Speaker: Darlene Sala | Series: Encouraging Words | Before we began eating our meal together, my Dad bowed his head.  I can still hear his deep voice as he prayed,

For things we like to eat,

Thy loving gift of food,

We thank Thee, Lord, today,

For Thou art kind and good.

Amen.[i]

 

He was 88 years old and still praying a prayer that he taught me when I was a little girl. We used to say it out loud together as a family—a prayer of thankfulness for God’s loving gift of good food. Recently I came across the book from which that prayer was taken, and the whole memory came back to me.

Although I no longer pray those exact words, suddenly I realized how many times I still thank the Lord for food that I really like to eat. We travel a lot, and when we do, we eat some—well, let’s say “unusual” foods, most of them quite good but some pretty strange to our taste. When I come back home after times like that, the prayer springs from my heart, “Thank You, Lord, for food that I like to eat. It tastes so good! Thank You!”

Maybe you often eat gourmet meals in five-star restaurants—delicious cuisine that an outstanding chef has prepared.  Maybe your food is very simple fare—potatoes or rice and a bit of meat and vegetables. You’d probably agree that often the best-tasting meals are the simple ones. But all of our food is a gift from the Lord provided because He loves and cares for us. So perhaps with me you’d like to bow your head right now and pray that simple childhood prayer:

For things we like to eat

Thy loving gift of food,

We thank Thee, Lord, today,

For Thou art kind and good.

Amen.

 

The Psalmist said that God “satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (Psalm 103:5). Don’t forget to say, “Thank You, Lord!”

 

[i] Mary Alice Jones, Editor, Prayers for Little Children (Chicago, IL: Rand McNally Company, 1937), 59.