This week marks the observance (in the U.S.) of Thanksgiving, an annual celebration of food, football and family. Of course, it was designed to be a solemn occasion of gratitude toward God.

It can be all of those things. But if your Thanksgiving celebration is like mine, the tasks of food preparation and consumption and cleanup alone can crowd out a spirit of thanksgiving. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

In a previous blog post, I suggested five creative ways to include prayers of thanks in your family celebration, even (or especially) if you have to cope with the short attention spans of children. . . or husbands.

Read More: 5 Creative Ways to Pray on Thanksgiving

In this post, I offer six actual prayers that you can print out and read around the table or in the car or pretty much anywhere:

A Thanksgiving Psalm

Praise awaits you, our God, in Zion;

    to you our vows will be fulfilled.

You who answer prayer,

    to you all people will come.

When we were overwhelmed by sins,

    you forgave our transgressions.

Blessed are those you choose

    and bring near to live in your courts!

We are filled with the good things of your house,

    of your holy temple.

You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds,

    God our Savior,

the hope of all the ends of the earth

    and of the farthest seas,

who formed the mountains by your power,

    having armed yourself with strength,

who stilled the roaring of the seas,

    the roaring of their waves,

    and the turmoil of the nations.

The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;

    where morning dawns, where evening fades,

    you call forth songs of joy.

You care for the land and water it;

    you enrich it abundantly.

The streams of God are filled with water

    to provide the people with grain,

    for so you have ordained it.

You drench its furrows and level its ridges;

    you soften it with showers and bless its crops.

You crown the year with your bounty,

    and your carts overflow with abundance.

The grasslands of the wilderness overflow;

    the hills are clothed with gladness.

The meadows are covered with flocks

    and the valleys are mantled with grain;

    they shout for joy and sing. (Psalm 65:1-13, NIV)

A Thanksgiving Poem

One way to include the following in your celebration is to have each line read by a different person, and then have everyone conclude the prayer with, “Thank You!”

For each new morning with its light,

For rest and shelter of the night,

For health and food,

For love and friends,

For everything Thy goodness sends. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

A Thanksgiving Canticle

Most High, all-powerful, good Lord,

all praise is yours, all glory, all honor,

and all blessing.

To you, alone, Most High, do they belong.

No mortal lips are worthy to pronounce your name.

All praise be yours, my Lord,

through all you have made,

and first my lord Brother Sun, who brings the day;

and through whom you give us light.

How beautiful is he, how radiant in all his splendor;

Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.

All Praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Moon

and the stars; in the heavens you have made them,

bright, and precious, and fair.

All praise be yours, my Lord,

through Brothers wind and air, and fair and stormy,

all the weather’s moods,

by which you cherish all that you have made.

All praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Water,

so useful, humble, precious and pure.

All praise be yours, my Lord, through Brother Fire,

through whom you brighten up the night.

How beautiful is he, how cheerful!

Full of power and strength.

All praise be yours, my Lord, through our Sister

Mother Earth, who sustains us and governs us,

and produces various fruits with colored flowers

and herbs.

All praise be yours, my Lord,

through those who grant pardon for love of you;

through those who endure sickness and trial.

Happy are those who endure in peace,

By You, Most High, they will be crowned.

All praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Death,

From whose embrace no mortal can escape.

Woe to those who die in mortal sin!

Happy those she finds doing your will!

The second death can do them no harm.

Praise and bless my Lord, and give him thanks

And serve him with great humility. (St. Francis of Assisi)

A Thanksgiving Hymn

If you or your family like to sing, you might want to make the following traditional hymn your prayer of thanks:

For the beauty of the earth

For the glory of the skies,

For the love which from our birth

Over and around us lies,

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,

This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the beauty of each hour,

Of the day and of the night,

Hill and vale, and tree and flower,

Sun and moon, and stars of light,

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,

This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the joy of ear and eye,

For the heart and mind’s delight,

For the mystic harmony

Linking sense to sound and sight,

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,

This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the joy of human love,

Brother, sister, parent, child,

Friends on earth and friends above,

For all gentle thoughts and mild,

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,

This our hymn of grateful praise.

For each perfect gift of Thine,

To our race so freely given,

Graces human and divine,

Flowers of earth and buds of Heaven.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,

This our hymn of grateful praise. (Folliot S. Pierpoint)

How do most Americans celebrate Thanksgiving? Many furnish a lengthy table with an abundance of sumptuous foods, a la Norman Rockwell. That means turkey and dressing, potatoes and cranberries, pumpkin pie, apple pie, blackberry pie, rhubarb pie (are you hungry yet?) followed by a lazy afternoon watching football with a belly so full it feels like it’s going to burst!

Oh, and we give thanks. For some, that means going around the table taking turns saying one thing we’re thankful for. For others it means a few moments of “grace” before the meal—maybe a little longer than our usual “grace,” because after all, it’s Thanksgiving.

But if you’re looking for something a little more creative, a little more, well, thankful this year, why not try one of the following ways not to talk about being thankful, but of actually praying your thanks on Thanksgiving:

1)  Fill in the blank.
Once everyone is seated for the meal, instead of each person saying one thing for which they are grateful, ask each person to complete the following sentence as a prayer: “Thank you, God, for _______________.” Or, for a little variety, suggest alternatives: “Thank you that ____________” and “Thank you for not ____________.”

2)  Take a photo.
If everyone at your gathering has a smart phone or tablet, make an announcement an hour or so before the main meal. Ask everyone to take a photo on their device of something for which they’re grateful. Then, before eating, ask everyone to bow their heads. . . and pass their photo to the right, in silence, as a visual prayer, until all the photos have been shared.

3) Have a Thanksgiving tree.
If your Christmas tree is already up, tie prayers of thanks written on paper to some of the tree limbs and then read them aloud during your celebration (you can also make a cardboard tree or simply place a written prayer at each table setting).

4) Create a gratitude garland.
Cut brightly colored construction paper into strips. Well before your meal, ask participants to write a prayer of thanksgiving on at least one strip and place it in a jar or bowl. Then, with a roll of tape handy, invite everyone to take a strip out, read it, and then form it into a paper chain, one strip at a time until all the prayers have been prayed. The gratitude garland can then be hung somewhere or even saved for the Christmas tree.

5)  Plan a Thanksgiving communion.
It doesn’t have to be fancy. Simply provide a cup and piece of bread to everyone. Then read Psalm 116:12-19 and “lift the cup of salvation together,” giving thanks for Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.

Of course, you may have a far better idea. Or you may choose to combine two or more of these Thanksgiving prayer exercises. Whatever you do, don’t just talk about your gratitude, direct your thanksgiving toward God.

Many businesses, families, churches and other groups have followed a tradition of exchanging Christmas gifts called “Secret Santa.” Participants draw names from a hat or box; the participant then becomes the “Secret Santa” for that person, which involves buying a gift (usually in a specific price range) and giving it anonymously to the recipient. The recipient is left guessing the gift-giver’s identity until all is revealed at a Christmas party.

You may be someone’s “Secret Santa” this year. But why not take it even further and pray “Secret Santa” prayers between now and Christmas Day?

Frank Laubach, in his classic volume, Prayer—The Mightiest Force in the World, wrote:

Some of us who travel much have hundreds of days when we can sit behind people in street cars, trains, stations, restaurants, concerts or lectures, and pray at the back of their heads with our eyes open to see how many of them show signs of being aware.

Some time ago, I was looking at a man sitting by an open window half a block away. I shot a rapid fire of prayer at him, saying three or four times a second: “Jesus, friend—Jesus is coming to you.” In thirty seconds that man put his head in his hands and bent down over his desk as though in prayer. Flashing hard and straight prayers in a street car while repeating, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,” usually makes some of the people near you act as though they had been spoken to. If they do not respond the first time, you can return again and again, until they show signs of being “tuned in.” They look at you curiously, often smile, and frequently say something. All Christians should acquire this habit. I will try to describe how it feels. It seems to me I am pushing these prayers from my breast and fingers, as well as from my brain—from my whole nervous system. I find myself exhaling a little through my nose with each pressure. After a while, the car or room seems gently “excited,” like the magnetic field around a magnet. Everyone behaves like an old friend. People seem to like us to pray for them.

—Prayer: The Mightiest Force in the World by Frank Laubach, Fleming H. Revell Co., 1945

Try it. Between now and Christmas Day, as often as possible, focus your prayers on someone who can have no idea they’re being prayed for. Pray for the cashier in the store as you wait in line. Send your “Secret Santa” prayers to someone sitting alone at a bus stop or waiting in their car at a traffic light.

They don’t have to be strangers; make a neighbor or someone at church your “Secret Santa” target. Pay special attention to their reactions; rejoice when they seem to show some awareness or effect of your prayers. You may eventually reveal yourself as their “Secret Santa,” and let them know that you were praying for them. But wait until after Christmas.

A new year can hold new promise. New opportunity. New potential. That’s especially important—and welcome—this year as we turn the page from 2020 to 2021. There’s no better time to explore new ways to connect with God in prayer. And there may be no better way to fulfill that promise, opportunity and potential than with prayer.

With that in mind, here are a few new things to try as you pray this year:

1)  Recite a daily verse.

This site, Guideposts.org, offers an invaluable free service: a daily scripture and reflection sent via email. If you haven’t yet subscribed, you can do that here. Once signed up, you can make that daily scripture (or a key word or portion of it) a topic of prayer throughout the day. Try it, and see how God speaks to you through His word.

2)  Choose a simple prayer each week.

Why not start every week by choosing a simple, easy-to-remember prayer to recite repeatedly—say, in traffic, in the grocery store, when someone puts you “on hold” and so on? You may choose “the Jesus Prayer” one week: “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Maybe the line of a hymn the next week: “Have Thine own way, Lord.” You might find yourself returning frequently to a favorite prayer as you feel its heart-lifting and life-changing effects.

3)  Settle on a new prayer trigger…or two.

Many people use prayer triggers to deepen and broaden their prayer lives. Perhaps you’ve done so at times. But a new year presents the opportunity for new prompts. Do you pass a cemetery on your way to work? Why not let that sight remind you to pray for those who are grieving? Maybe the chime of an incoming email (like church bells used to do) could remind you to pray for your church or your pastor—or both.

If, like many others these days, you wash your hands more often and more thoroughly than you used to, you might choose those moments to speak or sing a prayer.

These are just a few new ways to pray in 2021, and you may have a few more ideas. If the new year prompts even a bit more prayer from you, who knows what it will produce? It may make these coming months some of your most prayerful—and blessed—ever.