Thanksgiving Prayers for Dinner: Catholic, Protestant, Jewish And Muslims Words To Offer Thanks This Year

As Americans prepare to gather around their tables for Thanksgiving dinner, many will want to bless the food with traditional or modern prayers of gratitude. While some prayers are improvised, most major religious have standard or suggested words and phrases for blessing a meal. Here are suggested Catholics, Protestants, Jews and Muslims prayers gathered from faith-based organizations.

Catholic Prayer:

O Gracious God, we give you thanks for your overflowing generosity to us. Thank you for the blessings of the food we eat and especially for this feast today. Thank you for our home and family and friends, especially for the presence of those gathered here. Thank you for our health, our work and our play. Please send help to those who are hungry, alone, sick and suffering war and violence. Open our hearts to your love. We ask your blessing through Christ your son. Amen.

Source: americancatholic.org

Protestant Prayer:

Heavenly father, on 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, 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.

Source: whatchristianswanttoknow.com

Jewish Prayer:

We gather today, Lord of abundant life, as grateful children. Delighted and humbled by our bounty, we celebrate gifts of food and shelter, of colors that dance at dawn and dusk; we relish the scent of cooking foods, of burning leaves and summer’s wet grass, of snowflake, of animal fur. We marvel at the intricacy of spiders’ webs and fish bones, newborn babies and lines etched on faces of grandparents come for a visit today. All gifts from your hand. When our meal is completed, leftovers stashed, and naps taken, we will leave replete, energized, and eager to go generously into the world and share our good fortune.

Source: rabbib.com

Muslim Prayer:

(This prayer is typically not communal and is said by individuals silently, according to About Religion.)

Allahomma barik lana fima razaqtana waqina athaban-nar. Bismillah. (Translation: Oh Allah! Bless the food you have provided us and save us from the punishment of the hellfire. In the name of Allah.)

Source: islam.about.com