A Prayer for a Family Gathering
For a house full of family — gratitude, patience, and peace around the table.
Family gatherings hold both joy and friction, sometimes in the same hour. This prayer is for the day the relatives arrive — read it before they do, or aloud at the table.
The prayer
Father, thank you for this family — for the ones travelling in, the ones already here, and the ones we carry only in memory today.
Make our gathering good and pleasant. Guard our tongues around the old sore subjects; give us grace for the relative who tries our patience, and eyes to enjoy the ones we too easily overlook.
Thank you for the food, the noise, the laughter, and the leftovers. Let there be real conversation and honest kindness under this roof.
Bless the absent, comfort the grieving among us, and let everyone who leaves today feel they were glad they came. Amen.
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity — a prayer worth praying before the doorbell rings.
Keep this prayer with you
Save it as a card or phone wallpaper, print it, or share it with someone who needs these words today.
