1 Timothy chapter 4, beginning in verse 1. Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the word of God in prayer." The question that I want to answer this evening is, Why do Christians pray before their meals? Why do Christians pray before their meals? Is it a biblical practice or an extra biblical practice? Is it just a custom or a command? Should I participate in it? Am I sinning if I do not pray before a meal? What, if anything, does God's word say about giving thanks to him during mealtimes? Just a few weeks back, someone asked me these specific questions, sincerely wanting to know the motivating reason why Christians pray before their meals. And they were curiously wondering if they should lead their family in prayer before eating together. Well, in this sermon, I want us to examine the biblical texts and principles that I gave to the person who inquired about this subject so that we might appropriately know what the will of the Lord is. Having read verses one through five of 1 Timothy chapter four, let me begin with an examination of Paul's exhortation. This is point number one, Paul's exhortation. Writing to Timothy about various ministry experiences that Timothy will meet with among the church, Paul says here in verses one through three of 1 Timothy chapter four, that he should not be surprised that in time, some who once profess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ will turn away from the fundamental teachings of God's word and be deceived by devilish lies. Notice it again, the Spirit speak it expressly, that in the latter time, some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron. Paul tells Timothy that as time progresses, He is going to rub shoulders with deceived people who will teach that others can be more holy toward God if they choose to remain single and if they abstain from eating meat. So the pastoral word to Timothy from Paul is to be watchful of teachers and teachings that focus on doing or not doing certain things to get to God. rather than simply believing the biblical soul-saving message of the gospel. The warning is simply this. Timothy, as you continue to minister the truths of God's word among the church in this godless world, as you continue to preach that salvation is by grace through faith, In Jesus Christ alone, you are going to find that Satan, the father of lies, is going to lead others away from the faith through various deceptions that are rooted in man-made religious rules. In time, Timothy, you are going to find that people are going to invent various religious practices through which they try to earn favor with God. Certain people will forbid to marry, and certain people will abstain from eating meats, falsely imagining that because they have made certain sacrifices for the Lord in their life, that God owes them heaven. This is legalism at its finest. trying to become righteous in God's sight by good works rather than believing that Christ has done everything possible for sinners to be saved. Now let's pause here for a moment and remind ourselves what the gospel message is all about. The message of the gospel is not about us doing for God, it's about God in Christ doing for us. Salvation is not an earned reward for the righteous. Salvation is an undeserved gift for the guilty. The Bible says that the way to God is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. The only way for us to be forgiven of our sins is through the blood atonement. Without the shedding of blood, there could be no remission of sin. It's not through our striving to atone for our sins, through our religious practices. The Bible says, therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes on him should not perish, but have everlasting life. This is the biblical gospel. The biblical gospel is about Jesus Christ becoming sin for us who knew no sin so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. And any message that stands contrary to the biblical gospel is nothing short of a devilish lie. There are many false Christs and false gospels out there. But anything that kicks against salvation by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ has been invented by Satan himself. Nevertheless, those of us who know how the enemy operates, knows that the devil blinds many from knowing the truth of the gospel because he causes them to believe that they can do or not do something to win God's approval. The Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times, some will depart from the Christian faith, from the Bible teaching that contains the gospel, because they think that faith is not enough. Believing on Christ is too simple. There must be something more that I can do to earn salvation. Listen church, we are living in the latter days. If you ask most people today, if they think that they are going to heaven when they die, they are going to respond by saying, of course I am. And then if you follow up that question and you ask why, It is, they think that they're going to heaven when they die. They will say something like this. Well, I say my prayers every night. I was baptized when I was a baby. I went to youth group as a teen. I go to church when I can. I've never murdered anyone. I don't do drugs. I don't go to bars or dance clubs. I've never been to jail. I'm a hardworking, honest person. I try my best to keep the 10 commandments. I faithfully hand out gospel tracts every chance I get. I tell somebody about the Lord. I faithfully serve in a ministry at church. I, I, I, me, me, me, I do this and I don't do that. Therefore, I'm on my way to heaven. This is what Paul is speaking about in the text. Paul says that we will meet with people in this world and even among the church who blindly believe that they will go to heaven when they die because they have made some sacrifice for the Lord. In this case, they have lived a life of celibacy and they have remained a strict vegetarian. So Paul comes at such demonic notions by saying that such thoughts are absolutely foolish. They are absurd. Because God has given both marriage and meat to enjoy as gracious gifts. Paul says, do not be deceived. God has created meat to be received with thanksgiving. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the word of God in prayer. Translation, if God did not want us to eat animals, he wouldn't have made them out of meat, because meat is good. It's in the Greek. In all sincerity, Paul is teaching us here that there are no more Jewish dietary regulations and prohibitions concerning certain foods applicable to Christians. All food, including meat, praise the Lord, is to be viewed as a gift from God, and we ought to receive such gifts from God with prayer and thanksgiving. So let's go back to the question. Why do Christians pray before they eat? Well, it may be rightly argued that Paul does not explicitly say thou shalt pray before you eat. It can be rightly argued that there is an expectation that when Christians gather for a meal, when Christians sit down to eat, that they will express thankfulness to God. That's the truth being established in verses three through five. And the emphasis is not on asking God to bless the food because food cannot be blessed, The emphasis on thanking God for the blessing of providing food to eat. This is Paul's exhortation given in 1 Timothy chapter four. Paul's exhortation is for believers to receive what they eat with thanksgiving. Now, looking real quick to a personal example of this, I want you to notice what is mentioned back in Acts chapter 27. In our reading of the scriptures, we find that the apostle Paul not only encouraged others to give thanks for the food that God provided him, Paul also practiced it. Turning to Acts 27, we find Paul on a ship heading toward Rome. with 276 other people. And on that ship going to Rome, he endured 14 straight days of stormy weather, which caused the sailors to go without a solid meal. You say, why did they go without a solid meal for 14 straight days? Well, they went without a meal for 14 straight days because they were expecting to die. They were doing everything they could to keep the ship afloat during the treacherous conditions. But after 14 days, Paul could see that they were losing strength, so Paul, under the gracious guidance of God, tells the sailors to eat. He was a good Baptist. It's time to feast. You need physical nourishment if you are going to make this journey alive. And you will notice in verse 35 of Acts 27 that Luke, the author of Acts, records, and when Paul had thus spoken, he took bread and give thanks to God in the presence of them all. And when he had broken it, he began to eat. Notice the progression of events. Paul took bread, gave thanks, broke it, ate. Paul had food before him, He felt it necessary to pause and to thank God for sparing their lives thus far and providing such food, and then they ate. So here we have point number one, which provides insight to what Paul says and did. Paul says it is needful for us to receive food with thanksgiving, 1 Timothy chapter four, and then Paul demonstrates in Acts 27 that such a custom was the habit of his life. All right, well that's Paul. And Paul was a bit of an eccentric, strange person. So let's look beyond what Paul said and did and ask ourselves, is there any other recorded example of prayer in relation to receiving food? Well, in our assessment of Jesus's ministry, we find that there are several occasions in which our Lord gave thanks before he administered a meal. Turn to the left to the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew chapter 14. The Gospel of Matthew chapter 14. And notice what we read about Jesus's miraculous feeding of the 5,000, beginning in verse 15. Matthew 14, beginning in verse 15. And when it was evening, his disciples came to him saying, this is a desert place, and the time is now past. Send the multitude away that they may go into the villages and buy themselves victuals. But Jesus said unto them, they need not depart, give ye them to eat. And they said unto him, we have here but five loaves and two fishes. He said, bring them hither to me. And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass. These little green blades that sometimes you see outside of Yucca Valley. He commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass and took the five loaves and the two fishes. And looking up to heaven, he blessed and break and gave the loaves to his disciples and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat and were filled. And they took up of the fragments that remained 12 baskets full. And they that had eaten were about 5,000 men beside women and children. Now turn to the right one chapter and notice what is said in Matthew 15, verses 32 through 38. Matthew 15, beginning in verse 32. Then Jesus called his disciples unto him and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way. And his disciples say unto him, when should we have so much bread in the wilderness as to fill so great a multitude? And Jesus saith unto them, how many loaves have ye? And they said, seven, and a few little fishes. And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves and the fishes and gave thanks. and break them, and gave to his disciples and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat and were filled, and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full. And they that did eat were 4,000 men beside women and children." In the feeding of the 5,000, we find that Jesus acknowledged God the Father as the giver of all things, and then distributed food to others. And then in the feeding of the 4,000, we find Jesus doing the same thing. After commanding the multitude to sit down, Jesus took the seven loaves and the fishes and gave thanks. He break them and gave to his disciples and the disciples to the multitude. He did not just dive into the mill. He did not just serve the mill and say have at it. He took a pause to acknowledge God, to give thanks for what was before them, and then they ate. Now turn over with me to Luke chapter 22, the gospel of Luke chapter 22, and notice what is said beginning in verse 14. Here in Luke 22, verses 14 through 20, we have the record of what took place in the institution of the Lord's Supper. Luke 22, verse 14. When the hour was come, he sat down and the 12 apostles with him. And he said unto them, with desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the cup and gave thanks and said, take this and divide it among yourselves. For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread. and gave thanks, and break it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body, which is given for you, this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you. And then Luke chapter 24, verse 30. Over in Luke 24, verse 30, we read that when Jesus appeared to the two men on the road to Emmaus after his resurrection, he stopped to eat with them. And before he ate with them, the Bible says that Jesus offered things to God for the bread that was before them and they ate. Over And over and over and over in the ministry of Jesus, we find that it was his custom to pause before distributing food, to pause before eating food, and to give God thanks. So let's go back to our original questions. Why do Christians pray before their meals? Answer? because Jesus left us an example to follow in giving things to God for what he gives. Well, is it a biblical practice to stop and give things for what we enjoy, or is it an extra biblical practice? Well, looking at all these texts, I would say it is a biblical practice. There are not a few, but many, many biblical instances where prayer was offered to God before partaking in a meal. Are there any other exhortations or principles that would encourage us to give God thanks for God's physical provisions? Again, I would say yes. In fact, there's an abundance of biblical principles that would encourage us to give God thanks for what God faithfully provides. And this leads me to my third point. Having examined Paul's exhortation and example to pray before meals, having examined Jesus' example of praying before meals, in my third point, I want us to consider various biblical commands regarding our responsibility to habitually live in a spirit of gratitude to God. We considered several of these truths last Wednesday night on the eve of Thanksgiving, but I'll give them to you again. Paul says 1 Thessalonians 5, 18, in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Psalm 136, verse one, oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endureth forever. Ephesians 5, 20, giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Colossians 3, 17, and whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him. 1 Corinthians 4, 7, Paul asks the question, what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst not receive, now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hast not received it? Hebrews 13, 15, by Him, that is Jesus Christ, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. 1 Corinthians 10 31, you know it, whether therefore we eat or drink or whatsoever we do, we ought to do it to the glory of God. If these verses teaches us anything about thankfulness, They teach us that thankfulness to God is not a singular action that is reserved for one particular occasion. Thankfulness to God is to be the steadfast attitude of our hearts. Did you hear what I said? Don't miss this. For the believer, the concern about praying before our meal should not be, do I have to thank God before my meal? The attitude should be, why wouldn't you want to thank God before your meal? Do you see the change of perspective? Thanking God for what we have is not something we have to do, it's something that we get to do. And thus it shouldn't be considered as a dreaded burden, but a delightful blessing. Every good and perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights. So in the receiving of good gifts from our good Father, we say thank you. Thank you, Lord, for your mercies. Thank you, Father, for providing me with good things. It should be our natural tendency to give God thanks for all things. especially for a nice hot meal. So is it a sin not to give things before your meals? Some say no, it is not a sin because the Bible does not explicitly say thou shall pray before your meal. Others say, yes, it is a sin because there are numerous principles laid out in God's word about being thankful for all things and specifically thanking God for physical sustenance. Whatever you believe under this point, all I will say about it is this, God hates ingratitude, God loves gratitude. Thankfulness toward God honors God. Thanklessness toward God dishonors God. So my question to that question would be, what side do you want to lean towards? Honoring God or dishonoring God? Being grateful or ungrateful? What practices do you want to practice or abstain from practicing that will demonstrate whether you are thankful or thankless? Now in the consideration of this question, I don't think any of us can deny the fact that pausing for just a few short moments before enjoying a meal is in fact a practical way that we can acknowledge that God is the source of every blessing. And it's a very practical way that we can help our family and teach our children to recognize that God is and we trust in Him for our daily bread. We pray, give us this day our daily bread, and in praying for God to provide, it's only right to pause and take a seat and say, thank you, Lord, for answering my prayer and providing in abundance, exceeding abundantly above all we could ever ask or think. Was that not the case this last Thursday? Perhaps I should have preached on gluttony tonight. God, I mean, just showers us with so many good things. We're so blessed, we're so spoiled. How could we not thank God? Well, pastor, God knows I'm thankful in my heart. Do I really have to express it with my mouth? You tell me. Jesus says, out of the abundance of the heart The mouth speaketh. The Bible says, Psalm 107, O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. Next phrase, let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Let them make it known by their lips that it is God who provides all things. It is God who shows mercy to sinners. Why wouldn't you want to thank God? Praising God with your lips is a part of the Christian life. How else do you evangelize? How else do you edify other people but by your lips? How else do you come among the gathered church and sing hymns and songs and spiritual songs to the Lord? You don't hum them, you sing them. Lift up your voice and sing. Oh, the abundance of our heart. The mouth ought to get praise. Now having examined several biblical exhortations and examples, let's look at five sinful attitudes that we can be guilty of in practicing our giving thanks to God for meals. I have five common dangers for you to recognize and avoid in yourself as you strive to give thanks to God before meals. Is it sinful to say thank you to God before a meal? It can be. Five warnings as I conclude. Truth number one. If it is your practice to give God thanks before your meals, you must strive to guard against a legalistic spirit. Guard against a legalistic spirit. It is possible for someone to faithfully thank God for every meal that they enjoy in life, thinking that that prayer is what makes them Christian. that such a practice is what earns them favor with God. And likewise, it's possible for someone to believe that those who pray for their meals are more spiritual than those who don't pray for their meals. I am a saint because I pray for every meal, and they are heathens because they don't. Now we're back to Paul's warning in 1 Timothy chapter four. The warning of 1 Timothy 4 is this, eating or not eating food is not the determining factor of our spiritual condition. Being in Christ is the determining factor of our spiritual condition. Marrying or not marrying is not what makes us right with God. What makes us right with God is our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And likewise, praying or not praying at certain times is not the decisive factor of our spiritual condition. Being in Christ is the decisive factor of our spiritual condition. So catch this, in prayer we must, we must, we must guard against a legalistic spirit. We must remind ourselves that our salvation and even our sanctification is not about what we do for God, but about what Christ has done for our sin. Truth number two, we must also guard against a Pharisaical spirit in praying. Again, let me have you notice here, we talked about it this morning, do you see how subtle the enemy is, how he can take good practices and just tweak them so as to lead people astray? Be watchful, be watchful, be sober, be careful. The enemy will take Bible truths and biblical principles and take them and use them against God and use them against you. Matthew 6, verses one through eight. Jesus says, take heed that you do not your alms before men to be seen of them. Otherwise you have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore, when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth, that thine alms may be in secret, and thy father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. Illustration. Church, look at me. I'm gonna give $40 in the tithing bag tonight. Pat me on the back. I'm so spiritual. Hey, look at what I'm doing for the Lord. What are you doing? I saw you give $5. I'm giving $40. Jesus continues, And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are, For they love to pray standing in the synagogues, and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. 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. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions of the heathen do, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them, for your father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him. Now some want to look at this passage and say, well then, should we not pray in public ever? No, that's not Jesus' exhortation. Jesus' exhortation is, in prayer, you should not call attention to yourself. In this passage, Jesus is not telling us that when we are out Del Taco, about to enjoy a value meal, that we need to run outside of the restaurant, go into our car in private, and pray a quick prayer, and then run back in because the Bible says we need to pray in secret. No, Jesus is saying if we pray for our meals, we shouldn't be striving to do what we do to be seen of men. We shouldn't call unnecessary attention to ourselves. We shouldn't stop the whole place and say, now listen up Del Taco, all the workers in the back, pause what you're doing, I'm about to pray, be quiet. And then we pray with a long eloquent prayer of King James English. Oh, holy, terrible father, thou art the God of all. We humbly beseech thee for thy presence as we feast upon these delicious dainties. We praise thy holy and dreadful name. And meanwhile, everybody else is doing this. The goal of praying for our meals, the goal of giving, the goal of evangelizing, the goal of serving, enter anything in, should not be to show others how spiritual we are. The goal of prayer is to give thanks to God from a humble heart. That's the goal. So we need to check our motives. Guard against a pharisaical spirit in prayer. Truth number three, we must guard against the thoughtless, immature spirit in praying. Guard against the thoughtless, immature spirit in praying. You say, what do you mean by that? I mean this, God bless this food, amen. Or how about this, God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for the food, amen. Next meal, God is great, God is good, let him take it for the food, amen. Next meal, God is great, God is good, da-da-da-da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da-da-da. What is that? Vain repetition. Every time you thoughtlessly pray the same cheap prayer, tell yourself it's not praying, it's vain repetition. Listen, God expects that when we approach him in prayer, that we will approach him in reverence, in thoughtfulness, and in much contemplation about who he is and what he has done for us. So guard against thoughtless, immature spirit in praying. And some of us, because we are creatures of habit, need to break beyond the prayer we've been praying for 30 years. What else can you pray for? How else can you give God thanks? Think about it. Guard yourself from thoughtless, immature spirit in praying. Truth number four, we must guard against a superstitious spirit in praying. A superstitious spirit in praying. What is a superstitious spirit in praying? It's this. Well, if you pray for your meal, you'll have good luck for the day. And if you don't pray for your meal, you're gonna have bad luck for the day. Excuse me, we don't operate by luck. There are times, we may be guilty of this, there are times that others take a bite of the food that we've prepared, they take a bite of the food that is before them, and the immediate thought is, I can't believe you just did that. It's a wonder that you didn't choke on your food and die. It's a wonder that God didn't judge you for just taking a quick bite before you prayed. This is what I mean by superstitious. Believing that praying or not praying before you eat has some mysterious effect on other things. Be careful of that. Can't force things on others, remember that too. Finally, we must guard against a heartless traditional spirit. in praying, guard against a heartless traditional spirit. That is, praying for your meal because you feel like you have to do it. Praying for your meal because somebody expects you to do it. Now, children must follow the lead of their parents. It's not their home, it's their parents' home, and the parents need to lead in that. But I'm speaking more about the adults. If you are going to pray before meals, you need to be convinced that it is something that is biblical and something that you can do to honor the Lord. Don't just do it because it's tradition. Do it because you are persuaded that it helps you in your walk with God. And in your doing it, you're true to your conscience. This reminds me of Romans 14, five. Paul says, let every man be persuaded in his own mind. Should you pray for your males? That's for you to answer. Let every man be persuaded in his own mind regarding what the Bible says.