rejoice always, pray
without ceasing, in everything give thanks;
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus
for you.”
Jim Cato ’83
is the Executive Director of
HeartSong Ministries, and he has served
at Cedarville since 1983. He and his
wife, Melody, have three grown children:
Kristen ’07, Celeste ’09, and Grayson ’12. You
may contact Cato at
“Viewpoints” is an editorial article and does not necessarily
reflect the views and opinions of Cedarville University.
