Christian Mealtime Prayers

Christian Mealtime Prayers

The custom of saying Christian mealtime prayers, or saying grace, is beautifully natural. Our food is the most conspicuous and constant reminder of our Father's loving care and beneficent provision for our wants and needs. It means to us the continuance of life and all that life means, or ought to mean to us.

Christian mealtime prayers have been taken up into the greatest of all symbolism, the Bread of Life, and Water of Life, and the Lord's Supper. If at any time of the day public thanksgiving is to be expressed to God by our Christian families, it should be at meal prayer time.

Grace before meals is also an indispensable mode of testimony to the bountiful sustenance given to us by God. But the chief argument for saying grace is the example of the Lord Himself. It is said that Jesus blessed the fishes and barley cakes before breaking and giving them to the multitude whom He miraculously fed. Saying grace was Christ's invariable habit, as it should be the invariable habit of all those who in all things wish to follow Christ's example.

Special blessings for special occasions are also included in this collection.

Christian Mealtime Prayers : Breakfast

Dear Lord, as You prepared that breakfast
For Your disciples upon the shore of Galilee,
So truly have You prepared this breakfast for us,
Your children.
We thank You for Your thought of us,
So kind and so unceasing. We would go through
All this day in thoughts of You. Help us to
Do an honest day's work that will make You proud.
In Your name. Amen!

from CHRISTIAN MEALTIME PRAYERS to CHRISTIAN GIFT SHOP

Meal prayer for a birthday

We thank Thee for this food, our Father,
And for all the mercies Thou hast given for this household.
Especially today, we thank Thee for the life of whose birthday
We celebrate today. Wilt Thou not in Thy gracious providence
Prolong that life for many years, and fill it with all holiness
And happiness? We ask it for Jesus' sake.
Amen!

In Thee, o God, we live and move and have our being.
Thou didst create us, and Thou dost uphold us, and without Thee
We are nothing. We bless Thee for this food, the token of
Thy continued care for us. We take it as a gift from Thy hand
Of love, and we pray Thee for wisdom, that we may spend
The strength it gives us in ways that will please Thee best.
For Jesus' sake. Amen!

O Lord, who bid Your disciples remember You
As they broke bread and drank,
We, too, do this in remembrance of You.
Make our every meal a communion with You.
May we see You in all these evidences of Your love for us,
And by seeing You, may we obey and adore You even more.
Amen!

Almighty Father, we pray Thee, sanctify this food,
That it may strengthen us to do and to endure Thy Holy will
Prefectly, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!

Lord, from whom comes every good and perfect gift,
Enable us to enjoy these blessings of Your bounty
With gratitude.
Give us grace that whether we eat or drink,
Or whatever we do,
We may do all to Your glory, for Jesus' sake.
Amen!

Meal prayers to be said by dinner guests

BESTOW Thy richest blessings, dear Father,
Upon this household, and Thy benediction upon this
Hospitable board. We join together in adoration of Thee.
Thy hand is open, and supplies all our needs.
Add to these blessings Thy gracious presence, O Christ,
And let us realize Thy smile upon us
As we commune with one another.
Amen!