Praying to God to Bless the Bread

“God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24 NKJV) 

Whose job is it to bless the bread and bless the fruit of the vine when the Lord’s Supper is being observed in the communion service? One hears prayers or petitions to God continually to “bless the bread” and to “bless the fruit of the vine” leading up to their serving at the observance of the Lord's Supper. Why? I have no idea other than it has been done so long that it has become a habit. It is not scriptural.

A little thinking on the subject ought to convince most. How do you bless an inanimate (non-living) object? Rain after a long drought is certainly a blessing, but it is not the rain God blessed in sending it to man, but the man who received the rain. God blessed man, not the rain, unless you want to say the rain was blessed in the sense that God made more of it.

It is true in Deut. 7:13 you will find inanimate objects being blessed, but if you turn there and take a look at the passage you will see that those objects (fruit of the land, corn, wine, oil) are being increased by God’s blessing, being made abundant for the sake of his people. Do we want God to “bless the bread” and “bless the fruit of the vine” at the communion table this way–by making more bread and more fruit of the vine? I think not.

When we ask God to bless the bread and/or the fruit of the vine at the communion table, those who ask do not know or understand what it is they are asking for or what they are expecting from God. We want God to bless it, but we do not have the slightest idea of what we expect as a result of his doing so. What is supposed to happen when he does bless the bread (assuming he is doing it, which I deny)?

Sometimes the one who leads the prayer will qualify his request for a blessing on the bread and/or fruit of the vine by adding a qualifier saying “bless it to its intended use.” How does that help? What is the intended use of the bread and fruit of the vine–is it spiritual or physical? All agree the intended use lies in the spiritual realm but that means for the bread and the fruit of the vine to be of benefit to me personally it is not what God does to the emblems (as they are frequently called by man–the bread and the fruit of the vine) but my attitude, my spiritual state of mind, my approach to the supper that makes the difference as to whether or not it proves a blessing to me. It is not what God does that makes it a blessing.

The Lord’s Supper is meant to be a blessing to us, but it is already that without further action on God’s part. God long ago did all that was needed to make the Lord’s Supper a blessing to man.

It is what man does, not what God does, that counts now as to whether or not the Lord’s Supper will be a blessing to man or not. Paul teaches that the Lord’s Supper, instead of being a blessing, can become a condemnation, not because of God but because of our reckless partaking of it if we play the fool while partaking. “Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.” (1 Cor. 11:27 KJV) “For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.” (1 Cor. 11:29 KJV) I have, over the course of a few decades, seen once in a great while someone talking or visiting while the Lord’s Supper was being observed. Do they understand what they are doing? I think not. Partaking of the Lord’s Supper is serious business. It needs to be done showing all respect, reverence, honor, and thanksgiving.

I do not believe there is the least bit of evidence in scripture for the idea that Jesus ever blessed the bread or the fruit of the vine in instituting the Lord’s Supper, based on what is recorded in the word. If he did, where is it found? Furthermore, where is the example of any man in New Testament times asking God to bless the bread and/or the fruit of the vine?

What does the word “bless” mean as it relates to prayer? There is one passage that is so clear on the matter as to settle the issue. That passage is 1 Cor. 14:16-17:

“Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest? For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified.” (1 Cor. 14:16-17 KJV)

This is so simple as to be nearly impossible to misunderstand. To bless in prayer means to give thanks.

Since the word “bless” is only used 10 times in a total of 9 verses in the King James Version of the New Testament it will not take long to run through those listings, check them out, and see what we can find, namely, see if we ought to continue this practice of asking God to bless the emblems at the Lord’s table. Since we have already looked at 1 Cor. 14:16-17, we only have 8 other verses to look at. Those verses are: Matt. 5:44, Luke 6:28, Rom. 12:14, 1 Cor. 4:12, Acts 3:26, 1 Cor. 10:16, Heb. 6:14, and James 3:9.

Four of these eight verses teach the same message, so we can deal with them as a group. I will use the passage of Luke 6:28 for this purpose, which reads as follows:

“Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.” (KJV)

If the reader will check out Matt. 5:44, Rom. 12:14, and 1 Cor. 4:12 he will find the same doctrine being taught. I did not start with Matt. 5:44 for the reason that most modern versions do not have the word bless in them at that verse in view of the fact that there is a textual variant there.

Anyone can see from a quick reading that man, not God, is to do the blessing in all four of these passages. It is also obvious that one man can only bless another in one of two ways, either by word or by deed. Most commentators agree with Barnes’ remarks who says, “The word ‘bless’ here means to ‘speak well of’ or ‘speak well to.’” I am not sure I would want to limit it to that alone, but I am just passing on this famous commentator’s remarks. (Barnes’ comments are on the parallel passage–Matt. 5:44.)

This only leaves four other times the King James New Testament uses our word “bless,” and the reader will realize that so far we have not found an instance where the word bless is used as man commonly uses the term today.

The next verse is Acts 3:26:

“Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.” (KJV)

In this passage, the meaning of the word bless is self-explanatory as it is plainly stated. Jesus does bless us by “turning away every one of you from his iniquities.” The ESV is even plainer for it reads, “God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.” This blessing came to man by means of the cross and the gospel which, if believed and obeyed, results in the greatest blessing possible that could be bestowed upon a man—eternal life.

We next come to the word “bless” as found in 1 Cor. 10:16, which deals with the Lord’s Supper. It reads:

“The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?” (KJV)

All agree that Paul is talking about the communion service. The “cup of blessing which we bless” (please notice we do this, not God) is the fruit of the vine used in that service. Paul says he was told by the Lord what was to be done at the Lord’s Supper, “For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, ‘Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.’ After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, ‘This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.’” (1 Cor. 11:23-25 KJV) Please note this 1 Cor. 11 passage comes in the very next chapter after 1 Cor. 10:16, the verse just quoted in the prior paragraph. 

Paul says that Jesus gave thanks for the bread and then says of the fruit of the vine Jesus did the same (gave thanks), for he says “after the same manner,” that is, he followed the same procedure for the fruit of the vine as he had done for the bread. Bless thus means to give thanks in prayer to God or else Paul in 1 Cor. 10:16 is asking us to do something different from what he said Jesus did in 1 Cor. 11:23-25. I also remind the reader again of 1 Cor. 14:16-17 which defines the word “bless” when used in prayer to mean give thanks. 

In the last half of chapter 11 of First Corinthians, Paul deals with the subject of the Lord’s Supper so that the Corinthians (and all later generations) might observe it properly. He begins with the words (verse 23), “For I have received of the Lord.” (KJV) If you want to do what Jesus did and follow his example, do as Jesus did. It is safe; it is what ought to be done.

Here is the summary of the points that need to be learned from these Corinthian passages. (1) We are indeed to bless, give thanks, while at the Lord’s table, but that means we do it, not ask God to do something mysterious to the emblems, nor ask him to give thanks himself. (2) Jesus’ example shows that he did not bestow a blessing (as modern-day man perceives of the thing) on the bread and/or fruit of the vine in instituting the Lord’s Supper, but merely gave thanks for the emblems. (3) Jesus did not ask God to bless the bread and/or the fruit of the vine. 

I think it is very possible that modern-day error on this subject has come from a bad rendering in the King James Bible of Matt. 26:26-27 where a word was added to the text by the translators but generally read by readers as though it was a part of the original Greek manuscripts. The text there reads as follows:

"And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it." (Matt. 26:26-27 KJV)

In the original Greek, there is only one “it” in this entire passage, and that is the very last one. The reader is likely aware that in the King James Bible the italicized words were not in the original text but were added by the translators for clarification. All the other "it" words in this passage were added by the translators.

Thus, the King James Version makes the text sound as though Jesus blessed the bread, and people have been led astray by that little word added by the translators.

Here is the way the two verses read when words added by the translators that are not in the original are omitted (as they should have been):

“And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake, and gave to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave to them, saying, Drink ye all of it.” (Matt. 26:26-27, KJV, without the words added by the translators)

Jesus thus just blessed, which means, as we have already shown, that he gave thanks for the bread. In fact, one ought to be able to see this easily enough, for with regard to the cup, the text clearly says Jesus gave thanks. Did he do one thing for the fruit of the vine while doing something entirely different for the bread? Did he give a supernatural blessing to the bread while not doing so for the fruit of the vine? We know better. 

Let the reader beware, the King James Version is not the only translation that has done this sort of thing with this verse, namely, added words not in the original Greek text. I am not going to go through all the various versions, but I can tell you the English Standard Version (ESV) is guilty of the same thing, and the problem with the ESV is that it does not italicize words added by the translators that are not in the original Greek. Overall, the ESV is an excellent translation, but I hate this failure to italicize added words.

Before leaving Matt. 26:26-27 here are some comments from Barnes’ commentary on the passage. He says, and I quote, “or ‘gave thanks’ to God for it. The word rendered ‘blessed’ not unfrequently means ‘to give thanks.’”

The word bless is used in the sense of giving thanks in prayer in all passages relating to the Lord’s Supper. One can find the record of the Lord’s instituting the Lord’s Supper in Matt. 26:26-27, Mark 14:22-23 (again, the word it was added by the translators), and Luke 22:19-20. Matthew and Mark say Jesus “blessed” with regard to the bread, while Luke says he “gave thanks,” as does Paul in 1 Cor. 11:23-24. (As already stated, blessed means to give thanks when we are talking about prayer.) Matthew and Mark are not contradicting Luke and Paul. In every instance, as it related to the fruit of the vine in these passages, it was not blessed but “gave thanks” as far as what terms were used in describing what was done. Luke says “likewise,” but says about the bread that Jesus gave thanks, thus “likewise” means Jesus gave thanks.

The New International Version never uses the word bless in any of the passages related to the Lord's Supper.  It is always gave thanks.

If the reader will just remember 1 Cor. 14:16-17, he/she will never be confused again with regard to this subject. Many years ago, when I was growing up in the 1950's and 1960's, it was common when people were gathered together for a meal to hear the one in charge ask another “to give the blessing.” People back in those days knew what the blessing was. As times have changed, so has the vocabulary people use. However, to bless or give the blessing is to have a prayer of thanksgiving to God. This is not to say that this is what the word bless means in every instance in the Bible, but it is to say that it is what it means in reference to the Lord’s Supper and in prayers surrounding that observance. 

That pretty much covers the discussion, which is the subject of this paper, for the last two verses where the word “bless” is used in the New Testament do not relate to the Lord’s Supper. The first passage is Heb. 6:13-14, “For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, saying, surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.” (KJV) The reader will readily see we are not dealing with the subject of prayer here. The words blessing and bless here refer to what we commonly think of when we hear the phrase “blessings from God.” 

The last time the word “bless” is used in the King James New Testament is in James 3:8-9. “But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.” Here again is another passage showing that bless in prayer means to give thanks. The TEV, or as it is sometimes called “The Good News Bible,” translates these two verses as follows:

“But no one has ever been able to tame the tongue. It is evil and uncontrollable, full of deadly poison. We use it to give thanks to our Lord and Father and also to curse other people, who are created in the likeness of God.” (James 3:8-9 TEV) To bless is to give thanks, as is easily seen by comparing the King James translation with that of the TEV.

We should follow the example Jesus gave in giving thanks to God the Father for the bread and the fruit of the vine when instituting the Lord’s Supper, and should stop this business of asking God to bless the bread and fruit of the vine. What do we expect him to do after all?

Many who give thanks at every meal and would not think of doing otherwise observe the Lord’s Supper regularly, where thanksgiving is never or rarely given, and that at the most important meal a person will ever take part in–the Lord’s Supper. Jesus gave thanks but we often don’t. We need to be educated on the subject. Jesus gave his life for us, and yet in observing that event, we do not give thanks. Friends, if you are a Christian, you ought to think long and hard about that.

Instead of doing what we ought to do, we do that which was unheard of in scripture, and that which no one can explain about what it is they want God to do. We say we want him to bless the bread, to bless the fruit of the vine, but when asked to explain who can? What is he supposed to do in blessing it? The reality is, he gave us the Lord’s Supper as a blessing. It is up to us now, not him, to make it what he intended it to be for us.

Finally, there is the matter of conscience involved in this. If one believes as I do that we are to give God thanks for the bread and the fruit of the vine at the Lord’s table how are we to worship in good conscience if the one leading prayer does not give thanks but wants to go ahead and ask God to bless? What are we to do? We know we are to thank God, but the one in charge wants God to bless the bread, an inanimate object, and does not thank God. If we are to worship God “in spirit and in truth,” are we doing so when we do not give thanks? Where is the truth part if we do not give thanks? I do not have any answers since I am like all others in that I am subject to whatever the speaker says; he is in charge, not me. I do all I can and offer a silent prayer of my own, but this is certainly not the preferred route to take, but what are you going to do?

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Calling On The Name Of The Lord

The Apostle Peter, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, preached the first gospel sermon ever preached on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 after Jesus' ascension back to heaven. By believing and obeying the message preached that Pentecost day, the men and women present would be saved from their sins, and so they were. In that sermon, Peter quoted the prophet Joel, saying, "It shall be, that every one who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Acts 2:21 NAS 77)

All rational men and women ought to want to be saved. We all know, if we are at all honest, that we have sinned and have sins that need to be forgiven. God's promise through Joel the prophet was that "every one" will be saved who will call on the name of the Lord, so how do we do that?

One's first inclination when hearing the word "call" is to think of verbal communication, thus prayer to God. Yet, when one reads the entirety of Peter's sermon in Acts 2, we find not a word about prayer to God or Christ.

As Peter proceeded in his speech to those who had assembled that day, after convincing them he and the other apostles who were speaking in tongues were not drunk, his first objective was to convince them that the Jesus they had condemned to death was indeed the Christ. This was not difficult to do. Peter reminded them of the miracles, wonders, and signs Jesus had done in their presence. No ordinary man could do such things if God was not with him, and God is not with liars. Jesus was who he said he was — the Son of God.

No doubt they were also aware of the events surrounding the Lord's death: the earthquake, the darkness, the veil of the temple being rent; and, add to that, many of them were likely already convicted in their hearts that they had condemned an innocent man.

Being convicted in heart of their sin and of the fact that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God, they appeal to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?" (Acts 2:37 NAS 77)

Peter's well-known response was, "Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38 NAS 77)

Now to the heart of our subject: what does it mean to call on the name of the Lord? It means to obey the gospel. If you are not a Christian and want to become one, it means for the alien sinner to repent and be baptized upon your faith in Christ.

Were these people on the Day of Pentecost saved after obeying Peter's instructions? The Bible says, "There were added that day about three thousand souls." (Acts 2:41 NAS 77) Inspiration says that, not me. We ought to believe what the text clearly states.

I ask you this question: Did those three thousand that day call on the name of the Lord? It is those who call on the name of the Lord that Joel says will be saved. Did they do it? What did they do? When you answer that question, you will know what it means to call on the name of the Lord. It means to obey the gospel — to have faith, repent, and be baptized.

If calling on the name of the Lord meant to simply pray to God for forgiveness, Peter would surely have emphasized that, but we hear not a word from him along that line. Why not? Because that is not what it means to call on the name of the Lord.

Saul called on the name of the Lord in Acts 22:16. Perhaps you recall his experience on the road to Damascus when he encountered the Lord and was told to go into the city and it would be told to him what he must do. Ananias was sent to him and told him, "Why do you delay? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name." (Acts 22:16 NAS 77)

Paul had developed faith and repentance on the road to Damascus when the Lord appeared to him; thus all that was left in calling on the name of the Lord was to be baptized. Calling on his name was not something in addition to baptism that Saul needed to do, but it was a summarizing statement of what was transpiring or being accomplished by being baptized.

Surely, Paul had been praying to God, no doubt for forgiveness, ever since Jesus had appeared to him on the Damascus road. The Lord, in directing Ananias to go to Saul, said specifically to Ananias, "He is praying." (Acts 9:11 NAS 77) We are told just two verses before this, "he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank." (Acts 9:9 NAS 77) If calling on the name of the Lord meant praying to God for the forgiveness of one's sins, certainly Saul had done that before Ananias ever arrived at his abode. Why then did Ananias not instruct him to do what he had already been doing, if praying to the Lord is the same as calling on the name of the Lord?

Saul, despite his prayers, had not yet called on the name of the Lord, for he had not yet completed his gospel obedience. He had developed faith; he had repented at the time of his heavenly vision when Jesus spoke to him, but he had yet to be baptized; thus we find Ananias directing him to do so. In Ananias' own words, "Why do you delay?" (Acts 22:16 NAS 77)

When one obeys God, that person is without speech but, by action, asking God to fulfill his promise. The person obeying the command is expressing in action his or her faith in what God has said and promised. The alien sinner, in obeying the gospel, is asking or calling on God, by his acts, to grant him or her the promised forgiveness of sins.

There are a few other passages in the New Testament that shed light on this subject. Acts 9:14 speaks of those who "call upon Thy name." (NAS 77) It is clearly a reference to Christians, for those who call upon the name become Christians.

Romans 10:12-14: "For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call upon Him; for 'Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.' How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed?" (NAS 77) Again, to call upon the name of the Lord is to become a Christian, to obey the gospel. However, there is an additional point that needs to be made from this passage and what it teaches.

This passage makes plain that belief alone is not calling upon the name of the Lord. You cannot, according to this passage, call upon the name of the Lord until you first believe. When you believe, then you can call on the name of the Lord. This accords with Peter's sermon in Acts 2 and Saul's conversion account in Acts 9 and Acts 22. The Bible has never taught salvation by faith alone, as so many today teach.

In closing, it needs to be said that one must always read the context in determining the meaning of words and/or phrases. The one exception that I am aware of to what I have set forth in this article is the passage in Acts 7 where Stephen is being stoned to death, looks up into heaven, and sees the Lord. The text says, "he called upon the Lord." (Acts 7:59 NAS 77) He was speaking person to person, face to face, man to God directly. He was making a request: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" (Acts 7:59 NAS 77) Context always matters in scriptural exegesis.

To summarize: calling upon the name of the Lord is, in the New Testament, a request by man to God for God to fulfill his promise. It is a request not made verbally, but a request made by obedience — an action out of faith in God's word, faith in God's promise.

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Pregnancy, Prayer, and Abortion

I recently learned I am to be a grandfather for the first time.  I have started praying for the baby God's blessing.  Not long after starting to do that the thought came to my mind that that is one thing those who contemplate having an abortion and those who believe in abortion cannot do.  I had never thought about that.

How does one pray for a baby they plan to abort or kill?  How do those who believe in abortion pray for what they consider to be just a mass of blood and biological tissue, non-human?  One might pray for his/her heart if they had health problems with the physical heart but that would be because one wanted life and health.  In the case of those desiring abortion, they want death.  Does one pray “kill this thing?”

If those who believe in abortion respond by saying we can pray for a pregnancy where no abortion is planned then I say how is there any consistency in that?  Is that which is within the womb human if we plan on keeping it but just tissue and blood, non-human, if we desire to rid ourselves of it? 

"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is his reward." (Psalms 127:3 NKJV)  Obviously, not everyone is willing to accept that.

What if the child is born out of wedlock?  What if it is?  Jephthah, the son of a prostitute (Judges 11:1), is listed in what we often call God's hall of fame of the faithful in Hebrews 11:32.  Based on the way his half-brothers cast him out it seems very likely his father was never married to the prostitute mother.  Lange's Commentary reads as follows:

"If he had been the son of one who was properly a wife, his brothers would doubtless have been obliged to admit him to a share in the inheritance … But they maintained that his mother had not been a wife of their father at all, not even one of secondary rank,—that she was nothing but a harlot."

No matter how a child is conceived God is responsible for giving the life.  In the womb, God is in the process of making us.  "Did not he who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one fashion us in the womb?" (Job 31:15 NKJV)  Jeremiah says the word of the Lord came to him saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you." (Jer. 1:5 NKJV)  Would it have been okay to abort Jeremiah while he was still in the womb?  How about the apostle Paul?  How about Jesus himself?

One never knows how a child will turn out but we must remember the child is God's creation, not our own.  Man should not interfere with God's work.  God opens and closes wombs (Gen. 29:31, 30:22, 1 Sam. 1:5-6) and it is he who fashions us in the womb.

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