Over the years, I have heard many Christians say they struggle with knowing what to say during their prayer time. I definitely have experienced this. One day it hit me, there is nothing wrong with reading a pre-written prayer from a devotional or blog post. Now, when I don’t know what to pray, I look for Scripture or a pre-written prayer to help guide my prayer.
Table of Contents:
First, let’s look at prayers we can say before eating. These can be used before having a meal or a snack. Praying before eating puts our hearts in a place of thankfulness for the food we have.
5 Prayers of Thanks for Food
Here are five prayers you can pray before having a meal. It’s important to show our gratitude to God for the food we are blessed with to eat.
1. Blessing Over Food ~ Unknown
“Father, Praise You for the nourishment the You provide. Thank You for meeting our physical needs of hunger and thirst. Forgive us for taking that simple joy for granted, and bless this food to fuel our bodies forward into Your will for our lives. We pray that we will be energized and be able to work for the glory of Your Kingdom. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
2. Prayer with Family Before Eating ~ Unknown
“Father, We have gathered to share a meal in Your honor. Thank You for putting us together as family, and thank You for this food. Bless it to our bodies, Lord. We thank you for all of the gifts you’ve given to those around this table. Help each member of our family use these gifts to your glory. Guide our mealtime conversations and steer our hearts to Your purpose for our lives. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
3. Blessing Hands Who Prepared the Food ~ Unknown
“Dear Lord, thank you for this food.
Bless the hands that prepared it.
Bless it to our use and us to your service,
And make us ever mindful of the needs of others.
Through Christ our Lord we pray. Amen.”
4. Prayer of Thanks ~ Unknown
“Lord, thank You for the food before us, the family and friends beside us and the love between us. Amen.”
5. Prayer While Eating Out ~ Unknown
“Father, Bless this establishment and employees as they prepare and serve our food. Thank You for the opportunity to have our meal brought to us, and the ability to relax and enjoy this time with one another. We understand our privilege to be here, and we pray to be a blessing to those we encounter in this place. Bless our conversation, and may we honor You in all we do. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
5 Prayers for Miracles
There are prayers below for both your own personal healing and a friend’s emotional and physical healing.
1. Prayer for Comfort ~ Book of Common Prayer Chapel Edition
“Loving God, I pray that you will comfort me in my suffering, lend skill to the hands of my healers, and bless the means used for my cure. Give me such confidence in the power of your grace, that even when I am afraid, I may put my whole trust in you; through our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.”
2. Prayer for Another Person’s Healing ~ Joyce Rupp
“May you desire to be healed. May what is wounded in your life be restored to good health. May you be receptive to the ways in which healing needs to happen. May you take good care of yourself. May you extend compassion to all that hurts within your body, mind, and spirit. May you be patient with the time it takes to heal. May you be aware of the wonders of your body, mind, and spirit and their ability in returning you to good health.
May you be open to receive from those who extend kindness, care, and compassion to you. May you rest peacefully under the sheltering wings of divine love, trusting in this gracious presence. May you find little moments of beauty and joy to sustain you. May you keep hope in your heart. Amen.”
3. Prayer for the Sick ~ Unknown
“May you be wrapped up in God’s love. Found deep in his everlasting wings. Carried and kept, safe and cherished. May the healing power of Christ breathe across your being now. Amen.”
4. Prayer for a Sick Friend ~ Unknown
“Think, O God, of our friend who is ill, whom we now commend to Your compassionate regard. Comfort her upon her sickbed, and ease her suffering. We beg for deliverance, and submit that no healing is too hard for the Lord, if it be His will. We therefore pray that You bless our friend with Your loving care, renew her strength, and heal what ails her in Your loving name. Thank You, Lord. Amen.”
5. Prayer for Emotional Healing ~ Jim & Kaye Johns
“Father, I’m praying for [this person] and others in my circle of family or friends in need of Your healing touch for their hurting hearts.
Some of them have received emotional wounds, some of them severe. Help them be willing to let you heal those hurts so they won’t become increasingly destructive over time, for You are the Lord who heals.
I come to You with the same spirit of helplessness and dependence that Moses had when he was leading Your people through the desert. They came to water, but it was bitter and the people had nothing to drink. Moses cried out to You, and You showed him a piece of wood; when he threw it into the water, the water became sweet. I’m now coming on behalf of these who are carrying emotional pain. In my heart I bring the wood of the cross, asking that Christ, who heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds, would bring healing to any bitterness He finds in their hearts.
No matter what pain they’ve suffered, help them not to give into anger, resentment, unforgiveness, or bitterness and become captive to sin. May their hearts not become calloused or hard, but refresh them in Christ. May they not lose heart but be inwardly renewed day by day. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
5 Prayers for Strengthed Faith
These 5 prayers are all focused on faith. You can pray these when you are in the middle of a hard time or when you are in good times. We can always grow in our relationship with Christ and ask Him to strengthen our faith.
1. Prayer Inspired By 2 Corinthians 5:7 ~ Unknown
“Father God, open my eyes, not to see the world more clearly, but to see You. Open my eyes to see you working around me and in me. Nothing happens by accident. You orchestrate every day of my life. Allow me to see your hand in the mundane and the fantastic. Help me to trust in what I cannot see, and believe in Your invisible presence.”
2. A Prayer for Faith during Hardship ~ Unknown
“Dear Lord, times are really hard right now and life has really got me down. I don’t know what to do. I ask that You bestow Your wisdom upon me. I don’t want to lean on my own knowledge anymore, because it has let me down so many times. I need to hear Your voice.
Give me the discernment to hear Your voice and Your voice alone. Speak to me in the way You know I will hear you best. I also pray for Your Will, Lord. I give You the praise and the glory in my circumstances because I know that I am exactly where You want me. I know this is to teach me something or to help me to grow. No matter what, I trust you and ask You to show what is best in this situation. In Jesus Name I pray. Amen.”
3. Prayer Inspired by Luke 17:5 ~ Unknown
“Father, even the disciples that walked with Jesus needed to strengthen their faith. Jesus told them if their faith was only the size of a mustard seed, they could uproot trees and crumble mountains. Lord, I need more faith like the disciples. Increase my faith and make me a mover of mountains. Grow my belief in You alone so that I would be strong in the Lord and ready to battle against the doubts planted by the enemy. Lord, increase my faith!”
4. Prayer for Restoration of Faith ~ Unknown
“Oh Lord, I pray for the restoration of my faith in Your holy name. I want You to renew my faith and hope in Your might. Never leave me Oh Lord, and let Your presence show profoundly in my actions, lessons, and miracles. I thank You for giving me an ear, and In Jesus Name, Amen.”
5. Prayer Inspired by Matthew 6:24 ~ Unknown
“Father God, You shower the lilies of the field with beauty and feed the birds of the air. Build my faith to depend on You entirely for every need and not on the things of this world or my strength and abilities. Not one day can be added to my life through worry. As my heavenly Father, You know what I need and You provide for all my cares. Help me to trust You to care for me.”
I hope you will use these prayers and that they be a springboard for you during your prayer time. I pray you are encouraged and strengthed by God and that you would draw near to Him. God is our good Father who takes delight in listening to His children. We have the honor of praying to God and asking Him to be in our lives. Let’s keep praying and pressing into the presence of God!
I am the Lord, the God of all people. Nothing is too difficult for me.
Jeremiah 32:27