Prayer as Dining on Unknown Food (PrayerLife)

Breakfast, in Tiberias, Israel

One of the result of my ongoing prayer life is that my heart and spirit get spiritually fed. To pray is to feast. To pray is to flourish. Active engagement in praying nourishes and strengthens my soul. 

To pray is to access what Jesus was talking about in John 4:32 Jesus when he tells his disciples “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” There is spiritual food for the human soul that God provides.   

Eugene Peterson says that one main source of a spiritual meal is saturation in the Scriptures. (See Peterson, Eat This Book: A Conversation In the Art of Spiritual Reading). Another source is praying.

Philip Yancey says that Jesus got spiritually fed and strengthened by praying. Yancey writes:

"When alone, Jesus relied on prayer as a kind of spiritual recharging. After an exhausting day of ministry — recruiting disciples, preaching to crowds, healing the sick — he would withdraw to an isolated place to pray. The tempter had used the lure of popularity and acclaim to test him in the wilderness, and perhaps Jesus needed to escape the clamor in order to firm up his resistance and renew his sense of mission. “ I have food to eat that you know nothing about,” he reassured his disciples, who worried about his lack of nourishment at such times." (Yancey, Prayer, Kindle Locations 1441-1445)

Saturate in the Scriptures.

Pray.

Eat at the largely unknown banquet table of God.