thanksgiving – 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you have not withdrawn your generous hand from us; have mercy on us.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.

Prayer of Thanks (Antiochan, 3)

It is the Holy Spirit who shows us joy in each flower: the exquisite scent, the delicate color, the beauty of the Most High in the tiniest of things. Glory and honor be to the Spirit, the Giver of Life, who covers the fields with their carpet of flowers, crowns the harvest with gold, and gives us the joy of gazing at it with our eyes. O be joyful and sing to him: Alleluia!

Alleluia!

How glorious you are in the springtime, when every creature awakens to new life and joyfully sings your praises with a thousand tongues. You are the Source of Life, the Destroyer of Death. By the light of the moon nightingales sing, and the valleys and hills lies like wedding garments, white as snow. All the earth is your promised bride awaiting her spotless husband. If the grass of the field is like this, how gloriously shall we be transfigured in the Second Coming after the Resurrection! How splendid our bodies, how spotless our souls:

Glory to you, bringing from the depth of the earth an endless variety of colors, tastes and scents.

Glory to you for the warmth and tenderness of the world of nature.

Glory to you for the numberless creatures around us.

Glory to you for the depths of your wisdom, the whole world a living sign of it.

Glory to you! On my knees, I kiss the traces of Thine unseen hand.

Glory to you, enlightening us with the clearness of eternal life.

Glory to you for the hope of the unutterable, imperishable beauty of immortality.

Glory to you, O God, forever and ever!
Glory to you, O God, forever and ever!

Source: Akathist Hymn, Kontakion 3, Antiochian Orthodox

Source of this version: Modified from http://ww1.antiochian.org/orthodox-prayers/akathist-of-thanksgiving

A Prayer about Mothers

Our Father in heaven,
from whom every family in heaven and on earth
receives its name,
you describe your tender comfort
as being like a mother’s comfort.
We give thanks for mothers,
who comfort,
who teach,
who nurture,
who feed,
who love.
Continue to give them patience and strength.
Receive the cares they cast on you.
We pray for children;
open their eyes
to their mothers’ open arms,
to their mothers’ love,
to their mothers’ sacrifices
of time and effort.
We pray for those who weep
when they think of their mothers,
and mothers who weep
when they think of their children.
With your love
heal broken hearts,
and guide us with your love
to remove the walls we often build
between ourselves
and those who should be closest.
Fill the void of loss
with friends, family,
and with your own assurance
of your tender care;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

A Prayer about Mothers by Paul C. Stratman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Please contact for any commercial usage.

“from whom…” is a reference to Ephesians 3:15.

“You describe…” is a reference to Isaiah 66:13

“Receive the cares…” is a reference to 1 Peter 5:7

The last section “We pray for those who weep…” is in part a reflection on Psalm 27:10.

Morning Thanksgiving

We give you sincere thanks
for the rest of the past night
and for the gift of a new day,
with its opportunities for pleasing you.
Grant that we may pass its hours
in the perfect freedom of your service,
that at evening,
we may again give you thanks;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Source: Daybreak Office of the Eastern Church
Source of this version: Freely modified from Service and Prayers for Church and Home, Ed. Wilbur Patterson Thirkield, Methodist Book Concern, 1918

Version in traditional English:

WE give thee hearty thanks for the rest of the past night and for the gift of a new day, with its opportunities of pleasing thee. Grant that we may so pass its hours in the perfect freedom of thy service, that at eventide we may again give thanks unto thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

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.

Praise, Thanks, Confession of Faith

Glory be to you, almighty Father,
you have given to those who fear you
the heavenly bread of life,
that we may be mindful of the marvels
which you have done on the earth,
by sending us your only Son,
fully human,
born of a pure virgin.
We give you thanks, holy Father,
for you created us before we were,
and while we were still sinners you made us partakers of your heavenly grace;
through your Son, our Lord and God,
who with you and the Holy Spirit
makes, orders, and rules all things, now and forever. Amen.

Source: Dunstan of Canterbury

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

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

An Evening Prayer

O God,
you are without beginning and without end,
Maker of the whole world by Christ,
and Provider of all,
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Lord of the Spirit,
and the King of intelligible and sensible beings.
You have made the day for the works of light,
and the night for the refreshment of our weakness.
“Yours is the day, yours also is the night.
You set the moon and sun in place,”
Now, O Lord,
Lover of mankind,
Fountain of all good,
mercifully accept our evening thanksgiving.
You have brought us through this day,
and have brought us to the beginning of the night.
Preserve us by your Christ.
Grant us a peaceful evening,
and a night free from sin,
and bring us to eternal life by your Christ;
through him be glory, honor, and worship
to you in the Holy Spirit forever. Amen.

Source: Apostolic Constitutions

Source of this version: Freely modified from Prayers of the Early Church, edited by J. Manning Potts, 1953

Thanks for Your Mercies

We give you thanks for all things,
O Lord Almighty,
that you have not taken away your mercies and your compassions from us.
In every succeeding generation you save, deliver, help, and protect.
You helped your people
in the days of Enosh and Enoch,
in the days of Moses and Joshua,
in the days of the judges,
in the days of Samuel and of Elijah and of the prophets,
in the days of David and of the kings,
in the days of Esther and Mordecai,
and in these last days
you have helped us
by your great High Priest, Jesus Christ your Son.
For he has delivered us from the sword,
and has freed us from famine,
and sustained us.
He has delivered us from sickness,
and preserved us from an evil tongue.
For all your blessings we give you thanks through Christ,
who has given us a clear voice to confess,
and a suitable tongue as an instrument to sing your praise,
and a proper taste,
and a suitable touch,
and a sight for contemplation,
and the hearing of sounds,
and the smelling of vapors,
and hands for work,
and feet for walking.
You have instructed us by your laws,
and improved us by your statutes.
Although you allow trouble for a while,
you have promised a resurrection.
Therefore, what life is sufficient,
what length of ages will be long enough,
for people to be thankful?
To do it worthily it is impossible,
but to do it according to our ability is good and right.
You have delivered us from error and ignorance.
You have sent Christ among us as a man,
being the only God.
You have made the Counselor to dwell within us.
You have set angels over us.
You have put the devil to shame.
You have brought us into being when we were not.
You take care of us when we were made.
You measure out life to us.
You give us food.
You have promised repentance.
Glory and worship be to you for all these things;
through Jesus Christ,
now and ever,
and through all ages. Amen.

Source: Apostolic Constitutions

Source of this version: Freely modified from Prayers of the Early Church, edited by J. Manning Potts, 1953