Prayers for Thanksgiving Day: Four prayers to use in your Thanksgiving Day worship

THANKSGIVING FROM THE SCRIPTURE

Psalm 65

[Response (in bold) sung by the congregation, using the tune KREMSER PsH 237, PH 559, RL 62, TH 97]

Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion; and to you shall vows be performed.

We praise you, O God, our Redeemer, Creator; in grateful devotion our tribute we bring,

Happy are those whom you choose and bring near to live in your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, your holy temple.

We lay it before you, we kneel and adore you; we bless your holy name, glad praises we sing.

By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance, O God of our salvation; you are the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas.

We worship you, God of our fathers and mothers; through life's storm and tempest our guide you have been.

You silence the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples. Those who live at earth's farthest bounds are awed by your signs;

When perils o'er take us, you never forsake us. And with your help, O Lord, our battles we win.

You visit the earth and water it, you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide the people with grain, for so you have prepared it.

With voices united our praises we offer; our songs of thanksgiving to you we now raise.

You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with richness.

Your strong arm will guide us, our God is beside us.
To you, our great Redeemer, fore'er be praise!

Submitted by First Reformed Church, Saddle Brook, New Jersey (Reformed Church in America)>

PRAYERS OF THANKSGIVING AND INTERCESSION

SUNDAY/Morning Prayer

Mighty God of mercy, we thank you for the
resurrection dawn bringing the glory of our
risen Lord who makes every day new.
Especially we thank you for
the beauty of your creation ...
the new creation in Christ and all gifts of
healing and forgiveness..
the sustaining love of family and friends ...
the fellowship of faith in your church ...
Merciful God of might, renew this weary world,
heal the hurts of all your children, and
bring about your peace for all in Christ
Jesus, the living Lord. Especially we pray for
those who govern nations of the world ...
the people of countries where there is strife or warfare ...
all who work for peace and international harmony...
the church of Jesus Christ in every land....
Silent prayer—Concluding petition—The Lord's Prayer

From Book of Common Worship .1993 Westimater/John Knox Press. Used by permission.

PRAYERS OF THANKSGIVING AFTER THE OFFERING

All things come from you, O God,
and with gratitude we return to you what is
yours.

You created all that is, and with love formed us
in your image.

When our love failed, your love remained
steadfast.

You gave your only Son, Jesus Christ, to be our
Savior.

All that we are, and all that we have, is a trust
from you.

And so, in gratitude for all your gifts,
we offer you ourselves, and all that we have,
in union with Christ's offering for us.

By your Holy Spirit make us one with Christ,
one with each other,
and one in ministry to all the world;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

Hoyt L. Hickman, in The United Methodist Book of Worship. (c) 1992, The United Methodist Publishing House.

THANKSGIVING FOR WATER

[Children gather at the front in a large semicircle and are divided into four groups The worship leader reads the prayer while the various groups express the prayer through movement (see diagram)]

All: Father in heaven,
we thank and praise you
for your goodness.

all movement is done deliberately

Group 1: We thank you for water that
refreshes as it rains down on
the earth after it has been
warmed by the sun.

downward movement of arms in a circle in front of the body

Group 4: We thank you for water
that rushes over rocks and
down mountainsides;
as it cleanses us of the impurities of our own deeds.

flowing movement as though water

Group 2: We thank you, Father, for water
that quenches our thirst;
that makes us ready to
speak your word fresh each day.

upward movement begining at chin

Group 3: We thank you for water,
that gives new life to
the hidden seed
to the giant oak,
and to the rivers of our earth.

bowing movement from waist

From Signs, Songs and Stories, Virginia Sloyan, ed. 1974 by the Liturgical Conference, Inc., Washington, D.C Used by permission.

Reformed Worship 36 © June 1995 Worship Ministries of the Christian Reformed Church. Used by permission.