Mealtime Prayers

Just as we pray in the Lord's Prayer "Give us today our daily bread," it is good to give thanks to God for His provision to us. Whilst this may often happen at family meals on more formal occasions, such as Christmas or Thanksgiving, perhaps we need to remember to say grace, or mealtime prayers, on a daily basis. This can be an easy way for the whole family to join in, and for those as young as four or so to lead a very simple prayer.


What should be included in dinner prayers?

When I think about what should be included in dinner prayers, a smile forms on my face. When our family shared a meal, the kids always ended the dinner prayers with, “and no tornados!” It has now become a family tradition.

Dinner prayers often include:

• Thanking God for the meal He has allowed us to have, because good things come from God. And food is one of those good things.
• Asking God to bless the hands that prepared the food.
• Asking God to bless the food to our bodies, for its nutritive and healing values.
• Close the dinner prayer by thanking Him for the gift of the food and the people around you.
• Finish with Amen, which means “so be it.”

A sample dinner prayer would be: “Thank You, Lord for blessing us with this food. We thank You for always providing for our needs. Thank you for mom who prepared this meal for us. We ask that You would bless this food to our bodies. Thank You, Father, for each person who shares this meal with us today. We ask in Jesus’ name, amen.”

God has promised to provide for those who love Him. As we praise Him in dinner prayers for the food, we can pray for those less fortunate than us. Ask God to meet their needs and provide them with food.

Your dinner prayers do not need to be fancy. They can be as short as, “Thank You God for this food.” There are no hard and fast rules for praying. God is seeking sincerity and genuine thankfulness. Just tell Him what you are thankful for and He will hear you.



Below there are a number of simple dinner prayers you might like to use:

For food in a world where many walk in hunger
For friends in a world where many walk alone
For faith in a world where many walk in fear
We give you thanks, O Lord. Amen.
(Anglican Church of Canada)

God our Father, God our Father,
Who gives all, who gives all,
Thank you for this dinner, Thank you for this dinner,
Amen. Amen.

Loving Father, we thank you for this food,
And for all your blessings to us.
Lord Jesus, come and be our guest,
And take your place at this table.
Holy Spirit, as this food feeds our bodies,
So we pray you would nourish our souls. Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ,
Friend of sinners, we thank you for friendship,
Prince of peace, we ask you that we may be peacemakers.
Lord of all, we thank you for this food.
Bless it to our bodies, we pray. Amen.

Thank you for the world so sweet,
Thank you for the food we eat,
Thank you for the birds that sing,
Thank you God for everything. Amen.

Dear Jesus:
Thank you for this food.
Bless us all and keep us from harm.
Guide and direct us, through all our days.
Amen!

Lord Jesus Christ,
As you blessed many with the five loaves and the two fishes,
may we too, know your blessing as we share this food,
your peace in our hearts, and your love in our lives.
Amen.

Bless, O Lord, this food for thy use,
and make us ever mindful of the wants and needs of others.
Amen.

Lord, Bless this bunch, while we much our lunch. Amen.