Prayers of Gratitude

Grant me, O Master, by thy grace
To follow all the good and pure;
To be content with simple things;
To speak no ill of others;
To have a mind at peace;
Set free from care, and led astray from thee,
Neither by happiness nor woe;
To consider my fellows not as means but ends,
To serve them stalwartly in thought, word and deed;
Never to utter a word of hatred or of shame;
To cast away all selfishness and pride

Set thou my feet upon this path,
And keep me steadfast in it:
Thus only shall I please thee, serve Thee right

~ Tulsi Das (Hindu Scripture)

You Give Food to All
Blessed are You, O Lord our God
King of the Universe
Who feeds the whole world with
Your goodness, grace, kindness and mercy.
You give food to all flesh,
for Your mercy endures forever.
Through Your great goodness,
we have never lacked food.
May it never fail us, for the sake of Your great Name,
for You nourish and sustain all beings, and do good
to all, and provide food for all Your creatures whom
You have created.
Blessed are You, O Lord, who gives food to all.

~ A Jewish grace

Through Ikigami Konko Daijin to the Principle Parent of the Universe;
Thank you for all your blessings, material and spiritual;
In gratitude for this gift, I humbly offer the beautiful jewel of sacred
sound, emanating from the gift of my spirit.
I humbly beseech you to grant longevity and prosperity to me and to
my many descendants.
Grant me protection, grant me happiness.
I humbly offer my reverence and appreciation.
This mystery, which I share in common with the kami, is my rudder
of strength.

~ Konkokyo

I gratefully accept what life presents to me and do not cling to
sorrows or try to run away from facing the reality of my life.
With courage I follow Tao and obey the subtle universal law.
Rather than lose myself by seeking the luxuries of worldly life,
I cultivate my positive, spiritual energy in order to actualize
a good life.
In my life, I follow only what is good and thus never stray from
my true nature.

~ Taoist Classic of Obedience to the Eternal Way

With gratitude I remember the people, animals, plants, insects, creatures
of the sky and sea, air and water, fire and earth, all whose joyful exertion
blesses my life every day.
With gratitude I remember the care and labor of a thousand generations of
elders and ancestors who came before me.
I offer my gratitude for the safety and well-being I have been given.
I offer my gratitude for the blessing of this earth I have been given.
I offer my gratitude for the measure of health I have been given.
I offer my gratitude for the family and friends I have been given.
I offer my gratitude for the community I have been given.
I offer my gratitude for the teachings and lessons I have been given.
I offer my gratitude for the life I have been given.

~ Jack Kornfield

We give thanks, most gracious God, for the beauty of the earth,
sky and sea;
for the richness of the mountains, plains, and rivers;
for the songs of the birds and the loveliness of flowers;
and for the wonder of your animal kingdom.
We praise you for these good gifts,
and pray that we may safeguard them for our posterity.
Grant that we may continue to grow in grateful enjoyment
of your abundant creation, to the honor and glory of your
Name, now and forever. Amen.

~ Prayer said on the Feast of St. Francis

If you tried to count God’s blessings, you would never be able
to number them. God is ever forgiving and most merciful.
God knows all that you conceal and all that you reveal.

It is He that sends water down from the sky. From it you drink,
and trees grow on which you pasture your cattle. And with it
He grows for you corn and the olive and the date –palm and
the grape, and all kinds of fruit. Surely that is a sign for a people
who reflect.

Allah has extracted you, not knowing anything, from the wombs of
your mothers, and he made for you hearing and vision and intellect
that perhaps you would be grateful.

~ Quran 16:78

Dear God, please enlighten me to sing your praise throughout
the morning, noon and night.
O greatest giver of all, we are very grateful to enjoy the food
you provide.
Bless us to get rid of our vices by gathering with your disciples.
O Nanak, my heart is full of eternal gratitude for the company
of enlightened beings.

~ Guru Granth Sahib

O my father, Great Elder,
I have no words to thank you,
But with your deep wisdom
I am sure that you can see
how I value your glorious gifts.
O my Father, when I look upon your greatness,
I am confounded with awe.
O Great Elder,
Ruler of all things earthly and heavenly,
I am your warrior,
ready to act in accordance with your will.

~ Kikuyu (Kenya)

Thanks to Our Mother
We return thanks to our mother,
the earth, which sustains us.
We return thanks to the rivers and streams
which supply us with water.
We return thanks to all herbs, which furnish medicines
for the cure of our diseases.
We return thanks to the bushes and trees, which provide
us with fruit.
We return thanks to the wind,
which, moving the air, has banished diseases.
We return thanks to the moon and stars,
which have given us their light when the sun was gone.
We return thanks to our grandfather
that he has protected his grandchildren,
and have given us his rain.
We return thanks to the sun,
that he has looked upon the earth with a beneficent eye.
Lastly, we return thanks to the Great Spirit, in whom is
embodied all goodness, and who directs all things for
the good of his children.

~ A prayer of the Iroquois nation

My God, my Adored One, my King, my Desire! What tongue
can voice my thanks to Thee?
I was heedless, Thou didst awaken me. I had turned back from Thee,
Thou didst graciously aid me to turn towards Thee. I was as one dead.
Thou didst quicken me with the water of life. I was withered,
Thou didst revive me with the heavenly stream of Thine utterance
which hath flowed forth from the Pen of the All-Merciful.
O Divine Providence! All existence is begotten by Thy bounty;
deprive it not of the waters of Thy generosity, neither do Thou
withhold it from the ocean of Thy mercy.
I beseech Thee to aid and assist me at all times and under all conditions,
and seek from the Heaven of Thy grace Thine ancient favor.
Thou art, in truth, the Lord of bounty, and the Sovereign of the
kingdom of eternity.

~ Baha’u’llah (Baha’i Faith)

I thank You God for most this amazing
day; for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

I who have died am alive again today;
And this is the sun’s birthday; this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

How should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any–lifted from the no
of all nothing—human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?
Now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened.

~ E. E. Cummings