1 Timothy 4:1-5

"1The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. 3They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. 4For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer."

I always think of the Shakers when I hear of this. They were an old 1800's cult that still have a re-enacted homestead near Lexington, KY. (People think of it as just an 1800's tourist reenactment, and never consider the fact that it was a cult). They considered Adam's sin to be sexual impurity and married couples who joined their community were forbidden to be together. They basically forbade marriage.

I started thinking about verse 5. Why is it that the word of God isn't enough to sanctify food? It's clean, God says so (Acts 10:15), why do we have to pray about it?
Then it struck me, that for many Jews who were considering eating pork (for example) were probably having a tough time with that. They needed to pray about it, because their consciences (Romans 14) weren't quite to the point where they could eat it.

I've seen that with Muslims, too. And Christians with even ridiculously small amounts of alcohol. It's not enough that the word of God says "it's good, you have freedom," there has to be a period of prayer for that truth to become real in their lives and hearts.

But, I think this thought doesn't just apply to food. Maybe there's some other legalism we need to be set free from. Like a converted Muslim who feels guilty if he doesn't pray 5 times a day. It's not just enough for the word of God to say "you're set free!" our consciences have to be aligned with this truth also (Romans 14).