Thursday, April 27, 2006

Mealtime Poetry

Be present at our table, Lord;
Be here and everywhere adored;
Thy creatures bless, and grant that we
May feast in paradise with Thee.
We thank Thee, Lord, for this our food,
For life and health and every good;
By Thine own hand may we be fed;
Give us each day our daily bread.
We thank Thee, Lord, for this our good,
But more because of Jesus’ blood;
Let manna to our souls be giv’n,
The Bread of Life sent down from Heav’n.

John Cennick
1718-1755
British itinerant evangelist



This is the blessing I said, when it was *my turn* as a child. I found it in The Lion Book of Family Prayers by Mary Batchelor. Post a comment and tell me what poem you prayed.

2 comments:

  1. We prayed extemporaneously but it usually came out like this:

    Dear Father in heaven, Thank you for this food and for the hands which prepared it. Bless it to our bodies. And we pray for the missionaries in the foreign field. In Jesus' name, Amen.

    Cennick's prayer is wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
  2. We did not pray before meals when I was growing up. Perhaps on Christmas or Easter we would pray;

    God is great
    God is good
    Let us thank Him
    For our food.

    Ah...but then I went to Honeyrock camp (Wheaton College's camp)
    And we sang your prayer to the traditional doxology music, with parts, and I was hooked!

    We sang a lot at Honeyrock.

    I learned

    How Great Thou Art
    Pass it on
    His Name is Wonderful

    I loved that camp and grew in my relationship to God.

    It makes me smile to think my parents didn't really know I was going off to a Christian Camp....
    I just wanted to go with my friends...and they let me.

    ReplyDelete