A guide
For the table, for the family, and for a year that was hard
Somebody at the table always gets asked to say grace, and it is usually decided about thirty seconds before the food goes cold. If that is you this year, the first prayer below takes about twenty seconds to read aloud, and you can use it exactly as written.
The rest are for the other parts of the day: the family you are sitting with (or missing), the year you have actually had, and a prayer short enough for a child to say. Each one sits next to the Scripture it comes from. If you want the verses on their own, they are on Bible verses about thankfulness.
Short on purpose. People are hungry and the gravy is not getting any warmer. Psalm 145 says everyone looks to God for their food and He gives it in its season, and this prayer is mostly that verse said back to Him.
Before the meal
Father, thank You for this food, for the hands that made it, and for the people around this table. Everything here came from You. Bless it, bless us, and make us grateful people long after the plates are cleared. In Jesus' name, amen.
A shorter one
Lord, thank You for this food and for these people. We know where both came from. Amen.
15 The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in season.
16 You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
Psalm 145:15-16
4 For every creation of God is good, and nothing that is received with thanksgiving should be rejected,
5 because it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
1 Timothy 4:4-5
Thanksgiving seats the people you love most next to the people who know how to upset you fastest, and they are often the same people. This prayer thanks God for them without pretending they are easy.
Colossians 3 is a good passage to keep nearby for the day. It asks for compassion, patience and forgiveness, and it ends with three plain words: and be thankful.
For our family
God, thank You for the family You put us in. You know each of us, the ones at this table and the ones who are not here this year. Thank You for the years we have had together and the ones still ahead. Where there is tension, give us patience. Where there is distance, bring us closer. Let this house be a place people are glad they came to. Amen.
God settles the lonely in families; He leads the prisoners out to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a sun-scorched land.
Psalm 68:6
12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
13 Bear with one another and forgive any complaint you may have against someone else. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
14 And over all these virtues put on love, which is the bond of perfect unity.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, for to this you were called as members of one body. And be thankful.
Colossians 3:12-15
Not every Thanksgiving comes at the end of a good year. There may be a job that ended, a diagnosis, a marriage under strain, or simply a year that was long. A prayer that only lists blessings can feel like a performance when you are in one of those years.
Scripture does not ask for the performance. Habakkuk lists what has failed, field by field, and then says he will rejoice in God anyway. Paul asks for thanks in every circumstance, not for every circumstance. Nobody is asked to be grateful for the loss itself. This prayer is written for that kind of table.
For a hard year
Lord, this year was not what we hoped. You know what we lost and what still hurts, and we will not pretend in front of You. But we thank You that You stayed. Thank You for every mercy we noticed and the ones we missed. Thank You for the people who carried us when we could not carry ourselves. We trust You with next year. Amen.
17 Though the fig tree does not bud and no fruit is on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the sheep are cut off from the fold and no cattle are in the stalls,
18 yet I will exult in the LORD; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!
Habakkuk 3:17-18
16 Rejoice at all times.
17 Pray without ceasing.
18 Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
22 Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail.
23 They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!
Lamentations 3:22-23
The first Thanksgiving after someone dies is its own kind of hard. Some families set a place, some tell stories, some cannot talk about it yet. Any of those is fine. This prayer says the loss out loud so nobody at the table has to be the first to mention it.
Remembering someone we miss
Father, there is an empty place at this table, and we feel it. Thank You for the years You gave us with them, and for the ways they are still part of this family. Comfort everyone here who is grieving today, especially the ones who will not say so. We are thankful, and we are sad, and You can hold both. Amen.
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit.
Psalm 34:18
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Matthew 5:4
Letting a child say grace is one of the easiest ways to hand the habit down. The first prayer here is short enough to memorize in an afternoon. The second is the old table grace a lot of us learned before we could read.
For children
Thank You, God, for this food, for my family, and for loving us. Amen.
The one many of us learned first
God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food. By His hands we all are fed. Give us, Lord, our daily bread. Amen.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Matthew 6:11
But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and told them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them! For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
Mark 10:14
Thanksgiving the holiday is one Thursday. Thanksgiving the prayer is much older, and the Psalms are full of it. Psalm 103 is a good model. It tells itself not to forget, and then lists what God has done, one thing at a time.
A prayer of thanks
Lord, I do not want to forget what You have done. You forgave me. You carried me through things I could not have survived alone. You have given me more than I have noticed, and You have been patient with how seldom I say thank You. So I am saying it now. Thank You. Make gratitude the first thing I reach for, not the last. Amen.
1 Of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul; all that is within me, bless His holy name.
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and do not forget all His kind deeds—
3 He who forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the Pit and crowns you with loving devotion and compassion,
5 who satisfies you with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Psalm 103:1-5
1 A Psalm of thanksgiving. Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Serve the LORD with gladness; come into His presence with joyful songs.
3 Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.
4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and bless His name.
5 For the LORD is good, and His loving devotion endures forever; His faithfulness continues to all generations.
Psalm 100:1-5
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Lord, thank You for this food and for these people. We know where both came from. Amen. If you want something a little longer, the first prayer on this page reads aloud in about twenty seconds.
Whoever the host asks. It does not need to be the oldest or the most religious person in the room. Handing it to a child, or to someone who has had a hard year, can be a quiet way to honor them. Reading a written prayer is fine too. The Psalms were written down so that other people could pray them.
Psalm 107:1 is the one most families use. Psalm 145:15-16 has been prayed as a grace before meals for centuries, and 1 Thessalonians 5:18 is the verse most people mean when they talk about giving thanks in every circumstance.
Honestly. You can thank God for the person and still tell Him it hurts that they are gone. Scripture does both in the same breath often enough that you do not have to choose. The prayers on this page for a hard year and for an empty chair were written for exactly that.
Scripture quotations are from the Berean Standard Bible, which is free of copyright restrictions for use on websites. Read the full Bible on Great Faith.