As we gather in a couple of days with family and friends it’s good to have an idea on how to make God the center of our Thanksgiving. The best way to do this is to involve everyone at the table in a prayer of thanks.

Focus on the Family has an idea to help everyone offer a specific things for which they’re thankful to God for in the past year. The idea is to make little scrolls of prayer prompts. Each guest draws one or two scrolls between the main meal and dessert. Go around the table and share the thing for which you are most thankful using the prompt to help you think.

Following is a list of prompts to write in your scrolls:

• God gives us the ability to learn new things. Thank Him for something you enjoyed learning this year.
• The Lord gave us times of rest and relaxation this year. Thank Him for a special memory from a vacation, or special day of fun.
• Even when we faced some difficult things this year, the Lord was with us. Thank Him for something that lead / is leading you to trust Him more.
• God blesses us with surprises. Thank Him for something new and exciting that happened this year.
• God has blessed us with a beautiful world. Thank Him for a place that’s special to you – whether you made it there this year or not.
• God gives us the gift of progress. Thank Him for something that makes life easier than it was 100 years ago.
• God gives us the gift of friendship. Thank Him for a new friend you made this past year.
• God gives us the gift of laughter. Thank Him for something funny that happened recently.
• God satisfies us with good things. Thank Him for a goal or dream you realized this year.
• God gives us the gift of creativity. Thank Him for something you made, or an event you organized, that turned out well.

Close your time of prayer with Thanksgiving for the gift of forgiveness through Jesus, and the gift of His presence with us, through the Holy Spirit.