Thanksgiving Prayer to God

Psalm 107:1

Psalm 107:1 opens a psalm of thanksgiving in which the psalmist calls on everyone the LORD has rescued, from travelers lost in the desert to sailors caught in a storm, to give thanks for His goodness and His loving devotion.

Lord, I give You thanks, for You are good, and Your loving devotion endures forever. Thank You for this year, for the meals You provided, for the people You gave me, and for the hard days You carried me through. You found me when I wandered and answered when I cried out. On this Thanksgiving Day, let my whole heart say so. Amen.

The Scripture

“Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His loving devotion endures forever.”
— Psalm 107:1

Prayer points from Psalm 107:1

Thank God that He is good, whatever this year has held.
Name three gifts from this year, one at a time.
Remember a time this year when you cried out and He helped you.
Thank Him for the people at your table and for those far away.
Pray for anyone spending this Thanksgiving alone, hungry or grieving.
Ask Him to make thankfulness your habit long after this one day.

About this verse

Psalm 107 begins with a call that fits Thanksgiving Day exactly: “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His loving devotion endures forever.” Then it tells four short stories of people in trouble: travelers lost in the desert, prisoners sitting in darkness, people so sick they drew near to the gates of death, and sailors caught in a storm at sea. Each time they cry out to the LORD, He rescues them, and each time the psalm repeats the same line: “Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion and His wonders to the sons of men.” Thanks in this psalm is not a mood. It is remembering what God has done and saying it out loud: “Let the redeemed of the LORD say so.” In 1863, in the middle of the Civil War, President Lincoln called the nation to set apart a day of thanksgiving and praise, and Americans have kept it every November since. This prayer is for anyone who wants to thank God simply and personally on Thanksgiving Day.

When to pray this prayer

On Thanksgiving morning, before the house fills up
Before the Thanksgiving meal, on your own or with others
On the drive or flight home for the holiday
At the end of Thanksgiving Day, looking back on it
When this year has been hard and thanks feels far away
Any day you want to stop and count God’s gifts

More prayers for thanksgiving

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