A Prayer for Thanksgiving Day

As we approach Thanksgiving, I am eager to find a way to intentionally focus our hearts and minds as we break bread and give thanks together. One of the ways we can do this is by proclaiming together a prayer of gratitude, both for who God is and for our many blessings. 

Here is a prayer I’ve written for my family, and yours, to use this Thanksgiving. It is written as call and response and I encourage you to read it aloud at your table. 

My hope is that it draws our eyes and hearts to the goodness of God and the beauty of His redemption.

May this Thanksgiving prayer be a blessing to you and yours. 

Leader: Let us gather here at this feast and acknowledge with thankfulness the Maker of this food and of our beings, body and soul. 

All: It is right to give Him thanks and praise, for He formed our beings out of the dust and from that dust brings forth food to sustain our fragile bodies year after year. 

Leader: As we look to you with thankfulness, we also look to those who have mirrored Your creative ability and prepared for us this meal.

All: May we all in our own way continue to mirror You, oh Lord, as we go about the tasks you have prepared for us, today and every day.

Leader: These delightful smells and tastes will satisfy our gnawing stomachs, may they also stir our hearts to remember and long for the Bread of Life. 

All: As we savor this meal, may we long for you, our true Sustainer. 

Leader: We reflect on your providence in our lives this year, each lifting up prayers of thankfulness for ways we’ve seen your grace and goodness displayed in our lives. May we give thanks and tell of your deeds together. 

Going around the table, each person can now share what they are particularly thankful for this year. 

Leader: Your goodness is evident to all around this table. But for some of us, there are aches in our hearts that even on this day, remind us this world is not our home. We thank you for sustaining us in these trials and for redeeming all things. 

May we continue to labor on in the tasks you have given us knowing that we will reap a reward if we do not give up. Let today be a foretaste of the day we enter into the eternal rest bought for us by the redeeming blood of Christ. 

All: May each bite be a foretaste of the great Wedding Feast of the Lamb. 

May our conversation stir our hearts to long for greater beauty. 

May the friends and family surrounding us remind us of the Great Cloud of Witnesses who have seen the fulfillment of Your promises and watch now as You continue Your faithfulness today in our lives. 

Leader: We give thanks today, in this and all circumstances, because of Your goodness and grace to us. 

All: While we receive your blessings with thankfulness, may we learn to delight truly and wholly in You. Amen. 

May your Thanksgiving be filled with gratefulness for the Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer of all life.

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The Ministry of the Mundane: Faithful Living When The Days Feel Unimportant

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