God's Spirit clearly says that in the last days many people will turn from their faith. They will be fooled by evil spirits and by teachings that come from demons. They will also be fooled by the false claims of liars whose consciences have lost all feeling. These liars will forbid people to marry or to eat certain foods. But God created these foods to be eaten with thankful hearts by his followers who know the truth. Everything God created is good. And if you give thanks, you may eat anything. What God has said and your prayer will make it fit to eat.
1 Timothy 4:1-5
I have always thought that "Giving thanks" before you eat a meal was certainly a good thing, but in these verses I see a practical reason for praying before you eat.
Did you ever sit down before a meal that was not "fit to eat?" I'm sure I have and out of respect for everyone who has ever fixed a meal for me I will not tell you anything about it specifically. But these verses say that when you give thanks for a meal "what God has said and your prayer will make it fit to eat."
A very wise missionary once told me that it is hard to tell people about Jesus if you don't love their food! So you can not only pray that God will make the food fit to eat, but also help you to learn to love the food.
You see what you are offering the lost is food from God's table. It is manna. It is life giving in every way. Unless you can learn to love food from the table of the lost and let God make it fit to eat by what He has said and your prayers, you may be greatly hindered in sharing the Bread of Life with the lost!
The next time you pray before a meal thank God for making the food fit to eat and be alert to see how He wants to use you to share Him with those who don't yet know Jesus.
"Lord, I thank You for filling me up with every morsel of Heaven's Bread. And I thank You now for the food that You have made fit for me today. Thank You Jesus. Amen."
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