Heavenly Father,
we thank you for gathering us together
and for the food you have set before us.
Bless each one at this table;
keep us in your love;
and grant that in all we share together,
we may honor you.
May our home be a place of your presence,
our words to one another be filled with grace,
and our family be a witness to your goodness.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
PROTESTANT PROTESTANT DEVOTIONAL TRADITION
Prayer for the Family at Mealtime
Also known as Family Mealtime Prayer ยท Family Table Blessing
About this prayer
The family gathered at table has been a central image of Christian household piety since the earliest centuries. Luther's vision of the household as a 'little church' (ecclesiola) gave particular emphasis to the family meal as an occasion of worship, thanksgiving, and formation in faith. A prayer for the family at mealtime differs from a simple grace before meals in that it explicitly names the family as a community gathered under God, giving thanks not only for food but for the relationships around the table and asking that the home itself may be a place of God's presence. It reflects the Protestant theology of the sanctification of ordinary life.
When it's said
This prayer is said by families gathered at mealtimes, particularly at the main meal of the day. It is suited to families with children as a prayer that gathers the whole household in a moment of shared thanksgiving and petition. In many Protestant households it is the primary mealtime prayer. It may also be used at extended family gatherings, holiday meals, and any occasion when a family or household is gathered at table.
Notes on the text
The petition that the home be 'a place of your presence' draws on the Reformation understanding of the household as a sacred space of worship, not just a domestic unit. 'Words to one another filled with grace' echoes Colossians 4:6, where Paul instructs that speech should be 'full of grace, seasoned with salt.' The phrase 'a witness to your goodness' reflects the Protestant understanding that the Christian family, by the quality of its love and the ordering of its life, bears witness to the gospel in the world.
Source
Protestant devotional tradition; cf. Martin Luther, Small Catechism, 1529. Public domain.
Last reviewed: May 2026 against primary source.