Five Great Thanksgiving Prayers

Saying thanks right now may be the farthest from your mind as you rush to get the house ready for company before the big meal on Thursday. In the United States we celebrate Thanksgiving this week.

My prayers during many of the holidays become more chaotic. Sometimes my prayers on a week like this take on a desperate tone of “please let’s not have any family drama this year and all get along, like in the Norman Rockwell sketches.”

As we sit down to eat our Thanksgiving meal we do pause to give our thanks to God for all He has done for us. Sometimes we share something we are thankful for and someone offers to say the prayer.

I found five great examples of Thanksgiving Day Prayers to share with you. I pray that your holiday may be blessed and maybe one of these prayers will help:

Psalm 100

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.

Serve the Lord with gladness:


come before his presence with singing.

Know ye that the Lord he is God:


it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves;


we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise:


be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

For the Lord is good;
his mercy is everlasting;
and his truth endureth to all generations.

May your stuffing be tasty. May your turkey plump, 


May your potatoes and gravy, 
have nary a lump. 


May your yams be delicious 
and your pies take the prize, 


and may your Thanksgiving dinner stay off your thighs! 
-Unknown

O God, when I have food, 
help me to remember the hungry; 


When I have work, 
help me to remember the jobless; 


When I have a home, 
help me to remember those who have no home at all; 


When I am without pain, 
help me to remember those who suffer, 


And remembering, 
help me to destroy my complacency; 
bestir my compassion, 
and be concerned enough to help; 


By word and deed, 
those who cry out for what we take for granted. 
Amen.  

Samuel F. Pugh

A Thanksgiving Blessing

May an abundance of gratitude burst forth as you reflect upon what you have received.

May thanksgiving overflow in your heart, and often be proclaimed in your prayer.

May you gather around the table of your heart the ardent faithfulness, kindness, and goodness of each person who is true to you.

May the harvest of your good actions bring forth plentiful fruit each day.

May you discover a cache of hidden wisdom among the people and events that have brought you distress and sorrow.

May your basket of blessings surprise you with its rich diversity of gifts and its opportunities for growth.

May all that nourishes and resources your life bring you daily satisfaction and renewed hope.

May you slow your hurried pace of life so you can be aware of, and enjoy, what you too easily take for granted.

May you always be open, willing, and ready to share your blessings with others.

May you never forget the Generous One who loves you lavishly and unconditionally.

–       Joyce Rupp

Though our mouths were full of song as the sea, and our tongues of exultation as the multitude of its waves,
and our lips of praise as the wide-extended firmament;


though our eyes shone with light like the sun and the moon,
and our hands were spread forth like the eagles of heaven,
and our feet were swift as hinds,


we should still be unable to thank thee and bless thy name,

O Lord our God and God of our fathers,


for one thousandth or one ten thousandth part of the bounties which thou has bestowed upon our fathers and upon us.

Hebrew Prayer

And just for fun – a good quote to share:

No one diets on Thanksgiving. What we’re really talking about is a wonderful day set aside on the fourth Thursday of November when no one diets. I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving?

Erma Bombeck