(5) For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.--Not only are all created things to be considered pure, and not lightly to be put aside; but in the sight of God "every creature" is holy when received as His gift with thanksgiving and with prayer--such thanksgiving-prayer containing thoughts in exact accordance with the Spirit of God revealed in Scripture. Thus all food is sanctified, not only, or even chiefly, by the common formula of a Christian grace before meat. This too often degenerates into a mere form of words--into lip-service of the most heartless form--and is too often looked upon as a kind of religious charm. The sanctification referred to by St. Paul belongs to no one prayer or grace, but to the constant habit of referring everything to God as the giver of all--to the perpetual "office" of a devout heart which, taking everything as a gift from God, the lover and the friend of man, thanks God from the heart continually.

One, if not the oldest, form of a Christian grace before meat is the one found in the Apostolic Constitutions. It is very simple and beautiful, and perhaps not too long for daily use. It runs as follows: "Blessed be Thou, O Lord, who nourisheth men from very youth up, who givest meat to all flesh; fill our hearts with joy and gladness, so that we, always enjoying a sufficiency, may abound unto every good work in Christ Jesus our Lord, through whom be ascribed to Thee glory, honour, and power unto the ages. Amen."

Verse 5. - Through for by, A.V. It is sanctified through the Word of God. Considerable difference of opinion prevails among commentators as to the precise meaning of this verse, especially of the phrase, "the Word of God." Some refer to Gem 1:4, 10, 12, etc.; others to Genesis 1:29; Genesis 9:4, as containing the original grant of meats for the use of man; others to the scriptural phrases embodied in the words of the ἐντεύξις, the prayer of thanksgiving. Another possible reference would be to the Word of God recorded in Acts 10:13, 15, 28, by which that which had previously been unclean was now made clean or holy; or, lastly, it might mean "the blessing of God" given in answer to the "prayer" on each occasion, which suits well the present tense, ἁγιάζετι. Prayer (ἐντευξις; see 1 Timothy 2:1, note).

4:1-5 The Holy Spirit, both in the Old and the New Testament, spoke of a general turning from the faith of Christ, and the pure worship of God. This should come during the Christian dispensation, for those are called the latter days. False teachers forbid as evil what God has allowed, and command as a duty what he has left indifferent. We find exercise for watchfulness and self-denial, in attending to the requirements of God's law, without being tasked to imaginary duties, which reject what he has allowed. But nothing justifies an intemperate or improper use of things; and nothing will be good to us, unless we seek by prayer for the Lord's blessing upon it.For it is sanctified,.... Or set apart for use, and may be lawfully used at all times:

by the word of God; which declares that there is nothing in itself common, or unclean, or unfit for use, and that nothing that goes into a man defiles him; so that by virtue of this word of God, every creature may be made use of, that is fit for food: or else this designs the word of God, which gives a blessing to what is eaten; for it is not by bread or meat only, but through the word of God commanding a blessing on what is eaten, that man lives, Matthew 4:4 and therefore this blessing upon our food should be asked for: wherefore it follows,

and prayer; this being used before eating for a blessing on the food, and after it, in a way of thanksgiving for it, sanctifies every creature of God, or gives men a free use of any, or all of them. So the Israelites, when they had eaten, and were full, were to bless the Lord, Deuteronomy 8:10. And thus our Lord Jesus Christ, at meals, used to take the food, and bless it or ask a blessing on it, Matthew 14:19. And so did the Essenes among the Jews (h), and the Christians in Tertullian's (i) time; and the practice is highly necessary and commendable, nor ought it to be disused.

(h) Porphyr. de Abstinentia, l. 4. sect. 12. (i) Apolog. c. 39.