Mealtime Vain-Repetitions

What do you pray at mealtimes?

My traditional mealtime prayer as a child was "God, thank You for this food and drink; and thank You for this nice day. In Jesus' name, amen." And that's a good prayer; but when it's the same every day and every meal, it's really little more than a vain repetition.

Well, as I grew older, my mealtime prayers naturally fleshed out; but the "essentials" stayed the same. 

Then a week or two ago, God led me to make a change and start thanking Him specifically for whatever He had provided me to eat. For instance, "Thank You for this pizza, and this water." So far, it's been MUCH more meaningful!

I talked to my dad about it, and he brought up Jesus' example: "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it" (Matt. 26:26).

His blessing for people is not so much general, to the whole earthly population; rather, it's personal and specific. Just like His gift of food - and aren't you glad He gives us the opportunity to thank Him for specific foods? I mean, nobody would want to go on a diet composed solely of an odorless, colorless, tasteless lump of nutrients.