There are many reasons why family meals are rare these days. Busy schedules, long work days, and evening activities all contribute to the scarcity of family meals. When families do find time to eat together, it is common for these meals to take place at a restaurant or in front of the TV. 

With the COVID-19 stay-at-home restrictions, however, many American families are enjoying more meals together than ever before. For many, the evening commute is no longer a factor, evening activities are cancelled, and restaurants are closed. 

All of the sudden, we find ourselves at the table eating together.  

In the 17th century, English Puritan Richard Baxter, wrote about family meals, offering practical and accessible encouragement that families can still relate to today. 

He simply suggested: Family Meals Necessitate Family Prayers.

First Timothy 4:4-5 drove his appeal: “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.” 

Baxter applied this Scripture to families who receive their meals in their homes with thanksgiving. 

When we share a meal, we are called to receive it with thanksgiving.

So as family meals increase, so should family prayers of thanksgiving. 

We see this connection between prayer and thanksgiving throughout Scripture. As Colossians 4:2 reads, “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.” Paul also writes, “Pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:17-18).   

How to Turn Family Meals into Family Prayers

Families can practice this discipline by simply bringing a Bible to the dinner table. Before the meal, someone could read Psalm 136:26: “Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever.” Follow this with a family prayer of thanksgiving and then enjoy the Lord’s provision together.   

As another Puritan, Oliver Heywood, wrote, “Take your family at mealtime to seek God.”[1]

Since families share meals together and meals are to include a time of prayer and thanksgiving, then family meals will include family prayers.  

As Baxter noted, “They eat together; therefore they must give thanks together.”[2]

Jonathan Williams, Ph.D. (Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) is the founder of Gospel Family Ministries, the author of Gospel Family: Cultivating Family Discipleship, Family Worship, and Family Missions, and the senior pastor of Wilcrest Baptist Church in Houston, TX. He lives in Houston with his wife and three children.

[1] Oliver Heywood, A Family Altar Erected to the Honor of the Eternal God, or, a Solemn Essay to Promote the Worship of God in Private Houses being some Meditations on Genesis 35:2-3 (England: EEBO Editions, ProQuest, 2011), 133.  

[2] Richard Baxter, The Godly Home (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2010), 86.