Here is a Thanksgiving prayer for you. Print it and bring it with you to grandma’s house, or read it as the host of your friends-giving meal, or ask your 10-year-old to read it before Thanksgiving dinner. Then play the song.
It will set the tone for your celebration so that you focus on thanks to the Giver of all good gifts.
A Thanksgiving Prayer
Loving and Generous Lord, at this time of national thanksgiving we remember with grateful hearts all the blessings you have showered on our nation, and the people here today.
Thank you, Father, for your Son, Jesus Christ, for his coming to us in the gospel, for the Spirit’s reassurance, comfort, and clarity through your Word, and for listening to our prayers.
Help us to receive all your blessings with thankful and humble hearts. We do not deserve your physical blessings any more than we merit the gift of your salvation. Destroy our sinful pride, protect us from Satan’s temptations, and grow in us a true spirit of love and service.
May our choices and lives be our offering of thanks and praise.
All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above, so we lift our hearts up to you, God, in thanksgiving. As we count our blessings and acknowledge your goodness, our hearts go out to those who do not have, and are in need.
We thank you for opportunities and choices, for meaning and challenges, and pray that you would give a sense of purpose and unity to our nation.
We thank you for family and friends who love us and care for us, and pray that you would befriend those who are alone. May we live in a spirit of gratitude to you, and generosity to others.
Loving God, in this season and all year long, give to us the gift of a thankful heart, so that we appreciate your blessings, and acknowledge you as the Giver of all that is good in our lives. Amen.
Play the song “Give Thanks” https://youtu.be/Bk_7wUR2Wdg (lyrics below). Encourage a time of personal reflection and silence during the song. Tell your family/friends that true thanks is always possible because God’s promises are true.
Give thanks with a grateful heart;
give thanks to the Holy One.
Give thanks because he’s given
Jesus Christ, his Son.
And now let the weak say “I am strong,”
Let the poor say “I am rich”
because of what the Lord has done for us.
Give thanks with a grateful heart;
give thanks to the Holy One.
Give thanks because he’s given
Jesus Christ, his Son.
