All the Time

I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. Psalm 34.1

 

I have always found the instruction in 1 Thessalonians 5.17, "Pray without ceasing," to be a great challenge. After all, who can pray all the time? I have reconciled myself to this point by advocating a consistent and persistent attitude of prayer. Even if I am not actively focused on praying, I should be in position- emotionally and spiritually, at least- to be praying. I shouldn't need to "prepare my heart for prayer." I should always be prepared to pray. 

That leads me to Psalm 34.1. How can I always be praising God?

• First of all, my heart should be filled with blessing for God. Do not ever let yourself get in the position of being mad at God or blaming him for evil in your life or the world. God loves you. Bless him.
• Be careful with your language. Remember that even when you think it doesn't matter, or no one is listening, God can still hear the words that come out of your mouth.
• Focus your life on positive, beautiful and godly things (Philippians 4.8). It is easier to fill your mouth with praise when you fill your mind with God.
• Be a positive influence in the lives of others. There are many people who are longing for something good in their lives. You can help someone else experience the love and grace of Christ by blessing God.

Prayer:  Jesus, I love you and honor you. You are great and full of glory. May my life and my attitude and my words all be a blessing to you. Amen. 

The Lord's Prayer VII

Deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Matthew 6.13

 

Let me offer a few thoughts to focus our prayer time today.

• Satan is an adversary who wants to disrupt our lives in every way. He is perfectly happy to possess, distract or obstruct believers and their prayers. We must be constantly vigilant against him.
• It may seem old-fashioned to believe in Satan, but there are too many things in the world that are evil. These events need an explanation and the devil fits the bill. Besides, why would we want to take a chance?
• Although it seems that Satan rules the world, Jesus teaches us that we can be delivered from his influence. Don't be defeated or discouraged by the evil you encounter. God is the winner!
• God is in charge of everything. We have a powerful ally in the battle against the world.
• The Lord is not only the ruler of all with more power than we can imagine, he is filled with glory! How wonderful to know that mediocrity is not the plan for followers of God. We are blessed.

Prayer: Lord God, it is with relief and joy that we are reminded that you are in charge and you are interested in our well-being. Thank you for caring for us. For offering victory over our greatest enemy and blessing us with your presence we thank you.  Amen.

 

The Lord's Prayer VI

And do not lead us into temptation... Matthew 6.13

 

The world is quite literally filled with temptation. We are bombarded in advertising, television, movies, music, everywhere. We are tempted to sin in every conceivable way. We are encouraged to indulge our physical, sexual, emotional and relationship desires. Temptations come at us and cause us to not think about consequences. We look at how other people live, at how fun that temptation looks, and it becomes easy to rationalize or justify almost any behavior.

Temptation is inevitable. There can be no question about that. There is no way that normal humans can avoid all temptations. But Jesus, in his prayer does provide some help. Temptations will come, but we must avoid dwelling on them. We must not be 'led into' temptation. Our approach to things that Satan puts before us must be a three step process.

1. When we are tempted, we must recognize and name the temptation as soon as possible. By identifying the temptation we lessen the significance of its power over us.
2. After recognizing the temptation, we must take every measure possible to eliminate it and get past it. Temptation would love to come into your brain and rest there for awhile. As soon as you see it, get rid of it.
3. Pray that you will be given victory over temptation and that it will not return. Never, never, never entertain the temptation, but rebuke it and pray that you can avoid it in the future. 

God has great things in store for you, but they will never come to pass as long as you focus on the temptations in your life.

Remember, being tempted is not a sin. However, when we focus on the temptations in our lives, we open the door to sin.

 

Prayer: There are many things that want my attention and my love, O God. Help me to discern the things that are from you and are good for me. Give me power and victory over the temptations in my life.  Amen.

The Lord's Prayer V

And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. Matthew 6.12

 

Humans are notorious for their ability to blame others. Everything is always someone else's fault. We want everything bad that ever happens to us to be the responsibility of anyone other than ourselves. "The devil made me do it." "My parents were divorced." "My co-worker didn't do his job." You probably could add to this list.

But, in his model prayer, Jesus doesn't let us off so easily. He understands that each of us people is capable of sin and very likely to do so.  We should not be pointing the finger at someone else, but owning up to our own culpability in many situations. We need to be forgiven our own sins. 

There are a couple of more things for us to realize, however. First of all, depending on which gospel you are reading and which translation of the Bible you are using, this verse is translated as debts, trespasses and sins. Each of us has to deal with our sins. We might call our sins by other names to try and make ourselves feel better and look better to others. We will convince ourselves that we have made mistakes, gotten off the path or simply need to make a course correction. But its all sin. And we are all guilty (Romans 3.23).

Secondly, our personal forgiveness seems to be tied to our willingness to forgive others. Humans have a tremendous capacity to hold a grudge. Here is a word of advice: Get over it! The only way that you can live a fulfilling, fruitful and peaceful life is to forgive those who have wronged you. 

Forgive, and be forgiven.

Prayer: I am sorry, God, for all the things that I have done that are not pleasing to you. Forgive me. Allow me to know your grace and peace. May I be willing and able to forgive others, according to your word and your love.  Amen.

Lord's Prayer III

Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6.10

 

Here is a pet peeve of mine: When we recite the Lord's Prayer aloud in worship, we create a misconception. We say the prayer like this is two different ideas. We typically get into a rhythm. There is a certain cadence with which we say the prayer. We say:

Your will be done...

On earth as it is in heaven.

Unfortunately, that would lead us to believe that  we should pray for God's will, and that we should pray that earth should be like heaven. Those are both good and noble objectives for prayer, but what Jesus is asking us to do is much more simple- and much more difficult.

It is simple because we are to pray that since God's will is always done in heaven, it should be done on earth as well. This is a perfect corollary to the previous part of the prayer. When God's Kingdom is manifest fully it will be inevitable that his will will be done. 

It is difficult because of the tremendous burden that this puts on us followers of Jesus. We must always be looking for God's will. This means that we should be praying over each decision that we make, even the most simple and mundane. To be a follower of Christ, to pray in the way that he has taught us, means that we pray for God's will in every situation.

What would Jesus do?

 

Prayer: Jesus, we do not always understand your will, but we long for it. We do not always appreciate your will, but we want it. Help us to know what your desires are for us and give us the courage to live according to your plan. Amen.  

 

Lord's Prayer IV

Give us this day our daily bread. Matthew 6.11

 

In their wilderness journeys the Israelites collected manna each day. They could only collect enough manna for today. They were prohibited from stockpiling it. In fact, if they collected more than they needed for one day, the surplus manna would get rotten and be infested with maggots. Jesus' instruction on prayer recalls that time and that dependence on God.

There are two things that we should especially note here.

1. God will take care of us for today. We are not promised anything more. Each day we are to go to God with our needs. If we take this seriously we need to be in prayer each day. You and I may get frustrated by not knowing God's long-range plan for our lives. We might get discouraged or feel as though we are getting nowhere when we have to ask for help over and over. But remember, he does provide enough. Always. 

2. You and I are required to recognize our dependence on God. The natural state of humanity is to exercise independence and make our own decisions. We want  to be on our own all the time. But here Jesus encourages us to remember that we are children of the Father. Like the children of any parent, we need to always be mindful that we need God for everything. He is not just a source of encouragement and comfort when we are in need. Everything we have, all that we know, comes from him. We need God and his work in our lives and world for everything.

This is not a nice prayer for food. It is not grace before a meal. This is nothing less than a declaration that we make affirming our faith and relationship to God.

 

Prayer: Lord, be with us today. Don't let us be discouraged about the future. Help us get through this circumstance. Give us an answer for today's problem. Then remind us that we always need you. Help us to depend on you for every part of our lives.  Amen.

The Lord's Prayer II

Your kingdom come. Matthew 6.10

One of the things that we can be sure of in this life is that this is not how God intended for things to be. We live in a sinful, fallen, corrupt world. Satan has caused people (all people) to sin. Our sin, and the sin of all humanity, has caused turmoil, strife, disaster and more all around the world.

Sometimes we can see God at work in our sinful world. There is a new baby, a miraculous healing, a glorious sunset. We hear testimonies of a life turned around, redeemed from addiction, crime and wasteful living. We know that there is more to this life than the unfortunate condition that we find ourselves in. 

God has a kingdom that is not a part of our status quo. His kingdom is one in which he rules and controls everything. And all of that is for the good, the blessing and benefit of his people. That is the kingdom that followers of Christ long for. Our hearts cry out for God to reign in our lives and in our world. We seek the protection that he can offer.

Our prayer needs to be that God's kingdom would be the reality that we live in every day. 

Prayer: Lord, we are unhappy with the way the world is. Fix it, we pray. We ask that your kingdom, your reign and your rule would come into our world today. May our reality be that we are your subjects. Fill us with a longing for your work in us. Amen.

The Lord's Prayer I

Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name. Matthew 6.9 

When we pray, at least as Jesus taught us, we are to begin our prayer with an address and with worship.

Our address is an intimate expression of a relationship. When Jesus taught us to pray to our Father, it wasn't a formal or unfamiliar greeting. The idea of calling God Father was completely foreign to the disciples. God was seen as being far away from humanity. He was not someone that you could know personally. When Jesus suggested that we address God in this way he was offering us the opportunity to have a personal, familial relationship with God. Think of saying 'Our Father' in the same way that you would say "Hi, Dad!"

Perhaps the hardest word in the Lord's Prayer is hallowed. After all, no one uses that word anymore. It has become archaic and subject to misinterpretation and misunderstanding.  Let me offer some suggestions to help with that.

• Hallowed comes from the same word as Halloween, which is All Hallow's Eve, the night before All Saint's Day.
• Hallow also shares the same root as holy, holiness, whole, wholeness and holistic. Being holy is more than just a spiritual experience for a few Christians. It is the desire of God that all his children be "whole" and "holy."
• God serves as our example for holiness.

Finally, it is crucial that in our prayers we recognize who God is and offer our praise and worship to him. That is what it means to hallow God's name. I challenge you today to love God and worship him.

Prayer: Lord God, you are great and holy. I offer to you my love and honor. You are great and greatly to be praised. You are high above me and all that I know. I am humbled in your presence. Speak to me, O God, and make me like you, holy and whole. Amen.

Eyes Wide Open

Have you ever tried praying with your eyes open? It can be dangerous. I mean, there are distractions everywhere you look. When I am looking at the world I can get easily sidetracked in my prayers. I notice a person walking outside my window, or a family on a bike ride, or a bird, or the sunlight, or traffic seems a little heavy today, I wonder what's going on uptown. That's where everyone seems to be headed. What am I missing out on? Did I forgot something important at the library? Maybe someone died. I miss my grandma. She was such a great prayer- warrior. Ooops. I'm supposed to be praying.

But there is an upside.

 When I have my eyes open, I can be praying for that family walking. I can be reminded to thank God for the birds, the sunshine and all his blessings to me. I pray for those who I see. You see, if we allow it to happen, watching the world can be a great aid to prayer time. Give it a try. You might like it.

Dear Lord, I don't want to be distracted by the cares of this world, but I want to be sure to  be in tune with your work and your creation. Show me the needs that I can pray for and the things that I can do to bring your kingdom on earth. Amen.

In Prayer I

For the next several weeks I am going to use this space to offer some model prayers. These prayers can be used to help you start your prayer time, to guide you through your prayer time, or to be the content of your prayer time. May they inspire and encourage you to always grow in faith and prayer.

In Thanksgiving

Lord, You are good.

Your love lasts forever.

Your grace knows no end.

You continue to care for me, encourage me, provide for me.

Thank you.

Thank you for your provision.

I am grateful for...

food,

shelter,

family,

a job,

safety,

and security.

Thank you for my relationships.

I am grateful for...

my spouse,

my children,

my parents,

my family,

friends,

co-workers,

those who encourage me and those who challenge me.

Thank you for my faith.

I am grateful for...

forgiveness,

salvation,

Christian fellowship.

Thank you for the hope I have. I know that I am not alone. You are always with me. You have promised me good things in the future. Stay with me.

In the name of Jesus I pray.

Amen.

Lenten Prayers II

During Lent we have been focusing on a time of self-reflection and repentance. Let the following prayer help you in your meditations, reflections and prayers.

Show me who I am, Lord.

Not the person that others see,

but the person that you know from my heart.

And Jesus, when I see who I am

help me to become who you want.

Search me and help me to see my faults, my problems, my sins.

Make me a person of integrity.

Help me to discover my inconsistencies,

my hypocrisies,

my jealousies,

my bitterness.

Help me to evaluate my priorities.

Protect me from desiring only what is

popular,

expedient,

or pragmatic.

Remind me what you think is truly important.

Lord God, I pray that those things would become important for me as well.

Let me see your purpose for my life.

Do not let me be distracted by the interests of others.

Keep me from words, thoughts and activities that I choose just because they are popular.

If I can be popular I will not be disappointed,

but first of all, let me be your child.

May those who know me, know you.

May those who love me, be loved by me.

May those I meet, meet you.

May I be a person who lives for you,

and may I encourage one other to join me.

For your glory and in your name I pray.

Amen.

Weekly Prayer Thought

But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. Matthew 6.6 (KJV)

When I was a teen-ager I remember game nights with my youth group. There were 10-15 of us who would meet at some one's house with our favorite board games. We played cards and games late into the night. We ate pizza, popcorn and pop. We flirted. We prayed. We had a great time.

My favorite game was double-bid euchre. I'm not sure that I can remember how to play it today, but it was great then. We also played Monopoly, Life and Clue. It seemed that every time we had one of these gatherings someone would arrive with a new "religious" game. One time it was a Bible trivia challenge. Another time it was the "Ungame." It was not competitive and there were no winners or losers. It was not very popular in our group.

One time someone showed up with the "Prayer Closet Game." I don't remember much about the game, except that it was pretty fun as Christian games go. There were dice, markers and a game board. There were challenges and competitions. The one thing I remember clearly about the game, however, was the thing that offended me. There was a penalty area on the game board. It was roughly equivalent to Jail in Monopoly. When you drew the wrong card, or landed on the wrong space, or rolled the wrong number on the dice, or answered a question wrong, or something, you had to go to the Prayer Closet.

How wrong is that? When you fail your punishment is that you have to pray. I was upset by that premise then, I am more upset by it now. It is hard enough for Christians to spend time praying. We should never equate prayer with punishment, or as a penalty for doing something wrong. Prayer is a reward. It is a privilege to spend time with God. We should feel honored to go into our prayer closets with the Creator of the world, the Lord of the universe.

One final thing; there are times when prayer may be especially hard. It could be that there is sin in your life that you do not want to admit or face. In such cases we may dread the encounter with God that is necessary. But we should always remember that when we come to God, he will forgive and restore us. Prayer is never a punishment. It is a blessing. It always has been.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner. Remind me that prayer is an awesome and intimate experience with you. Help me to always see it as a positive experience. Be very present with me when I pray. Stay with me always. Amen.

Weekly Prayer Thought

"Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You." John 17.1

With these words Jesus began what we have come to call the "High Priestly Prayer." Although this particular prayer is not as famous as the oft-repeated "Lord's Prayer," there is still much to commend it to us.

• We should read this prayer to learn the prayer priorities of Jesus. When we know what was important to him, we can make sure that our prayers are in line with his. We can pray for the things that Jesus prayed for, and prays for.
• We should read this prayer so that we can pray like Jesus did. Remember that in the Lord's Prayer Jesus was telling the disciples how they should pray. Here we have recorded a prayer of Jesus himself. If you want to pray with the same power, intensity and grace that Jesus had, pray this.
• We should read this prayer to realize the focus of Jesus. Remember that within moments of saying this prayer Jesus was arrested and put on trial. The next day he was executed. The thing he did with his last free hours was to pray for you and I. That is focus.
• We should read this prayer so that we can learn balance in our relationships. Jesus prayed first of all, that his relationship with his Father would be good. Then he prayed for his disciples and his relationship with them. Finally, he prayed for all that would follow. That's you and I. We do not live in a vacuum. We are in relationship with others. Jesus taught us that in this prayer.
• We should read and pray this prayer to maintain a ministry focus. Jesus did not pray only that people would be safe, happy and healthy. His focus was on building the Kingdom of God. Our prayers are too often ridiculously anemic by comparison. Don't just pray that Aunt Tillie will arrive safely. Pray that she will change the world for the sake of Christ when she gets there.

Spend some time reading Jesus' prayer here. Let it get into your mind and into your heart. Let it change your world and make you more like Jesus.

PRAYER: O God, make me like you and your Son, Jesus Christ. Give me a heart for the world. Help me to pray like you prayed. Give me your priorities. May I be focused on your work, always. Be glorified in my life. Amen.

Weekly Prayer Thought

"Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming." Matthew 25.13

• Be Prepared.
• Don't get distracted from what is truly important.
• Beware of peer pressure.
• Spend time with God.
• Look forward to the next time that you get to spend with God.
• You are responsible for your own relationship with God.

All of these are valid lessons that can be learned from the parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins. The story is roughly this: There are ten virgins who were awaiting the bridegroom. Half of the virgins were cautious about their supply of fuel for their lamps. As it turned out, the bridegroom arrived at night time and half of the virgins were unable to participate in the wedding because they had no fuel.

Parables, in Jesus' use, are stories that illustrate truths. This one, as most of the parables, are filled with many lessons. But for now, let's focus on just two.

First of all, pray all the time. You never know when you will need to be in prayer. A crisis may arise and you will need to be praying. Always be ready for whatever is needed from you in terms of prayer. Do not get distracted. Press on and pray! Half of the virgins in this story were sorely disappointed because they did not pray when they should have.

Secondly, remember that you are responsible for your own relationship with God. You cannot blame your lifeless prayers on your mother, your Sunday School teacher or your pastor. You have to purchase your own oil for your lamp. If you do not have enough oil to see, it is your own fault.

These are hard lessons, but they are completely true. Do your own work in the prayer closet.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner. I do not always pray as I should. I am not always prepared for your presence in my life. Help me in this area. Open my heart. Fill me with commitment to spend time with you. Build in me a love for those things that are important to you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Weekly Prayer Thought

Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. Luke 18.10

A couple of years ago I went with my father to a seminar on prayer. It was at a church with a strong tradition of prayer among the members of the congregation. After a morning of teaching by the pastor of prayer ministries, there was a time of practical application led by two ladies. These ladies were volunteer pray-ers from the church. They told us of some of their experiences and some practical steps to take to make prayer more meaningful and effective.

At the lunch break, Dad and I reflected on the morning's activities. We agreed on almost everything. The teaching was excellent, practical and helpful. We were impressed with the pastor who led the sessions. But when it came to discussion of the two ladies, we were also in agreement. They were weird. They were so consumed with their prayer activities that they had forgotten how to be normal people. They spoke with a super-spiritual attitude that made them seem superior to everyone else. They fit perfectly that old saying, "They are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good." Dad said, "Why does it seem that spiritual people are so weird?"

I didn't know then. And I don't know now.

One of the problems that people who pray have is that they think their praying, their spirituality, makes them somehow better, or at least different, than other people. They become like the Pharisee in Jesus' story. The Pharisee was praying, yes. But his attitude was that he was better than the tax collector. Jesus' point was instructive, even for us. Approach God with humility. Do not think that you are better than someone else. We are all sinners. None of us deserve a relationship with God. But he loves us anyway.

Humble yourself before God, and he will meet with you and bless you.

Prayer: Lord God, draw me to you. Help me to realize how much I need you and how worthless I am without you. Keep me humble and in a good and deep relationship with you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Weekly Prayer Thought

He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.”
Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! Revelation 2.20

Did you catch the importance of those words? Come, Lord Jesus! This is the perfect example of an invocation. Invocations call for God’s presence. This is why we typically begin worship services, meetings, meals and such with an invocation. We want to start with God’s presence, for if we start with the presence of the Almighty, we can be more certain of his work throughout our gathering.

When we are at a church service we expect it to begin with some form of prayer. Someone will say something about God and our desire to meet with and worship him. Church board meetings, Bible studies, youth groups and Sunday School classes all begin with an invocation. We wouldn’t have it any other way. We want to remind ourselves that we are committed to God and his work. We want to welcome him to our gathering and submit to his authority.

But there are other times that we should offer an invocation, asking God to be present.

• We should pray an invocation first thing every morning.
• We should pray an invocation at doctor appointments and other personal events.
• We should say an invocation at family gatherings.
• We need to ask God to be with us when we get into the car for a trip.
• We need to pray for God’s presence as we have conversations with friends, acquaintances and co-workers.
• We should be praying for God’s presence all the time.

And notice one more thing: The invocation in this passage, Revelation 2.20, is one of the last verses in the Bible. We need to not limit our invocations to the beginning of a day, event, service or meeting. We need to be praying for God’s presence all the way through. Pray for God to be present even to the end.

Prayer: Be present with me today, Lord. Stay with me. Reveal yourself to me. Work in my life. Help me to live in your presence, even as I continue to invite your presence in my world. Amen.

Weekly Prayer Thought

The LORD bless you and keep you;

The LORD make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;

The LORD lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.”’ Number 6.24-261

Many worship services are concluded with those words. This is the benediction that God instructed Moses and Aaron to leave with the people. You have heard these words before. Perhaps you have spoken them to/over a loved one.

A benediction is a blessing that one Christian leaves with someone else. You see, Christians are blessed by God, and are encouraged to be a blessing to others. One way that we can do this is by praying for others. It is important that we do not forget to lift up our friends, family members, co-workers and brothers and sister in Christ up in prayer. Another important aspect of our prayer for others is blessing them. That is, we are to declare the blessing of God on other people.

For some this is a difficult thing. Who am I, some think, to confer some special spiritual blessing on someone else? The Christian is supposed to be humble, after all. We should never be so audacious, we think, as to think of ourselves to be spiritually superior than others. However, when we are in Christ, we are empowered by him and filled with the Holy Spirit. We are given authority to act on behalf of Christ himself.

Here is the good part: When a Christian confers a blessing on another- whether they be Christian or not- God confers the blessing. It is a mystery of the Christian faith. It is a miracle of the work of God.

So when worship ends, and I raise my hands to the assembled congregation, and I look at those who are seeking the face of God, and I make eye contact with those in need, and begin to say those words, "May the Lord bless you..." I know that he does. He has blessed you. He has blessed me. He is blessing us.

Weekly Prayer Thought

Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. Luke 6.12

I have often wondered whether or not I pray often enough, or long enough, or passionately enough, or... Well, I'm sure you get the idea. The thing is, I'm pretty sure that my prayers are anemic at best, and probably pathetic in light of what Jesus has set for us as an example. Even though he was God incarnate, Jesus was an impressive pray-er.

• There were times when he prayed all night long. (Luke 6.12)
• He had special places where he would pray- like a mountain. (Matthew 14.23)
• He prayed early in the morning. (Mark 1.35)
• He prayed by himself. (Mark 1.35)
• His praying was an example for others, especially the disciples. (Luke 9.18)

It is easy to get discouraged if we spend too much time comparing ourselves to Jesus in the area of prayer. We should, rather, see his life-pattern as an inspiration for our own prayer times and emphases. Let's not get hung up on how we fail to live up to his life, but seek some easy, practical ways we can become more like him.

• Pray for a little bit longer this week than you did last week. Do not over-do it by trying to stay up all night Wednesday praying. In fact, it may be too much to pray for an hour a day.
• Find a place where you can pray regularly. Some options might be your living room, bed room, car, office. If you can, devote a special place for prayer. There may be a tree or a bench in the park. Find a location that can be your holy ground.
• Designate a certain time to pray, and devote it to the Lord everyday. It might be early in the morning, after lunch or just before bedtime.
• Learn to pray by yourself. Get quiet and listen for God. Prayer is powerful and can change your life if you are in a position to really push through with God.

Weekly Prayer Thought

What God has cleansed you must not call common. Acts 10.15

One of the best times to develop your prayer life is at meal times. In Acts 10 Peter had a vision about all the foods that he could and could not eat. God's instruction to Peter was that if he had cleansed a food, it was eat-able. This should mean for all Christians that they should pray before eating. I know that this does not always seem practical or essential, but a great blessing will be lost if you do not get into this habit. And the sooner the better. So here are some thoughts, guidelines and suggestions for meal time prayers.

• In public, or with others who may not be comfortable with praying, just silently bow your head and pray. This should only take a few seconds. Many people will be surprised to see you pray. Some will be encouraged by it and pray themselves.
• In a group, make prayer a positive and fun thing. Use the "thumbs up" sign. Everyone at the table should put up one thumb. The last person to raise a thumb gets to pray.
• At home, take turns praying for meals.
• Use some familiar prayers, "Be present at our table, Lord," or "God is great." Pray in unison and enjoy the community that your family is.
• Be original with your meal-time prayers. Include thanks for the day, petitions for protections and guidance. Pray for sick family members or friends.
• At school, include some friends and classmates in your meal prayers. There is great power and fun in praying together.
• In a restaurant, include your server in your prayer ask her/ him if they would like you to pray for them. Or, you can invite them to join your prayer.

Make praying for your food a habit. Pray before you snack. Pray while you are shopping for food. Pray for the food of others around you who are not praying. (When you do this, be sure to pray for the eaters, as well as the food they are eating.)

You can never pray too much. Everyone at least has a memory of meal time prayer. Use that to your advantage and pray. Pray. Pray.

PRAYER: Sometimes, Lord, I forget to pray before meals. Help me to remember. And God, make my meal-time prayers not only an act of obedience to you and your word, but make it a wonderful time of communion with you. Amen.