Our kids\u2019 youth pastor had joined us for dinner one evening. As always, we had joined hands and prayed before diving into the meal. But when we had finished eating and joined hands again to \u201creturn thanks,\u201d as we called the prayer-after-eating, Mike looked surprised.<\/p>\n
After \u201camen,\u201d he asked why we prayed before<\/em> the meal (like practically everyone else) as well as <\/span>after<\/em> eating. I explained that we did it that way for several reasons.<\/p>\n First, I said, \u201cthere\u2019s the command.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cCommand? What command?\u201d <\/p>\n I smiled and told him that our Jewish friends and neighbors typically give thanks after<\/em> they eat, because the Torah says, \u201cWhen you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.\u201d (Deuteronomy 8:10, NIV)<\/p>\n He admitted he\u2019d never noticed that verse about praying after<\/em> you \u201chave eaten and are satisfied.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cPlus,\u201d I added, \u201cI once heard or read someone say, \u2018It\u2019s one thing to be grateful when you are hungry, and food is placed before you, but it\u2019s something else entirely to remember to express gratitude when your belly is full and your needs are met.\u201d I said that I wanted both forms of \u201cgrace\u201d to be present and visible in my life, and in my children\u2019s lives. <\/p>\n He seemed appropriately impressed, though I\u2019ve never asked him since (he\u2019s now the pastor of a large church in a distant land) if he emulated our practice. <\/p>\n I recommend it, though\u2014both \u201csaying grace\u201d before a meal and \u201creturning thanks\u201d after eating (of course, I\u2019m aware that many people use the phrase \u201creturning thanks\u201d to refer to prayer before meals, but somewhere along the line I adopted the phrase to signify the second \u201cgrace\u201d).<\/p>\n Because whoever it was I quoted to Mike (I long ago forgot the source of that nugget of wisdom), I think he or she is right. And most of us\u2014almost certainly you, if you\u2019re reading this post\u2014have ample cause to give thanks both when we are hungry and when we are satisfied. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Our kids\u2019 youth pastor had joined us for dinner one evening. As always, we had joined hands and prayed before diving into the meal. But when we had finished eating and joined hands again to \u201creturn thanks,\u201d as we called the prayer-after-eating, Mike looked surprised. After \u201camen,\u201d he asked why we prayed before the meal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":31065,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[211],"tags":[14],"ppma_author":[465],"class_list":["post-24857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-prayers-for-stronger-faith","tag-spiritual-growth"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n