Christmas Dinner Prayer

A few years ago, we found ourselves hosting the traditional family Christmas dinner. Not just my immediate family mind you, but the broader family including sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew and (gulp) in-laws! Now, there is a lot of preparation that goes into planning any dinner really, but in particular the official Christmas dinner. Unlike Thanksgiving where tradition dictates Turkey, the sky really is the limit. What perhaps receives a little less advanced planning, however, is the prayer preceding the meal.

In terms of the prayer, I couldn’t help but feeling this particular year included a bit more scrutiny as my father-in-law is a retired minister. As would be expected, I needed to say a few words before we ate but I really had no idea what they would be. For so long, we have always used the tried and true “Come Lord Jesus be our quest, and let these gifts to use be blessed” prayer because of the kids. It had become so ingrained in my thinking I wasn’t even sure how to go about offering thanks in a more meaningful way. So, in such times of uncertainty and deep philosophical questioning I did what I always do.

I turned to Google.

Surely, there are some fantastic prayers I could find on the internet that would fit this occasion perfectly. Apparently there are not.

At least none that I could find to my satisfaction. I wanted something that was simple, but impactful. Something people could hopefully take with them and enjoy later. Spiritual leftovers if you will.

Frustrated from my hours of Googling I finally decided to write something myself. Here is where you come in my friends. If you too, are searching for a Christmas dinner prayer and you aren’t quite sure what it should be, perhaps your internet search will lead you here.  Feel free to use, change, or even ignore the following.

Heavenly Father:

Love brought Jesus to this earth, and love brings us now to this Christmas table

As we bow our heads, we give thanks. We Thank you for the opportunity to gather in your name, and we thank you for the opportunity to live our lives in a way that would bring you glory and honor.

But as we fall so short of taking advantage of those opportunities, we most of all give thanks for the salvation you have provided us through your Son Jesus Christ - whose birth we celebrate today. 

And It is through that birth we are forever reminded; “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it”.

In your name we pray.

Amen