The Ultimate Thanksgiving Dinner Prayer

Do you ever wonder how you can possibly express your full gratitude to God during the prayer before the big Thanksgiving meal? A spontaneous prayer is totally appropriate and this is usually what our family does when we gather around the table. Usually, this is offered by our mom who is the honored matriarch of our family.

But if you don't go the spontaneous prayer route, you might be interested in this wonderful prayer of thanksgiving that is found in the prayer book. It's a general thanksgiving prayer that can be used for a variety of occasions, but especially for Thanksgiving Day.

This prayer brings to mind many reasons for us to be thankful and it represents good theology.

• This prayer puts the focus on God.
• It honors God as the creator and source of all our blessings.
• It acknowledges God's love for the world through Christ and that we can know and experience that love through God's means of grace (worship, Holy Communion, prayer, etc.)
• We have hope because of what God has done for us through Jesus Christ.
• We are called to respond to these blessings with thankful hearts and in serving others.

If not used around the thanksgiving table, this prayer is a good one to say each day leading up to the holiday.

"Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks for all your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all whom you have made. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory.

And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies, that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up our selves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen."

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