thanksgiving day – A Collection of Prayers

We Thank You for All Your Benefits

Lord God, heavenly Father,
we thank you for all your benefits.
You have given us body and life
and have graciously sustained us to this day.
Do not take your blessing from us.
Preserve us from greed,
that we may serve you only,
love you and abide in you
and not defile ourselves by idolatrous love
of wealth or goods,
but hope and trust only in your grace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one true God, now and forever.

Source: Veit Dietrich, d. 1549, Trinity 15

This revision/translation of The Collects of Veit Dietrich is licensed by Paul C. Stratman under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Please contact for permission for any commercial use.

Litany of Thanksgiving

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

God the Father in heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.

Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.

O God, you have decreed from eternity to do good to us,
you have employed your power, wisdom, and love for our benefit,
moment by moment you bestow new blessings on us,
you have not withdrawn your generous hand from us; have mercy on us.

Because you have made us in your own image,
because you have raised us up to a goal beyond this life,
because you have given us an immortal soul,
because you have made it possible to know you, love you, and enjoy you forever,
because you have given so many creatures for our service,
because you have kept and nourished us to this day in your fatherly goodness,
because you have given us the holy apostles as our shepherds and teachers,
because you have redeemed us from the captivity of hell by the Passion of your dear Son,
because you have made us members of your holy Christian Church,
because you have given us the holy Sacraments for our salvation,
because you have given us your means of grace,
because you have not rejected and condemned us for so many past sins,
because you have saved us from innumerable sins of soul and body; we thank you, O Lord.

For all your gifts and blessings, natural and supernatural,
for all our inward and outward sufferings,
for all your fatherly correction and discipline,
for all your gifts and blessings which we have never yet fully known,
for all your gifts and blessings which we have never yet duly treasured up,
for all your gifts and blessings which we have so often sinfully misused,
for all your gifts and blessings which you have bestowed on our relatives, benefactors, friends and enemies,
for all your gifts and blessings which you have bestowed on all the family of mankind; we thank you, O Lord.

In unity with the Church militant here on earth, we give you thanks now, and until the end of the world. We thank you, O Lord.

In unity with the Church triumphant in heaven, we give you thanks now, and will give you thanks forevermore. We thank you, O Lord.

Son of God, we pray, hear us, Lord Jesus.

Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Our Father…

You are my God, and I will thank you.
You are my God, and I will praise you.

All your works praise you, O Lord,
and your saints give thanks to you.

The Lord be with you,
And also with you.

Let us pray.
O God, you have shown us the riches of your love and generosity in all their greatness. Show us also your priceless grace and blessing, that we may always truly know, treasure and employ them for your honor and our salvation. Through holy use of your Word and grace, and in thankful love for them, bring us at last where with all your saints and elect, we shall praise and bless your boundless goodness and mercy for evermore; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Source: The Priest’s Prayerbook, 1906, p. 180, freely modified.

Featured Prayers: Thanksgiving Day

Prayers with the tag “thanksgiving day” can be seen at this link:
https://acollectionofprayers.com/tag/thanksgiving-day/

For Zeal

O almighty and merciful Father,
you pour out your benefits on us,
forgive our unthankfulness for your goodness.
We have stood before you with dead and senseless hearts,
unkindled by the love
of your gentle and enduring goodness.
O merciful Father, turn us and we will be turned.
Make us hunger and thirst for you with our whole heart,
and with all our longing desire you.
Make us serve you with our whole heart
and with all our zeal seek whatever is pleasing in your sight;
for the sake of your only Son,
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit be all honor and glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

Source: St. Anselm, eleventh century
Source of this version: Freely modified from Prayers of the Middle Ages, edited by J. Manning Potts, 1954.

Thanksgiving Prayer

O Lord our God and heavenly Father,
in your indescribable mercy
you have provided food and drink
for the nourishment of our weak bodies.
Grant us peace
to use these gifts from your hands
with thankful, reverent hearts.
Let your blessing rest on these your gifts,
to our comfort and sustenance.
Grant, good Lord,
that as we hunger and thirst for this food for our bodies,
so may our souls earnestly long after
the Bread of eternal Life,
Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

Source: Freely modified from George Webb, “Short direction for the daily exercise of the Christian,” London 1625.

Original in traditional English:

O Lord our God and heavenly Father, which of Thy unspeakable mercy towards us, hast provided meate and drinke for the nourishment of our weake bodies. Grant us peace to use them reverently, as from Thy hands, with thankful hearts: let Thy blessing rest upon these Thy good creatures, to our comfort and sustentation: and grant we humbly beseech Thee, good Lord, that as we doe hunger and thirst for this food of our bodies, so our soules may earnestly long after the food of eternal life, through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, Amen.

For Rightful Recognition of God, “The Giver of All Good Things”

O God,
by making the evening to follow the day
you have given the gift of rest for human weakness.
Grant that as we enjoy your timely blessings,
we may acknowledge you
from whom they come;
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Source: Mozarabic Liturgy

Freely modified from Prayers of the Middle Ages, edited by J. Manning Potts, 1953. The New Ancient Collects, #32

For Harvest or Thanksgiving Day

Almighty God, most merciful Father,
you open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
We give you most humble and hearty thanks
that you have crowned the fields with your blessing,
and have permitted us once more
to gather in the fruits of the earth.
Bless and protect the living seed of your Word sown in our hearts,
that in the abundant fruits of righteousness
we may always present to you an acceptable thank-offering;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one true God, now and forever. Amen.

Source: The Lutheran Hymnary, 1913, probably from some older source. This version from Prayers from the Evangelical-Lutheran Heritage, #166.

Modified to be an offering prayer for any occasion:

Almighty God, most merciful Father, you open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. We give you thanks for crowning our lives with your blessing. Bless and protect the living seed of your Word sown in our hearts, that we may always present to you an acceptable thank offering with the first fruits of our labor; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Home Liturgy for Thanksgiving Day

The following may be used at home as an extended table prayer / devotion before the Thanksgiving meal.

The eyes of all look eagerly to you,
and you give them their food at the proper time.

God opens his hand,
and he satisfies the desire of every living thing. (Psalm 145:15-16)

A reading from Deuteronomy 8:10–18

¹⁰Then you will eat, and you will be filled, and you will praise the Lord your God for the good land that he has given you. ¹¹Be very careful so that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and ordinances and his statutes that I am commanding you today. ¹²When you eat and are satisfied, and you build nice houses and move into them, ¹³and your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold increase, and everything that you have prospers, ¹⁴watch out so that your heart does not become arrogant and forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, where you were slaves. ¹⁵Do not forget the Lord, who led you in the great and terrifying wilderness, where there were venomous snakes and scorpions, where the thirsty ground had no water, but the Lord made water come out of a flint rock for you. ¹⁶Do not forget the Lord, who in the wilderness fed you manna, which your fathers had not known before, to humble you and to test you so that it would be good for you later on. ¹⁷You might say in your heart, “My ability and the power of my hand have earned this wealth for me.” ¹⁸But then you are to remember that the Lord your God is the one who gives you the ability to produce wealth, to confirm his covenant that he promised to your fathers with an oath, as he does to this day.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Let us pray.

Lord God, heavenly Father,
from you we receive many abundant blessings without ceasing,
and day by day you graciously protect us from all evil.
We pray,
through your Spirit give us grace
to receive your gifts with thankful hearts,
and to confess the true faith,
so that we may praise and thank you
for your wonderful gifts and graces everywhere;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Bless the LORD, O my soul.
All that is within me, bless his holy name.

Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and do not forget all his benefits—

who pardons all your guilt,
who heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit
who crowns you with mercy and compassion,

who satisfies your life with goodness,
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle. (Psalm 103:1-5)

To the Father who made us,
to the + Son who redeemed us,
to the Spirit who gathers and guides us,
to the King eternal, to the immortal, invisible, only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. (1 Timothy 1:17).

__________

Prayer “Lord God, heavenly Father, from you we receive…” is from Die pommersche Kirchen-Ordnung und Agenda, p. 295#1, Also in the Saxon Agenda. Translation is from Prayers from the Evangelical-Lutheran Heritage, #180. All Scripture is taken from The Holy Bible: Evangelical Heritage Version, © 2017. www.wartburgproject.com

May Our Fruit Endure to Eternal Life

O Lord of the harvest,
grant that those you call to serve in your holy Church
may always abound in your work,
and that the fruit of their labors
may endure to eternal life;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Source: Freely modified from Mozarabic Collects, ed. Rev. Chas. R. Hale, New York, 1881, p. 48 #1 (Ember Days in Autumn)

Our Hope and Our Heart’s Delight

littlemore O God,
you are life, wisdom, truth,
bounty, and blessedness,
the eternal, the only true good,
our God and our Lord,
our hope and our heart’s delight,
we acknowledge with thanksgiving
that you have made us in your image,
and that we may direct our thoughts to you.
Lord, make us to know you aright,
that we may love, enjoy, and possess you
more and more;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Source: Anselm of Canterbury, d. 1109

Source of this version: Freely modified from A Book of Prayers: Together with Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Ancient and Modern, Ed. Charles Leffingwell, Morehouse Publishing Company, 1921, p. 70 #3