The holidays are upon us. In a few days, families will gather, feasts will be cooked, thanks will be given and blessings spoken. When we speak blessings, we speak loving kindness over our friends and family in the same way God speaks blessings over us. Thanksgiving gives us a great opportunity to pause and bless our families and thank God for His blessings.
Here are 30 short prayers to give thanks to Our Creator and bless your family.
The holidays are upon us. In a few days, families will gather, feasts will be cooked, thanks will be given and blessings are spoken. When we speak blessings, we speak loving-kindness over our friends and family in the same way God speaks blessings over us. Thanksgiving gives us a great opportunity to pause and bless our families and thank God for His blessings.
To help you in thanking God, we created a 30 Days of Gratitude Prayer Guide HERE. Download and print this guide to keep with you as a reminder of God's love and promises.
30 Short Prayers and Blessings to Give Thanks to God
1. A Prayer of Praise for God’s Grace
Father God, we give thanks to you with all our hearts; we tell of all your wonderful deeds. We tell of your provision, your protection and your mercy. Today, we tell of all your great blessings lavished on us this year. We ask for your continued grace in the coming year when we again give you glory.
– Based on Psalm 9:1
2. A Thankful Prayer of Invitation
Join us here, Father, as we celebrate your abundant blessings and provision. You are good to us, your children. You alone are worthy of our praise today. You are our God. Bless the time we have together, the words we speak, the love we share. Bless this meal prepared by loving hands. We bow before you with grateful hearts. Join us, O God. Amen.
3. “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
4. A Blessing of Song and Praise
O God, let us sing to the You; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into your presence with thanksgiving. For You, Lord are a great God, and a great King above all. Bless us with your glory, kindness and steadfast love. – Psalm 95:1-3
5. A Thankful Prayer for Provision
Bless us, O Father. Speak over us your steadfast love. Cover us with your protection. Provide only what we need. Accept our thanks and praise for the undeserved gifts you lavish on your people. Praise you for blessings seen and unseen. Praise you for salvation in Your Son. Bless us, O Father. Amen.
6. A Prayer of Thanksgiving for the Whole Heart
We give you thanks, O Lord, with our whole heart; before the world we sing your praise;
We bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. We give thanks for your enduring blessings.
– Based on Psalm 138:1-2
7. “We Are Grateful”
Lord God and giver of all good gifts,
we are grateful as we pause before this meal,
for all the blessings of life that you give to us.
Daily, we are fed with good things,
nourished by friendship and care,
feasted with forgiveness and understanding.
And so, mindful of your continuous care,
we pause to be grateful
for the blessings of this table. May your presence
be the extra taste to this meal
which we eat in the name of your son, Jesus.
8. An Offering of Thanks for God’s Family
Thank you, Father, for having created us and given us to each other in the human family. Thank you for being with us in all our joys and sorrows, for your comfort in our sadness, your companionship in our loneliness. Thank you for yesterday, today, tomorrow and for the whole of our lives. Thank you for friends, for health and for grace. May we live this and every day conscious of all that has been given to us.
– From The Catholic Prayer Book
9. A Proclamation of Gratitude
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
10. A Prayer of Thanksgiving for Blessing and Renewal
Father God Almighty, thank you for the abundant blessings you send from heaven. You send rain and the sun from the skies. You provide for all of our needs though we deserve not. Your blessings are as deep as the oceans and never cease. Praise You for the blessings of birth and renewal through Your Son. Thank you for your abundant blessings you send from heaven. Amen.
– Based on Genesis 49:25
11. A Prayer of Thanks for What We Take for Granted
Oh God, You are so good. You are faithful and gracious and You have blessed me beyond measure. Thank you for everyday blessings to which I have become accustomed, but never want to take for granted...Thank you my family, my friends, my job, my neighbors. Thank you for freedom to attend my church, for my pastors...and my many relationships. Thank you for the things You are doing in my heart and in my life. I’m grateful that by the power of Your Holy Spirit, I am much different today than I was 10 years ago, or a year ago. ... because of Your power at work in me, continually transforming me into Your image. I love and adore You, Lord, and my heart overflows with gratitude for all these blessings. In the precious name of Jesus, Amen.
– Julie K. Gillies, Contributing Writer
12. A Prayer of Remembrance
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.
13. A Prayer for Mercy and Blessing for God’s People
O God, Our God, have mercy on us. Today we remember your blessings with a grateful heart and outstretched hands. We beg your blessings on our home, our city, our state, our nation. Gather your people together to be united in love and understanding, having one heart, one mind, one love, one Spirit. You founded our nation on your precepts and commands, may you continue to reign. O God, bless us. Amen.
– Based on Philippians 2:2
14. A Prayer of Thanks and Gratitude
Dear God,
Thank you for your amazing power and work in our lives, thank you for your goodness and for your blessings over us. Thank you that you are able to bring hope through even the toughest of times, strengthening us for your purposes … Forgive us for when we don’t thank you enough, for who you are, for all that you do, for all that you’ve given. Help us to set our eyes and our hearts on you afresh. Renew our spirits, fill us with your peace and joy. We love you and we need you, this day and every day … In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
15. A Blessing for a Thanksgiving Meal
God most provident,
we join all creation
in raising to you a hymn of thanksgiving
through Jesus Christ, your Son.
For generation upon generation
people of this land have sung of your bounty;
we too offer you praise
for the rich harvest we have received at your hands.
Bless us and this food which we share with grateful hearts.
Continue to make our land fruitful
and let our love for you be seen
in our pursuit of peace and justice
and in our generous response to those in need.
Praise and glory to you, Lord God, now and forever. Amen.
– Catholic Prayer: Blessing of Food for Thanksgiving
16. A Prayer of Thanks for the Gift of Jesus
Thanksgiving Day we bow our hearts to you and pray. We give you thanks for all You’ve done especially for the gift of Jesus, Your Son. For beauty in nature, Your glory we see. For joy and health and friends and family. For daily provision, your mercy and care. These are the blessings You graciously share. So today we offer this response of praise with a promise to follow You all of our days.
17. “Help Me Thanksgiving Day Prayer”
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.
18. “Abundant Blessing”
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.
19. A Prayer of Praise for God’s Kindness
God, all praise is Yours who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. Even before You made the world, You loved us and chose us to be holy and without fault. Thank you for adopting us into Your family. We praise You for the glorious grace You pour out on us. You are rich in kindness and grace and purchased our freedom with the blood of Jesus and forgave our sins. Thank you for showering us with kindness, and wisdom and understanding. Amen.
– Based on Ephesians 1:3-8
20. “Father, We Thank Thee”
Father, we thank thee for the night,
And for the pleasant morning light;
For rest and food and loving care,
And all that makes the day so fair.
Help us to do the things we should,
To be to others kind and good;
In all we do, in work or play,
To grow more loving every day.
21. A Thankful Prayer in the Good Times and Bad
Father God, we are thankful for the good times, the bad times, the days of plenty and the days of none. Today we bless and praise you with words and without. May our faces, hearts and hands be proof of our gratitude. Thank you for the people that are near and those who are far from us. Thank you for this celebration so we can complete your will to continually give thanks. Amen.
– Based on1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
22. “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.
23. An Intercessory Prayer of Gratitude
We give thanks for all that is good in your creation and all who bring in the Harvest of the sea and the land. We are conscious of so much that we get wrong. So we give thanks too, for your grace and patience with us, when we fail to look after your world as we should. Help us to change so that we too become a new creation walking in the light of your Gospel. Lord of the harvest: hear our prayer.
– From Harvest Intercessions, The Church of England
24. A Blessing of Peace for God’s People
Our Lord, God, bless us and keep us. Make your face shine upon us and be gracious to us. Lord, turn your face toward us and give us peace and we will be known as your people. Bless us, Lord. Amen.
– Based on Numbers 6:22-27
25. “My God, I Thank Thee”
I thank Thee, Lord, that Thou hast kept
The best in store;
We have enough, yet not too much
To long for more:
A yearning for a deeper peace
Not known before.
I thank Thee, Lord, that here our souls
Though amply blessed,
Can never find, although they seek
A perfect rest;
Nor ever shall, until they lean
On Jesus’ breast.
– From “My God, I Thank Thee,” Legend and Lyrics, A Book of Verse, by Adelaide A. Procter, 1858
26. A Prayer to the Giver of Good Gifts
O Creator, thank you, Father, for blessing us who trust in You. You are the giver of all good gifts. All we have before us is from You. Your faithfulness can be trusted and makes us strong. We trust You to provide all we need, even when there is not much, You give us more than we need. Amen.
– Based on Jeremiah 17:7-8
27. A Call to Gather Around the Table
This Thanksgiving, let those of us who have much and those who have little gather at the welcoming table of the Lord. At this blessed feast, may rich and poor alike remember that we are called to serve one another and to walk together in God’s gracious world. With thankful hearts, we praise our God, who like a loving parent, denies us no good thing.
– From Songs of Our Hearts, Meditations of Our Souls: Prayers for Black Catholics
28. A Blessing for a Thankful Heart
Bless us, Oh Lord,
and these thy gifts which
we are about to receive from thy bounty,
through Christ, Our Lord.
Amen.
29. A Prayer of Thanks for the Gift of Creation
O God, We thank you for this earth, our home; for the wide sky and the blessed sun, for the ocean and streams, for the towering hills and the whispering wind, for the trees and green grass. We thank you for our senses by which we hear the songs of birds, and see the splendor of fields of golden wheat, and taste autumn's fruit, rejoice in the feel of snow, and smell the breath of spring flowers. Grant us a heart opened wide to all this beauty; and save us from being so blind that we pass unseeing when even the common thorn bush is aflame with your glory. For each new dawn is filled with infinite possibilities for new beginnings and new discoveries. Life is constantly changing and renewing itself. In this new day of new beginnings with God, all things are possible. We are restored and renewed in a joyous awakening to the wonder that our lives are and, yet, can be. Amen.
30. A Liturgical Blessing for Harvest Time
Creator God, provider of all
we bring our thanks today.
And we bless each other
that the beauty of this world
and the love that created it
might be expressed through our lives
and be a blessing to others
now and always.
Amen.
– From a Traditional Harvest Liturgy
Pastor Billy Graham said of the thankful heart, “A spirit of thankfulness is one of the most distinctive marks of a Christian whose heart is attuned to the Lord.” Let us bless our Father and our family with thankfulness and praise and remain attuned to the Lord.
Tamela Turbeville lives for every woman with a difficult past to know God loves them, they are worthy and wanted. She is wife to Richard, and mother to three grown sons and two beautiful daughters-in-law. When doing what she loves most-- studying God’s Word, reading and writing--she is surrounded by her six rescue dogs in her small office in south Arkansas. She began Living One Word to write and share how God redeems the unlovable and you can read more about Tamela, her journey, and her family at www.livingoneword.com, on Facebook, and Instagram.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
