Answer # 98

Perhaps you have noticed the scene made when some families enter a public restaurant, sit down at a table, and then bow their heads and pray.This is a very rare thing today; but some religious sects go to great lengths to show others how sanctimonious and spiritual they are!

Is THIS the example God would have His people follow? Does God want His people to appear to outsiders as religious fanatics?

Remember the words of Jesus Christ! What did He say about prayer in public, to be seen of men? "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" (Mat 6:5). Some people want to impress other people! But the impression they usually create is one of fanaticism, leaving a bad taste in the minds of other peopIe.

When eating a meal at, home; or in Christian surroundings, it is certainly proper to have someone ask God's blessing on the food and the occasion. We should make it a habit to give God thanks for the blessings He abundantly bestows (I Tim. 4:4; ,Rom. 14:6). It is proper to give God thanks for a meal, before partaking of it, even as Jesus Christ often set us an example.

But what about in a restaurant, before unconverted people? Jesus said "... Thou shalt not be as the Hypocrites are..."! God does not want His people making a sanctimonious scene in a public restaurant — out of false and assumed piety! Rather, in such situations it is usually wiser - and more practical — for each individual in the party to ask his own silent blessing, and silently give God thanks. Whether a person does this silently, privately, when he walks into the restaurant, or when he sits down at the table, or when he begins eating, is up to the individual. It would not be necessary for the person to close his eyes or bow his head as he personally asks God's blessing.

God looks on the heart. God is more concerned with sincere, GRATITUDE on the part of the individual than with an outward "show" before other people! Whether you pray together asking God's blessing, or pray individually and silently, would depend on the circumstances and the particular situation.