On this day, many will gather with friends and family at table, and will want to mark that time with some form of meal blessing. Unless a family is already used to praying at home together, today most will fall back on the reliable standard, “Bless us, O Lord and these, thy gifts…” or will stumble through a spontaneous blessing, or will forego it altogether.
Give your community’s households the gift of prayer this week by teaching them how to create their own mealtime prayer together around the Thanksgiving table using this four-part structure.
Give your community’s households the gift of prayer this week by teaching them how to create their own mealtime prayer together around the Thanksgiving table. Share on XFirst, name God: Everyone around the table calls out creative names and titles for God, such as “Source of Life,” or “God who gives us every blessing.”
Second, remember how God has blessed us: Each person can name a specific blessing they have received this past year. For example, “We thank you for giving us new grandchildren and a new job.”
Third, ask God to bless the world with what it needs most today. Perhaps someone at the table might say, “Bless our world with peace and understanding,” and another might say, “Help us not to be afraid,” and another says, “Bless our food and give food to those who have nothing to eat this day.”
Finally, a leader concludes with “We ask this through Christ our Lord,” and all respond, “Amen.”
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