“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” – Philippians 4:6
Celebrated on November 24 every year, Thanksgiving Day is a day to express your gratitude and greatness towards your God. Whether you’re jewish or christian, reciting a few verses before you enjoy the meal with your friends and family is a powerful practice.
This year, as you are surrounded with your loved ones, it’s customary to bless your day with some special and heartfelt prayers. When we give praise, we deepen our joy and bond with people we love.
We have compiled a list of the Top 39 Thanksgiving prayers to make this day memorable. So cross your fingers and offer these prayers with us!
Short Simple Thanksgiving Prayer
1.) “Thankful for the Day”
O Thou, whose hand hath brought us
Unto this joyful day,
Accept our glad thanksgiving,
And listen as we pray.
– Frederick W. Goadby
2.) “Untitled”
O, heavenly Father: We thank thee for food and remember the hungry. We thank thee for health and remember the sick. We thank thee for friends and remember the friendless. We thank thee for freedom and remember the enslaved. May these remembrances stir us to service, that thy gifts to us may be used for others. Amen.
– Abigail van Buren
3.) “Thankful for Love and Mercy”
Lord, how can we ever thank You enough? You endured more pain, more shame, more sorrow, more grief than we can possibly fathom. Help us remember why You gave Your life. Because of love. Because of mercy. Because we desperately need them both. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
– Liz Curtis Higgs
4.) “A Family Thanksgiving Prayer”
Dear God, we are so grateful for every beat of our heart, every blink of our eyes and every breath in our lungs. Thank You for the life You’ve given us. We don’t want to waste one minute, so help us steward our time wisely. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
– Unknown
5.) “A Child’s Prayer of Thanks”
God, I thank you for the family and friends you surround me with. Thank you for another day to wake up and celebrate life. Thank you for the strength to play and food to nourish me. Most importantly, thank you for your love for me. Amen.
– Unknown
6.) “Thanksgiving Prayer For Peace And Prosperity”
Oh 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, oh Lord, each hearth, each home, each festive board; and that Thy peace will come to stay where candles glow, Thanksgiving Day.
– Brian F. King
7.) “Thank You, Lord, for Food and Friends”
We thank you, Lord, for food and friends, and for all of the joy this holiday lends. It’s Thanksgiving Day and we can see the blessings you’ve provided our family. Thanks to you, Lord, for another good year; When you watch over us, there’s nothing to fear.
– Karl Fuchs
8.) “Untitled”
Bless us, oh Lord, and these Thy gifts which we are about to receive from Thy bounty through Christ our Lord. Amen.
– Traditional Catholic prayer
9.) “Untitled”
We thank you for the turkey, the gravy, and the dressing. Dear Lord, this table overflows with Thy abundant blessing. Let us always be aware that all gifts come from You, and may we serve Your heavenly will in everything we do. Amen.
– Joanna Fuchs
10.) “Untitled”
Thank You, God, for the food we are about to eat, for those who are here to share these blessings, for the generosity of our hosts that make this possible. Bless those who are here and those who are in our hearts, and all those who are not as fortunate on this day. Amen.
– Patricia Gore
11.) “Untitled”
Be present at our table, Lord. Be here and everywhere adored. Thy creatures bless and grant that we may feast in paradise with Thee.
– John Cennick
12.) “Home Full of Joy”
May our home be fully of joy,
May our hearts be knit with love,
As we give our grateful thanks
For Thy blessings from above.
– Unknown
13.) “I Am Thankful”
I am thankful for my family,
My friends I feel the same.
Life is filled with many thanks,
Life is the perfect game.
– July Hebery
14.) “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
– Unknown
15.) “For Food in a World”
For food in a world where many walk in hunger; For faith in a world where many walk in fear; For friends in a world where many walk alone; We give you thanks, O Lord.
– Unknown
16.) “Untitled”
For food in a world where many walk in hunger, faith in a world where many walk in fear, friends in a world where many walk alone. We give you thanks, Oh Lord. Amen.
– Seven Days in Utopia, directed by Matthew Dean Russell
17.) “Untitled”
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.
– Psalm 107:1
18.) “For Each New Morning”
For each new morning with its light, for rest and shelter of the night, for health and food, for love and friends, for everything Thy goodness sends.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
19.) “Be Present at Our Table, Lord”
Be present at our table, Lord, Be here and ev’ry where adored, These mercies bless, and grant that we May feast in Paradise with Thee.
– John Cennick
20.) “Make Us Worthy, Lord”
Make us worthy, Lord, to serve our fellow men throughout the world who live and die in poverty and hunger. Give them through our hands this day their daily bread, and by our understanding love, give peace and joy.
– Mother Teresa
Long Poems
21.) “Untitled”
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
22.) ”Untitled”
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.
– Psalm 100
23.) “Untitled”
Thanksgiving is a time of gratitude to God, our Creator and Provider, whose guidance and care go before us, and whose love is with us forever. Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on the changes, to remember that we, too, grow and change from one season of life to another. Thanksgiving is a time of changing seasons, when leaves turn golden in autumn’s wake and apples are crisp in the first chill breezes of fall. Let us remember the true meaning of Thanksgiving. As we see the beauty of autumn, let us acknowledge the many blessings which are ours, let us think of our families and friends, and let us give thanks in our hearts.
– Unknown
24.) “Untitled”
Let us therefore proclaim our gratitude to Providence for manifold blessings—let us be humbly thankful for inherited ideals—and let us resolve to share those blessings and those ideals with our fellow human beings throughout the world. On that (this) day let us gather in sanctuaries dedicated to worship and in homes blessed by family affection to express our gratitude for the glorious gifts of God; and let us earnestly and humbly pray that He will continue to guide and sustain us in the great unfinished tasks of achieving peace, justice, and understanding among all men and nations and of ending misery and suffering wherever they exist.
– John F. Kennedy
25.) “Our Father in Heaven”
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
26.) “Grateful for Today”
Heavenly Father, I am so grateful today. My heart overflows with gratitude. For eyes that see. For ears that hear. For fingers that grasp. For knees that bend. For lungs that breathe. I am so thankful for my family, my home, my Savior. Today, I ask for nothing and thank You for all things. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
— Sharon Jaynes
27.) “For the Laughter of the 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
28.) “Untitled”
I thank Thee, o Thou whose bounty fills my cup with every blessing meet. I give Thee thanks for every drop—the bitter and the sweet. I praise Thee for the desert road, And for the riverside; for all Thy goodness hath bestowed, and all Thy grace denied. I thank Thee for both smile and frown, and for the gain and loss; I praise Thee for the future crown and for the present cross. I thank Thee for both wings of love which stirred my worldly nest; and for the stormy clouds which drove me, trembling, to Thy breast. I bless Thee for the glad increase and for the waning joy; and for this strange, this settled peace which nothing can destroy.
– Jane Crewdson
29.) “We Thank Thee”
For flowers that bloom about our feet, Father, we thank Thee. For tender grass so fresh, so sweet, Father, we thank Thee. For the song of bird and hum of bee, for all things fair we hear or see, Father in heaven, we thank Thee. For blue of stream and blue of sky, Father, we thank Thee. For pleasant shade of branches high, Father, we thank Thee. For fragrant air and cooling breeze, for beauty of the blooming trees, Father in heaven, 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 Emmerson
30.) “The Time We Have Together”
Our Father, we give thanks for the time we have together to appreciate each other.
We give thanks for your presence which is shared at our table.
We give thanks for your abundant provisions.
We pray your guidance toward paths of righteousness and wisdom.
May our conversation be joyful, edifying and encouraging.
Strengthen us, O God, to share your good news and to serve where you call us.
We pray, humbly, in the name of Jesus, our Savior. Amen.
– Madge P. Williams
31.) “Thankful for Love”
Dear God, Thank you that you are a loving, gracious God. Thank you that you’ve offered us forgiveness and the gift of new life in you. Thank you that your love is perfect, it never fails, and that nothing can separate us from your love.
We pray that our lives would be filled and overflowing with the power of your love so we can make a difference in this world and bring honor to you. We ask for your help in reminding us that the most important things are not what we do outwardly, it’s not based on any talent or gift, but the most significant thing we can do in this life is simply to love you and to choose to love others
– Debbie McDaniel
32.) “Untitled”
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
33.) “Giving Thanks”
For the expanding grandeur of creation, worlds known and unknown, galaxies beyond galaxies, filling us with awe and challenging our imaginations:
We give thanks this day.
For this fragile planet earth, its times and tides, its sunsets and seasons:
We give thanks this day.
For the joy of human life, its wonders and surprises, its hopes and achievements:
We give thanks this day.
For our human community, our common past and future hope, our oneness transcending all separation, our capacity to work for peace and justice in the midst of hostility and oppression:
We give thanks this day.
For high hopes and noble causes, for faith without fanaticism, for understanding of views not shared:
We give thanks this day.
For all who have labored and suffered for a fairer world, who have lived so that others might live in dignity and freedom:
We give thanks this day.
For human liberty and sacred rites; for opportunities to change and grow, to affirm and choose:
We give thanks this day.
We pray that we may live not by our fears but by our hopes, not by our words but by our deeds.
We give thanks this day.
– O. Eugene Pickett
34.) “A Scripture prayer to be Thankful”
Lord, teach me to be thankful in all circumstances. I want to be like the Apostle Paul who was thankful even in a dark prison. I want to choose praise even in the difficulties in my life. [Name those difficulties, thanking God for how He is using them for your good.] Help me to rise up to a new level of praise and thanksgiving. Help me to see that a thankful heart paves the way for blessing, and the enemy is defeated when I praise You. I want to glorify You and advance Your Kingdom through my praises. Help me to use Your Word as I worship You. I choose to walk in Your peace, listen carefully to You, and live expectantly. Thank You for helping me to be thankful in all my circumstances
– Debbie Przybylski
35.) “Untitled”
Lord, so often times, as any other day, when we sit down to our meal and pray, we hurry along and make fast the blessing, thanks, amen, now please pass the dressing. We’re slaves to the olfactory overload, we must rush our prayer before the food gets cold. But Lord, I’d like to take a few minutes more, to really give thanks to what I’m thankful for. For my family, my health, a nice soft bed. My friends, my freedom, a roof over my head. I’m thankful right now to be surrounded by those whose lives touch me more than they’ll ever possibly know. Thankful Lord, that You’ve blessed me beyond measure. Thankful that in my heart lives life’s greatest treasure. That You, dear Jesus, reside in that place and I’m ever so grateful for Your unending grace. So please, heavenly Father, bless this food You’ve provided, and bless each and every person invited. Amen!
– Scott Wesemann
36.) “Untitled”
O My God,
Thou fairest, greatest, first of all objects,
my heart admires, adores, loves thee,
for my little vessel is as full as it can be,
and I would pour out all that fullness before thee
in ceaseless flow.
When I think upon and converse with thee
ten thousand delightful thoughts spring up,
ten thousand sources of pleasure are unsealed,
ten thousand refreshing joys spread over my heart,
crowding into every moment of happiness.
I bless thee for the soul thou hast created,
for adorning it, sanctifying it,
though it is fixed in barren soil;
for the body thou has given me,
for preserving its strength and vigour,
for providing sense to enjoy delights,
for the ease and freedom of my limbs,
for hands, eyes, ears that do thy bidding;
for thy royal bounty providing my daily support,
for a full table and overflowing cup,
for appetite, taste, sweetness,
for social joys of relatives and friends,
for ability to serve others,
for a heart that feels sorrows and necessities,
for a mind to care for my fellow-men,
for opportunities of spreading happiness around,
for loved ones in the joys of heaven,
for my own expectation of seeing thee clearly.
I love thee above the powers of language to express,
for what thou art to thy creatures.
Increase my love, O my God, through time and eternity.
– Puritan Prayers, Valley of Vision
37.) “Statements of Gratitude”
Thank you, God for the times You have said “no.” They have helped me depend on You so much more. Thank you, God, for unanswered prayer. It reminds me that You know what’s best for me, even when my opinion differs from Yours. Thank You, Lord, for the things you have withheld from me. You have protected me from what I may never realize. Thank You, God, for the doors You have closed. They have prevented me from going where You would rather not have me go. Thank you, Lord, for the physical pain You’ve allowed in my life. It has helped me more closely relate to Your sufferings on my behalf. Thank you, Lord, for the alone times in my life. Those times have forced me to lean in closer to You. Thank you, God, for the uncertainties I’ve experienced. They have deepened my trust in You. Thank You, Lord, for the times You came through for me when I didn’t even know I needed a rescue. Thank You, Lord, for the losses I have experienced. They have been a reminder that You are my greatest gain. Thank You, God, for the tears I have shed. They have kept my heart soft and mold-able….
– Cindy McMenamin
38.) “Thanksgiving Song”
Grateful for each hand we hold gathered round this table. From far and near we travel home, blessed that we are able. Grateful for this sheltered place with light in every window, saying welcome, welcome, share this feast come in away from sorrow. Father, mother, daughter, son, neighbor, friend and friendless; all together everyone in the gift of loving-kindness. Grateful for what’s understood, and all that is forgiven; we try so hard to be good, to lead a life worth living. Father, mother, daughter, son, neighbor, friend, and friendless; all together everyone, let grateful days be endless. Grateful for each hand we hold gathered round this table.
– Mary Chapin Carpenter – Thanksgiving Song Lyrics
39.) “Thankful for Blessings”
Heavenly Father, thank You for all the blessings You give me. During this Thanksgiving season, as I look at all You have done for me, I am overwhelmed. Most of all, I thank You for sending Your only Son to die for me. Thank You for raising Him from the dead and that He now is seated with You in heaven. Thank You for the gift of Your Holy Spirit, whereby I can feel Your presence. May I always hunger to spend time with You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
– Joan Walker Hahn
Summary
So did any of these prayers tug your heartstrings? Feel free to read them on this year’s Thanksgiving Day, or share them to your friends in case you couldn’t make it to the dinner table. Remember that God promises to stay with us at all times.
If you’re thinking on how to connect with God, you can have your little ones recite the prayers out aloud or read Psalms. Hearing the words of writers, presidents, and some holy verses of bibles can inspire a moment of peace and reflection among your family and guests before the grand feast.
