Prayer Before Meals (Grace)

Meals are an important time to realize how lucky we are to have enough to eat, and give God thanks.

Two Commonly Used Blessings

Bless, O Lord, this food to our use and us to thy service, and keep us ever mindful of the needs of others. In Jesus' Name, Amen.


For this and all we are about to receive, make us truly grateful, Lord. Through Christ we pray. Amen.

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Other Blessings

There are hundreds of prayer forms used before meals. Here are some good ones:

For good food and those who prepare it, for good friends with whom to share it, we thank you Lord.


For food in a world where many walk in hunger;
For faith in a world where many walk in fear;
For friends in a world where many walk alone;
We give you thanks, O Lord.


Let us thank God for food when others are hungry; for drink when others are thirsty; for friends when others are lonely.


Be present at our table, Lord!
Be here and everywhere adored.
Your mercies bless, and grant that we
May feast in Paradise with Thee
(or: May strengthened for thy service be.)


Bless the Lord, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all his benefits.
Blessed be God, eternal king, for these and all his good gifts to us.


Our Dear Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for this food. Feed our souls on the bread of life and help us to do our part in kind words and loving deeds. We ask in Jesus' name.


Our Heavenly Father, kind and good,
we thank Thee for our daily food.
We thank Thee for Thy love and care.
Be with us Lord, and hear our prayer.


Most Holy, Righteous and everywhere present God,
our Father who art in Heaven,
we ask thy blessing upon this food.
Bless the hearts and hands that provide the same.
And when it is ours to pass from time to eternity,
own us and crown us heirs to Thy kingdom.
These favors and blessings we ask in the name of Christ,
our Great Redeemer.


From thy hand cometh every good,
We thank thee for our daily food.
And with it Lord, thy blessing give,
And to thy glory may we live.


Great God accept our gratitude,
For the great gifts on us bestowed--
For rainment, shelter and for food.


Great God, our gratitude we bring,
Accept our humble offering,
For all the gifts on us bestowed,
Thy name be evermore adored.


May this food so fresh and fragrant, call forth reverence for You in our souls. As you give this strength to our perishable limbs, So give us grace for our immortal lives.


Be present at our table, Lord; Be here and everywhere adored. These mercies bless, and grant that we May feast in fellowship with thee.

This clever one was written by Robert Burns

Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some would eat that want it;
But we hae meat, and we can eat,
Sae let the Lord be thankit.

Several from Ireland:

May the blessing of the five loaves and the two fishes which God shared out among the five thousand be ours. May the King who did the sharing bless our sharing and our co-sharing.


Bless, O Lord, this food we are about to eat; and we pray You, O God, that it may be good for our body and soul; and if there be any poor creature hungry or thirsty walking along the road, send them into us that we can share the food with them, just as You share your gifts with all of us.


May this food restore our strength, giving new energy to tired limbs, now thoughts to weary minds. May this drink restore our souls, giving new vision to dry spirits, new warmth to cold hearts. And once refreshed, may we give new pleasure to You, who gives us all.

This one is from the Carmina Gadelica collected by Alexander Carmichael, late 1800's

Give us O God of the nourishing meal, well-being to the body, the frame of the soul.
Give us O God of the honey-sweet milk,
the sap and the savor of the fragrant farms.


God in our waking, God in our speaking;
God in our cooking, God in our eating;
God in our playing, God in our digesting;
God in our working, God in our Resting.


In a world where so many are hungry,
may we eat this food with humble hearts;
in a world where so many are lonely,
May we share this friendship with joyful hearts.


O you who clothe the lilies of the field, and feed the birds of the air, who leads the sheep to pasture and the hart to the water's side, who has multiplied the loaves and fishes and converted the water to wine, do come to our table as giver and guest, to dine.

Moravian Blessing

Come, Lord Jesus, our guest to be
And bless these gifts
Bestowed by Thee.
And bless our loved ones everywhere,
And keep them in Your loving care.

O Lord, who clothes the lilies
And feeds the birds of the sky,
Who leads the lambs to pasture
And the deer to the waterside,
Who has multiplied loaves and fishes
And converted water to wine,
O Lord, come to our table,
As guest and giver, to dine.


Lord, bless this food and grant that we May thankful for thy mercies be. Teach us to know by whom we're fed; Bless us with Christ, the living bread.

Especially Suitable for Children

For food and health and happy days
receive our gratitude and praise
In serving others Lord may we
Repay our dept of love to thee.


Thank you for the food we eat,
Thank you for the world so sweet,
Thank you for the birds that sing,
Thank you God for everything.


God is great, God is good.
Let us thank him for our food.
By his hands, we are fed.
Let us thank him for our bread.


God our Father, Lord and Saviour
Thank you for your love and favor
Bless this food and drink we pray
And all who shares with us today.