# Thanksgiving prayers for the table Six short prayers for the meal, each drawn from Scripture. Say one aloud, or read it from your phone. US Thanksgiving: Thursday, November 26, 2026. Source: https://www.lumin.faith/thanksgiving. Scripture quotations are from the Lumin Translation. ## Prayers for the table ### For the table Before the meal, for any table. > Lord, you are good, and your love lasts forever. Thank you for this food, for the hands that grew it and the hands that made it, and for every person at this table. Everything here came from you. Make us generous with what you have given, and remember those who are hungry or alone today. In Jesus’ name, amen. Draws on [Psalm 100:4-5](https://www.lumin.faith/read/psalm/100#4-5) and [Deuteronomy 8:10](https://www.lumin.faith/read/deuteronomy/8#10). ### Short One breath, while the food is still hot. > Lord, thank you for this food and for these people. You are good, and your love endures forever. Amen. Draws on [Psalm 107:1](https://www.lumin.faith/read/psalm/107#1). ### With children Easy words for a child to say, or to say after you. > Dear God, thank you for our food, for our family and friends, and for loving us every day. Every good thing comes from you. Help us share and say thank you. Amen. Draws on [James 1:17](https://www.lumin.faith/read/james/1#17). ### In a hard year When someone at the table is grieving, sick, or out of work. > Lord, this year has been hard, and you know it better than we do. We don’t have to pretend at this table. Thank you that you are close to the brokenhearted. Thank you for this meal and for each person who came. Where there is grief, comfort us. Where there is worry, give us enough for today. We thank you because you are good, even when the year was not. In Jesus’ name, amen. Draws on [Psalm 34:18](https://www.lumin.faith/read/psalm/34#18) and [Habakkuk 3:17-18](https://www.lumin.faith/read/habakkuk/3#17-18). ### For those not here For the empty chair: family far away, at work, or gone. > Father, we thank you for the people who are not at this table today: those far away, those at work, and those we have lost. We thank you every time we remember them. Keep safe the ones who are away. For the ones who have died, thank you for the years we had. Comfort everyone here who misses someone. Amen. Draws on [Philippians 1:3](https://www.lumin.faith/read/philippians/1#3) and [Isaiah 49:15](https://www.lumin.faith/read/isaiah/49#15). ### After the meal Deuteronomy says to bless God when you have eaten, not only before. > Lord, we have eaten and we are full. We bless you for the good land and the good food you have given us. Don’t let a full table make us forget you. Thank you for this day together. Send us out to share what we have. Amen. Draws on [Deuteronomy 8:10-11](https://www.lumin.faith/read/deuteronomy/8#10-11). ## Bible verses to read at the table - **[Psalm 100:4-5](https://www.lumin.faith/read/psalm/100#4-5)**: “Come through his gates with thanksgiving, into his courts with praise; thank him, bless his name. For Yahweh is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness lasts from generation to generation.” A short psalm to read before the meal. - **[Psalm 107:1](https://www.lumin.faith/read/psalm/107#1)**: “Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever.” Said the same way in 1 Chronicles 16 and Psalm 136. - **[Deuteronomy 8:10](https://www.lumin.faith/read/deuteronomy/8#10)**: “When you have eaten and are satisfied, bless Yahweh your God for the good land he has given you.” Thanks after eating. Jewish grace after meals still rests on this verse. - **[Psalm 65:11](https://www.lumin.faith/read/psalm/65#11)**: “You crown the year with your goodness, and your paths overflow with abundance.” A harvest psalm: the year itself as God’s gift. - **[James 1:17](https://www.lumin.faith/read/james/1#17)**: “Every good thing given and every perfect gift comes from above, descending from the Father of lights, in whom there is no variation, no shadow cast by turning.” Where every good thing comes from. - **[1 Thessalonians 5:16-18](https://www.lumin.faith/read/1-thessalonians/5#16-18)**: “Rejoice always. Pray constantly. Give thanks in everything, for in Christ Jesus this is God’s will for you.” In everything, not for everything. - **[Colossians 3:15](https://www.lumin.faith/read/colossians/3#15)**: “Let Christ’s peace be the umpire in your hearts, for you were called to it in one body. And be grateful.” Peace at the table, then thanks. - **[2 Corinthians 9:15](https://www.lumin.faith/read/2-corinthians/9#15)**: “Thanks be to God for his gift, which is beyond words!” Thanks for a gift too big for words. ## Questions to go around the table - What is one good thing this year that you did not expect? ([James 1:17](https://www.lumin.faith/read/james/1#17)) - Who helped you this year? Thank them by name. ([Philippians 1:3](https://www.lumin.faith/read/philippians/1#3)) - What was hard this year, and where did you find help in it? ([Psalm 34:18](https://www.lumin.faith/read/psalm/34#18)) - What small thing are you thankful for today? ([Psalm 118:24](https://www.lumin.faith/read/psalm/118#24)) - What do you want to remember from this year? ([Psalm 103:2](https://www.lumin.faith/read/psalm/103#2)) - Who could we invite next year, or share with this week? ([Luke 14:13](https://www.lumin.faith/read/luke/14#13)) ## Thanks in the Bible ### A harvest feast with room for everyone ([Deuteronomy 16:13-15](https://www.lumin.faith/read/deuteronomy/16#13-15)) Israel ended the harvest with a week-long feast, the Festival of Booths. The guest list was written into the law: servants, foreigners, orphans and widows ate too. > Rejoice at your festival—you, your son and daughter, your male and female servants, the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow who live within your towns. (Deuteronomy 16:14) ### Thanks after a full meal ([Deuteronomy 8:10-18](https://www.lumin.faith/read/deuteronomy/8#10-18)) Moses warned that a full table can make people forget who gave it. So the thanks came after eating, when it is easiest to skip. > When you have eaten and are satisfied, bless Yahweh your God for the good land he has given you. (Deuteronomy 8:10) ### Jesus gave thanks, then fed the crowd ([John 6:5-13](https://www.lumin.faith/read/john/6#5-13)) Five loaves and two fish for thousands of people. Before anyone ate, Jesus gave thanks for what was there. > Then Jesus took the loaves, and after giving thanks he distributed them to those who were seated, and likewise the fish, as much as they wanted. (John 6:11) ### The one who came back ([Luke 17:11-19](https://www.lumin.faith/read/luke/17#11-19)) Ten men with leprosy were healed. One came back to say thank you, and he was the outsider in the group. > One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. (Luke 17:15-16) ### Thanks from a prison cell ([Philippians 4:4-7](https://www.lumin.faith/read/philippians/4#4-7)) Paul wrote Philippians in chains. He still told the church to bring every worry to God “along with thanks.” > Be anxious about nothing. Rather, in every matter make your requests known to God by prayer and pleading, along with thanks. (Philippians 4:6) ## Questions about Thanksgiving ### When is Thanksgiving 2026? 2026 US Thanksgiving is Thursday, November 26, 2026. It is always the fourth Thursday of November. Canada keeps Thanksgiving on the second Monday of October. ### What is a short prayer for Thanksgiving dinner? “Lord, thank you for this food and for these people. You are good, and your love endures forever. Amen.” It draws on Psalm 107:1, a verse often read at Thanksgiving. ### What Bible verse should we read before the Thanksgiving meal? Psalm 100:4-5 is a good one: come through his gates with thanksgiving, for the Lord is good. Deuteronomy 8:10 fits after the meal: when you have eaten and are satisfied, bless the Lord. ### Who should say grace at Thanksgiving? Anyone. The host often asks someone, but a child can say a short prayer, or the whole table can read one together from a phone. The Bible gives no rule about who prays, only that thanks is given (1 Timothy 4:4-5). ### Is Thanksgiving in the Bible? The American holiday is not. Giving thanks for a harvest is: Israel kept the Festival of Booths at the end of the harvest (Deuteronomy 16:13-15), and the psalms call God’s people to come before him with thanksgiving.