No wonder the early church was so strong and so vibrant. The center for spiritual growth was the home, with the father as the priest of the home. The evening meal was a time of fun, food, fellowship, and instruction. In short, it was a spiritual act, a time when specific spiritual goals were accomplished. The evening meal was not something to be rushed through, but rather a time when families sat down together and put into practice all of those things necessary to keep them from "forgetting the Lord their God."

We, as today’s church, can learn much from the culture of the Jewish meal and from benching. In the fast-paced society in which we live, it is not possible to "bench" at every meal; however, for any family in which the father wishes to be the priest of the home, where the parents want to instruct their children in the Word of God and Christian ethics, where parents desire to know their children on a deeper level, or where a family desires to be a family given to hospitality and evangelism, benching should be practiced at least once per week or twice per month. Let the Lord be your guide.

Benching can quickly and easily be adapted to one of your evening meals. Select one night during the week to sit down and eat together as a family. Don’t use the time to discuss problems, school, the office, or events for next week. Let it be a meal that is unto the Lord. For those who are interested in this practice, the following could serve as a general guideline for benching:

(1) Make sure there is bread, salt, and wine (grape juice if preferred) are set out at the beginning of the meal.

(2) During the meal, discuss the importance of the bread. Discuss how the Lord provides for us. Spend time discussing the significance of Jesus, the Bread of Life, and his being broken for us.

(3) Talk about the salt, and how we are called to a lifestyle of love. Spend a few moments discussing why it is important that we, as believers, be the salt of the world and what happens to us and those around us if we lose our savor.

(4) Take some time during the meal to talk about the wine or juice and how Jesus shed His own blood as an atonement for our sin. Talk about the joy that is ours because we are believers. You may want to discuss some special times that you have had as a family while serving the Lord.

(5) Use the time during the meal to talk about the Word of God with your family and enter into the "benching" time of prayer in the following order:

(a) Acknowledge the Lord Jesus as Jehovah Jireh–the God who provides for you.

(b) Give thanks that you have been freed from the bondage of sin and death, that you have been given the Word of God so that you might receive all of the benefits that come from its study. "Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee."

(c) Pray for the peace of Jerusalem and that the Lord might have His way among the Jewish people.

(d) Spend some time thanking the Lord for His goodness, and then the benching period with a time of prayer for specific needs.

What a time of fellowship you will have! Your mealtimes will cease being something that you do to meet the physical need, and it will become a spiritual exercise. You will transform your table into an altar before the Lord.