How often do you bless your food before you eat? Every meal? Every day at dinner? Only sometimes at dinner?

I personally never bless the food, but my parents and my sister always pray before they eat dinner every day.

I dont. Had enough of it in kindergarden. None of us knew what it meant, we just said the words like trained parrots.

God knows what I am greatful for and what I am not.

I'm not a very religious person. In fact, I'm an atheist. So, it only makes sense that I don't pray before I eat my food.

   I do it all the time, although, admittedly, way too many times it's just going through the motions and not thinking about what I'm really saying. We used to do it a lot when I was younger, but stopped it for a few years, before starting to say grace before meals again, and now say it before every meal.

LunarDarkness2 : Then why did you post here?

TheFadedWarrior : Because I can..? Is there a problem?

Pretty much always. Sometimes before snacks, and possibly working on increasing the times I do. I'm trying to be a very religious person, although I don't want to be one of those guys that are unkind and/or prideful about it all.

I'm not a big fan of overly repeated prayers, although I find myself doing this sometimes. I'm working on it. I feel that a prayer should be as concise as possible, yet convey everything you need to in order to literally have a conversation with God, like a father would with his son.

I believe even a blessing on a food should be held as important, not just something that should be done for tradition's sake or to get it over with so you can eat. This doesn't necessarily mean it has to be super long. People need to eat! But God is literally our Father. Imagine not talking to your father on earth at all during the day (picture this whether or not he's still around). Would this not be the same as estranging yourself from him?

But I'm not wanting to rant. Just bringing up some ideas that might help.

Oh, and I believe it's "Lettuce pray", right? I dunno. I always heard it that way...

I don't do it during every meal, like breakfast and lunch, but every single day before dinner I pray and I have been doing this for the last 7 years.

LunarDarkness2 :

There is this thing on this forum called "debate and logic'" where you can post about things concerning debate and logic. Or in general issues. If you have nothing to say about theology, you are just wasting everybodys time. Unless you have more to say than that. Which you dont very likely seem that you do. Okay, you are an atheist,so you dont pray. We got it. Duh!

Well, I don't excactly pray, But I say in arabic ''Bismillah'' Meaning that I am thankful and thanking god for another meal.

I just do a sign of the cross then say "thanks for the food" before any meal. Nothing too long or fancy.

Always I am always thankful to God for my food, and am always able to keep in the back of my mind that time when we did not have very much. I remember eating thanksgiving dinner and not having anything else in the cupboards afterwards. We did not even have water, thanks to a water purifier system that was on the fritz. Also remember having croissants all rolled out with honey on them. They were good, but that was all we had. So yes, I am very thankful.

I honestly dont. No offense to god or anyone here but god would understand if i was thankful, and I am. So i dont see why we need to pray always. My family doesnt pray except at bedtime so we only really have to pray when we're at someones house depending on said person. 

Brigand : What are you talking about? I am just replying my thoughts to this thread. The debate forum has nothing to do with this.

LunarDarkness2 : Lunar. This is about how often you pray before a meal, not if you do it. Also, this is generally for people that are religious, like everyone in this thread besides you.

imamonster :  
Brigand :  
TheFadedWarrior : I'm not trying to spam, but I dont see what was wrong with what lunar said. He said that he didnt pray at all. And does it really matter if he's athiest? Like I said, im not trying to spam, but I dont see whats wrong.

Praying before a meal can quickly become a religious practice and something you just do out of habit, but when your focus shift to the God who has given you life, your job, your place to stay, your clothes, your food, your perspective changes.  You realize that you came into this world with nothing and you will leave this world with nothing, so I cannot do otherwise but to thank God for giving me the food for everyday.  I don't deserve it, but because He is a good Father and He cares for His children, He gives it to us, so He absolutely deserves our thanks.

Before every meal except breakfast my family prays.

Now, these aren't intense prayers, but rather short and normally the same thing. Only different when someone else does it.

Before breakfast we don't because we normally eat breakfast on our own.

It's not often that I pray before a meal because, despite us being Christians, my family doesn't do it unless we're with my grandma or other certain relatives. I hope to change that though.