Dinner Prayers

QUESTION: What should be included in dinner prayers?

ANSWER:

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.

Thank You, Lord, for hearing our prayers.