Do you offer a blessing before meals? Perhaps only on special occasions? Here are 15 Thanksgiving prayers and table graces that you can use on Thanksgiving Day. This may be your chance to start a new tradition of beginning all meals with a word of prayer. May God bless you and yours this Thanksgiving and beyond.

Thanksgiving Prayers and Table Graces

Note: Some of these prayers use rather traditional language and imagery for God. Feel free to adjust the language and wording to fit your faith and context.

Thanksgiving Prayer from “We Thank Thee” by Ralph Waldo Emerson
For this new morning with its light,
Father, we thank thee.
For rest and shelter of the night,
Father, we thank thee
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything thy goodness sends,
Father in heaven, we thank thee.
Amen.

Thanksgiving Prayer for Harvest Time
Loving God, all that we have
comes from your goodness
and the work of those who love us.
Bless us and the food we share.
Watch over those who care for us.
Open our eyes to the needs of the poor
during this time of harvest and thanksgiving.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
(Elizabeth McMahon Jeep, Blessings and Prayers through the Year, Liturgy Training Publications 2004)

A Word of Thanks
For health and strength and daily food;
for all the joys that make life worth living;
for the opportunity to help those
who need us so very much,
we give you thanks, O God. In Jesus’ name.
Amen.
(Alexander Campbell, Pilgrim Prayers for Mealtime, Pilgrim Press 2013)

Thanksgiving Prayer “That We May Be Renewed”
Loving God,
bless our food and drink
our friendship and our laughter
that we may be renewed
in body, mind, and spirit
to work together
for the coming of your kingdom
of justice, love, and peace.
Amen.
(Maureen Edwards, printed in Blessed be our Table, Wild Goose 2003)

The Hand that Made the Hands
For the hands that tilled,
for the hands that harvested,
for the hands that processed,
for the hands that transported,
for the hands that stocked,
for the hands that sold,
for the hands that bought,
for the hands that prepared,
for the hands that will hold,
for the hand that made the hands,
our hearts are forever grateful.
Amen.
(Ewan Aitken, printed in Blessed be our Table, Wild Goose 2003)

For this Earth, Our Home

O God, we thank you for this earth, our home; For the wide sky and the blessed sun, for the salt sea and the running water, for the everlasting hills and the never-resting winds, for trees and the common grass underfoot. We thank you for our senses by which we hear the songs of birds, and see the splendor of the summer fields, and taste of the autumn fruits, and rejoice in the feel of the snow, and smell the breath of the spring. Grant us a heart wide open to all this beauty, and save our souls from being so blind that we pass unseeing when even the common thornbush is aflame with your glory. O God our creator, Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

(Walter Rauschenbusch)

For the Laughter of Children

For the laughter of the children, for my own life breath, for the abundance of food on this table, for the ones who prepared this sumptuous feast, for the roof over our heads, the clothes on our backs, for our health, and our wealth of blessings, for this opportunity to celebrate with family and friends, for the freedom to pray these words without fear, in any language, in any faith, in this great country, whose landscape is as vast and beautiful as her inhabitants. thank you, God, for giving us all these. Amen.

(Rabbi Naomi Levy)

Crowded With Gratitude
Lord God,
Our hearts are crowded with gratitude
as we celebrate the feast of Thanksgiving.
We have come to this our feasting table
with great joy and eagerness,
for we are truly grateful to you, our God,
for all that we have been given.
We pause now and, in silent prayer,
do thank you for the great generosity of Your gifts.

We also thank one another for gifts –
especially for the gifts of love and affection
that we have freely shared.
We are thankful
for all who are present at this our feast
as well as for all those who have labored in love
in order to bring this dinner to our table.

May You, our God, bless this Thanksgiving feast
and all of us who shall share it
in your holy name.

(Edward Hays, Prayers for the Domestic Church: A Handbook for Worship in the Home (Kansas: Forest of Peace Books, 1979), 122.)

Thanksgiving For the Harvest

Most gracious God, by whose knowledge the depths are
broken up and the clouds drop down the dew: We yield thee
hearty thanks and praise for the return of seed time and harvest,
for the increase of the ground and the gathering in of its fruits,
and for all other blessings of thy merciful providence
bestowed upon this nation and people. And, we beseech thee,
give us a just sense of these great mercies, such as may appear
in our lives by a humble, holy, and obedient walking before
thee all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom,
with thee and the Holy Ghost be all glory and honor, world
without end. Amen.

(Book of Common Prayer, page 840)

Litany of Thanksgiving

Let us give thanks to God our Father for all his gifts so
freely bestowed upon us.

For the beauty and wonder of your creation, in earth and
sky and sea.
We thank you, Lord.

For all that is gracious in the lives of men and women,
revealing the image of Christ,
We thank you, Lord.

For our daily food and drink, our homes and families, and
our friends,
We thank you, Lord.

For minds to think, and hearts to love, and hands to serve,
We thank you, Lord.

For health and strength to work, and leisure to rest and play,
We thank you, Lord.

For the brave and courageous, who are patient in suffering
and faithful in adversity,
We thank you, Lord.

For all valiant seekers after truth, liberty, and justice,
We thank you, Lord.

For the communion of saints, in all times and places,
We thank you, Lord.

Above all, we give you thanks for the great mercies and
promises given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord;
To him be praise and glory, with you, O Father, and the
Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.

(Book of Common Prayer, page 836)

A Scottish Grace
Praise to God who giveth meat.
Convenient unto all who eat.
Praise for tea and buttered toast,
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen.
(Printed in Saying Grace, Chronicle Books 2003)

Traditional Table Grace
Bless, O Lord, this food to our use,
and us to thy service,
and make us ever mindful
of the needs of others. Amen.

Traditional Table Grace
Bless us, O Lord, and these thy gifts
which we are about to receive from thy bounty,
through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Traditional Blessing
Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest,
Let these thy gifts to us be blessed.
Amen.

Traditional Table Prayer
Be present at our table, Lord;
be here and everywhere adored.
Bless these thy gifts and grant that we
may feast in fellowship with thee.
Amen.

Three Prayers to Share on Social Media