What is a typical Thanksgiving prayer to pray at church?
Pray for the glorious gifts God has given, pray for the delicious meal you will eat at the dinner table, or pray for the year ahead to be full of manifold blessings. Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to gather together with friends and family to celebrate all we have. We give thanks to God for his blessings and, following a long and rich history, gather around a meal.
We’ve gathered together Thanksgiving prayers to pray during a church service leading up to Thanksgiving. Use these as examples to write your own, or use any of these down below.
Estimated reading time: 13 minutes
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Thanksgiving Declared a National Holiday
On October 3, 1789, President George Washington got a message from Congress requesting him “to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer.”
His proclamation declared the day “be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be.”
Thanksgiving recognizes the many blessings God has given us, as individuals and collectively as a country. More than 230 years later, millions of Americans continue to celebrate Thanksgiving with an eye toward God as the original source of all for which we have to be grateful.
Although the history of this uniquely American holiday is steeped in appreciation for the divine, it’s not always easy to carve out time for prayer during a day that can be jam-packed with distractions ranging from cooking to cheerful parades.
What Is a Thanksgiving Prayer?
A prayer of Thanksgiving is simply giving thanks to God in humility and love. We are called to love God by Christ Himself and this means gratitude of the heart for the mercy and grace of God! Thanksgiving isn’t meant to be a single day of the year but a life focused on being grateful. But in this case, we gather together with out fellow human beings and say what we are thankful for.
When we’re willing to come before Him with gratitude and humility, we realize that no matter what we face, God doesn’t just work to change our situations and help us through our problems. He does more and He changes our hearts. His power, through hearts of thankfulness and focused minds on Him, releases the grip our struggles have over us. We’re strengthened by His peace, refueled by His joy.
38 Special Thanksgiving Prayers
Scriptures For Prayer
Philippians 4:6 – “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
Psalm 7:17 – “I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.”
Colossians 3:16 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.”
Psalm 107:1 – “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!”
Psalm 100:1-5 – “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into His presence with singing! Know that the Lord, He is God! It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to Him; bless His name! For the Lord is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations.”
Psalm 28:7 – “The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song, I give thanks to him.”
Psalm 69:30 – “I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.”
Colossians 3:15 – “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.”
Psalm 136:1 – “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”
Isaiah 12:4 – “Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted.” Isaiah 12:4
Prayers at the Dinner Table
Dear God, we thank You for this food and for all the hands that helped prepare it. We give You thanks most of all for the gift of Your Son, Jesus. Please bless the food we eat, all who are gathered today to share it, and all our loved ones who can’t be with us today. We ask this as we ask all things, through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Thank you Father, for your goodness to me. You’re a good, good Father. Thank you for your love toward me that lasts forever! I thank you for this meal and how it will bless me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Lord, I’m so thankful for your wondrous works in my life. Help me exalt your name and share my testimony of salvation and Jesus to everyone who knows me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Prayers Written by Others
“Dear Lord, help me when I start letting details of the holidays, annoying frustrations, or unmet expectations distract me from all the reasons I have from You to be abundantly and eternally grateful. Help me have a heart full of thankfulness every day, but especially on the specific day set aside to be grateful for You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.” – Tracie Miles
“Dear Heavenly Father, it’s easy to point our fingers at others when they forget to thank us. But You show us that it’s also very possible we are forgetting to thank You and others for the blessings in our own lives. Help us to follow in the footsteps of the one leper who remembered to come back and thank Jesus. We want to grow in our attitude of gratitude. In Jesus’ Name, we humbly pray, Amen!” – Noelle Dey
“Lord, I thank you that there are an infinite number of things to thank you for, if I reflect for even a moment! Now help me to take that time and to give you thanks for your many gifts I take for granted. Then let thankfulness begin to transform all my attitudes, toward you, myself, others, and life. Amen” – by Timothy and Kathy Keller
“Heavenly Father, we thank You for the abundant blessings You have bestowed upon us. As we gather around this table, we invite Your presence among us. Bless this food, the hands that prepared it, and the hearts that share it. May our gratitude extend beyond this day, reflecting Your love and generosity in our lives. Amen.” – Unknown
“Lord God, we are grateful for the gift of family and friends, gathering here in love and fellowship. Thank You for the joy and peace that we share. We ask that You bless each present and those who could not be with us today. Strengthen our bonds, and fill us with Your peace and love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.” – Unknown
Offering Prayers
Thank you Lord Almighty, the Creator of the whole world, through your only begotten Son Jesus Christ our Lord, for the firstfruits which are offered to you, not in such a manner as we ought, but as we are able. For who is there that can give you thanks for those things you have given them to partake of?
The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, and of all the saints, who made all things fruitful by your Word, and commanded the earth to bring various fruits for our rejoicing and our food—some for our necessities, some for our health, and some for our pleasure.
You are worthy of exalted hymns of praise for your beneficence by Christ, through whom glory, honor, and worship be to you, in the Holy Spirit, forever. Amen.
Prayers of Gratitude
“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” Colossians 2:6-7
“Lord, I bless your holy name. You are matchless and deserve all the glory and honor due to your name. I praise you, Lord, with thanksgiving for who you are, my God, and for all your wonderful attributes. I thank you for all you have given me, and I reflect on that today. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”
“Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your Son to die for me. I never want to get over your saving grace and the redeeming blood of Jesus. Thank you so much for spiritual growth in Christ and help me to keep walking in you by faith all the days of my life. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”
“Be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:18-20 (ESV)
“God, thank you for filling me with the Holy Spirit and let your Spirit fall fresh on me. As I read your Word and worship you, grow in me a grateful heart and help me express my thankfulness to my brothers and sisters in Christ. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”
“Heavenly Father, we gather together today with hearts filled with gratitude. This meal we share reminds us of the endless blessings You’ve bestowed upon us. We pray with thanks not only for this food we share, but in all the ways You’ve shown us Your love. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”
Thankfulness Scriptures to Pray
“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ‘God is a consuming fire.’” Hebrews 12:28-29 (NIV)
Thank you God for giving me a spiritual inheritance with a heavenly kingdom that no one or nothing in this world can take from me. Your kingdom is unshakable and I’m thankful I stand on a firm and secure foundation as your child. I am in awe of you as my Lord and King. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)
God, help me to remember to bring every anxious thought and tough circumstance to you and lay them at your feet. Thank you for your peace. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 15:57 (ESV)
Father we thank thee, because Jesus stands as Victor, I am victorious over spiritual death, the grave, the enemy, and forces of darkness. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.” 2 Corinthians 2:14 (ESV)
Traditional Prayers
Here are some beautiful traditional prayers written by anonymous authors or well known authors. These are great to pray over Thanksgiving dinner or during a Sunday service. Included is the Lord’s Prayer which is often prayed on such an occasion as Thanksgiving.
Traditional Prayer
Bless us, oh Lord,
and these Thy gifts
which we are about to receive
from Thy bounty
through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
— Unattributed
A Thanksgiving Prayer
O Lord, with humble hearts we pray
thy blessing this Thanksgiving Day
and ask that at table place,
where grateful folk say words of grace,
that Thou will come to share the yield
thy bounty gave to farm and field.
We pray thy love will bless, O Lord,
each hearth, each home, each festive board;
and that Thy peace will come to stay where
candles glow, Thanksgiving Day.
— Brian F. King
We Give Thanks
Our Father in Heaven, we give thanks for the
pleasure of gathering together for this occasion.
We give thanks for this food prepared by loving hands.
We give thanks for life, the freedom to enjoy it all and all other blessings.
As we partake of this food, we pray for health and strength
to carry on and try to live as You would have us.
This we ask in the name of Christ, our Heavenly Father.
—Harry Jewell
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
—Matthew 6:9-13
King David’s Song Of Thanksgiving
Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness.
Let the whole world know what he has done.
Sing to him; yes, sing his praises.
Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds.
Exult in his holy name; rejoice, you who worship the Lord.
— 1 Chronicles 16:8–10
We Thank Thee
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.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
Giving Thanks
Lord, thank you so much. For Your gift of salvation and Your many promises that bring me hope, peace, and joy. May I see today all I have to be thankful for. In Jesus Christ’s Name, I pray, Amen.
— Unattributed
Give Thanks Always
We hope that these prayers of thanksgiving inspired you for this upcoming season. Whether you use these in your service or at your dinner table, remember to always have God at the center. He is the creator of all that we have to be thankful for!
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