Do you say the same prayer when you give grace or do you say a different one everytime?

Question

How does the prayer go? I've been saying the same prayer since childhood: "God is great. God is good. We thank you for this food. Amen." Every now and then I say something different. But as a mature christian, I think I shoud learn to pray better than that when giving grace.

Answer 1

I commend you for asking a question that I am sure many people have. I remember my grandmother sitting by my bedside and have me say the Lord's Prayer day after day after day, but never knew what it really meant. Now that I am affiliated with a religion, I have a much better grasp on prayer and how to pray and how my prayers can be answered.

Matthew 6:7, 8 says, "But when praying, do not say the same things over and over again, just as the people of the nations do, for they imagine they will get a hearing for their use of many words. [v8] So, do not make yourselves like them, for God YOUR Father knows what things YOU are needing before ever YOU ask him."

Matthew 6:9-13 is a prayer that is familiar to all of us, called the Lord's Prayer or Model Prayer.

Certainly, we do not just want to be meal prayers, but we want to pray before going to sleep, waking up, before leaving home for work or school, before going on a trip, etc. Matthew 6:9-13 is a great model to follow, in terms of things to pray for [God's Kingdom, to watch over you because of the wicked one Satan the Devil, forgiving those who trespass against us and then spreading it out and praying in behalf of those you care about across the globe, those in your family or even yourself. I hope this helps some.

Thanks,

Answer 2

I went hiking in the woods for 3 weeks a couple of years ago. At one point I ran out of water and thought I was going to die of thirst, literally. Just when I thought I could go no further, I found a rock with a small puddle of water in it. I swatted the insects out of it and sucked every drop that I could get. I will never forget the sense of life that those drops of water gave me. Ever since that day, I have never prayed over my food the same way.

I am so grateful for God's mercy; I can't help but think of those who have no clean water to drink, and no food. I pray that God use me to help them in some way, and I look for opportunities to do so.

Hoping the best for you...

Answer 3

Your right. there is absoluty nothing wrong with praying different prayers for grace. Just allow the your spirit to pray. sometimes i just say thankyou God, or i'll go deeper. God knows your heart anyhow and if your sincere about giving thanks for your food each time thats all that matters.

Answer 4

My family and I have been saying the same prayer since my great-grandparents learned to speak english:

Bless us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Answer 5

God is looking for your sincerity and love and devotion. It is not what you say but your intention behind the prayer. go to www.steplhen-knapp.com for higher truths ot www.essene.org on the original Christians

Answer 6

Prayer is us talking to our Father -- our Dad in Heaven. I don't mean that to be disgraceful, but He wants us to love Him that way. Do we repeat the same words when we talk to our earthly father?? If not, why do we talk to our Heavenly Father that way??

Once again, someone else said the same I did, just a little different. "compused" gets my vote.

Answer 7

mine is different all the time. when i pray, my mind goes crazy with thoughts that end up in my prayer. sometimes i end up in a conversation, lol. God bless, Val

Answer 8

yes you are correct
we need to pray from the heart
God tells us not to pray repetitious prayer
Read Mathew 6:7
I do let my son say the one you mentioned (he is 5) because it's a good start for him until he learns to pray from his heart which he is begging to do.
God bless you and good question!

Answer 9

My dear friend,

I will try my best to answer your question. In my own personal view, I believe God does not want 'things' that are so complicated. In other words, the features of the thing or things need not to be so hard to be describe in order for God to understand or accept. A simple word or sentence is enough for God to understand on what we want. Why? Because it is not the words that come out from our mouth that He will see but in fact those that inside our mind. (Think it logically, it is our mind that created the words that subsequently come out from our mouth. And that is also why I must say that the greatest gift that God ever gives to man (human) is brain.)
Therefore, I must say, whatever you say, be it simple or complicated, as long as you do it with your full heart and mind as well as believe on God's love and power, there is nothing wrong with it. THe same thing applies in doing your (our) prayers. You cite the simplest prayer with your full heart and mind towards God as well as believe on Him, He understand it more than what you understand on your own words.
So, as for me, I think your prayer (in which you stated in your question) has nothing wrong with it. As long as you direct you heart and mind towards God when you pray, your prayer is no different with those many formal prayers.
Why? Well, think about it like this. Have God ever sees man (human) from man's personal background? Have ever God granted His only son, Lord Jesus, to come to live among man to save only those rich, good looking and so on, ignoring those poor, sick, ugly and so on? I don't think so. Lord Jesus did say that He did not come to earth for those 'white sheeps' but instead His coming into the world of man is more to look for those 'lost sheeps' and 'black sheeps'.
And, based on this, pertaining to your prayer, I think God will never judge a person based on the quality of his or her prayer(s).
Lastly, I myself do the same thing with you, my friend. I recite my prayer(s) which I was taught since I was a child until now. And this or these prayer(s) of mine is or are very simple. My dad and mum told so long I believe on God and recite my prayer(s) in accordance with my heart and mind, God understand me more than I understand myself.

As in your situation, my friend, I think you need not to change anything with your current prayer. But then again, it will be much depend on yourself.
So, I wish you good luck.

Answer 10

We got Bread
We got Meat
Thank You GOD
We gona Eat!

I usually just say Thank You Father.
OutLoud or in my Mind.
GOD can Hear you.