Prayer is an important way that Believers connect to God. Easter is a great time for us to come to God in prayer and express our thanksgiving and praise for all he has done. Food is an important part of many families’ Easter Sunday. Pausing to pray before dinner on those glorious Easter feasts is a wonderful way to give God praise for making a way for us to be a part of his forever family.
Pausing to pray before the Easter feast is a meaningful tradition highlighting gratitude and humility. It's a time to recognize God's presence in our lives and express thanks for the sacrifice that unites believers and followers of Jesus Christ with Him eternally. Easter dinner prayers, whether long or short, are more than a simple meal blessing, they serve as a powerful remind of the resurrection— that which is the cornerstone of our hope.
There is one awe-inspiring reason we celebrate Easter, and it stems from the hope that was delivered to the world when in Mark 16:6 the angel said these three words: He has risen! Easter is a chance for us to reflect on what it means to be a Christ-Follower. It is the time of year that we can count the ways Jesus displayed his great love for us.
Whether you are looking for a longer symbolic prayer for Easter dinner or a short blessing to say before the meal, here are a few Easter dinner prayers for your family to recite together this Easter Sunday:
Five Short Easter Dinner Prayers
Lord, we gather on this joyful day of resurrection to share in Your abundance and grace. Bless this meal, our family, and friends. May the miracle of Easter fill our hearts with love, peace, and gratitude. Amen.
Heavenly Father, thank You for the gift of Easter and the hope it brings to our lives. Bless this food to our bodies and us to Your service. Let us rejoice in the promise of renewal and life everlasting. Amen.
Gracious God, as we celebrate the victory of resurrection, we ask for Your blessing over this meal and all who share it. May our hearts be filled with Easter joy and our lives reflect Your love. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Be present at our table, Lord,
Be here and everywhere adored.
Thy people bless, and grant that we may feast in paradise with thee. - by John Wesley
Lord God, you loved this world so much, that you gave your one and only Son, that we might be called your children too. Help us to live in the gladness and grace of Easter Sunday, everyday. Let us have hearts of thankfulness For your sacrifice.
A Prayer for Gratitude and God's Blessings at Your Easter Meal
God, we pause with such gratitude for the gift of your undeserved, unfailing, and unfathomably love.
Thank you for walking around on this broken, dusty, and trouble-ridden planet for 33 years so that we might believe and have eternal life.
Thank you for communicating your love for us in a way that is so personal, so extravagant, and so gracious.
Thank you for dying and then rising from the dead so we could have hope.
Thank you for proving that you are real, you are powerful, and that only you give us the power to live our lives well through your incarnation, death, and resurrection.
Thank you for washing away our sins by offering yourself as the perfect and blameless sacrifice in our stead.
Thank you, Jesus, for all you have done for us and offer our lives as a living sacrifice to you in gratitude for amazing grace. Amen.
Easter Blessing Before Meal
Blessed are you, Lord God, king of the universe: you raised your beloved son from the dead, and made him Lord of all.
We turn to you in prayer and ask you to bless us and this food you have given us.
Help us to be generous toward others, and to work with them so that they too may eat well.
Loving Father, may we all celebrate together around your table in heaven.
We praise you and give you glory through Christ our Lord. - Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops
Easter Dinner Prayer of Praise
Heavenly Father, on this blessed Easter day, we gather in celebration of Your greatest gift— the resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Savior. With hearts overflowing with joy, we lift our voices in praise for the victory over death and the promise of eternal life. As we share in this meal, let us remember the sacrifice made out of unconditional love for us. May the food nourish our bodies as Your grace nourishes our souls. Bless this gathering of family and friends, knitting us closer in the bond of Your love. May our lives reflect the hope and renewal found in the resurrection. We give You all the glory, honor, and praise, now and forever. Amen.
A Prayer for Your Family and Friends at Easter
God, we thank you for the reminder that you are a safe place for us to put our hope. This year there have been many troubles that have shaken our ability to live with peace and have attempted to rob our hope. We pray that as we celebrate Easter that our friends and family would be reminded that hope is still alive and it has a name! May our loved ones be led to find hope in Jesus this Easter. Amen.
A Prayer for Children to Say at the Easter Dinner
Below is a short rhyming prayer for your kids to learn for Easter:
God made you and God made me,
He made the world for us to see.
God loves you and long ago,
He sent his Son to tell us so.
Jesus showed us many things,
To love and share and dance and sing.
To learn and pray, to help and care,
He promised he'd always be there.
He died but then came back to life,
Let's celebrate for he's alive!
Amen.
Easter Dinner Prayer of Reflection
Thank You for being our Savior. Thank You for the gift of Easter. We come to You asking for Your Spirit to guide us into growth and spiritual maturity. We do not want to be where we are now next Easter. May we continually by refined and renewed by You, Holy Spirit. Help us to live in Your power and not in our flesh. We desire life change that looks so radical and beautiful, that everyone around us wants to know what is different. Help us to be light and salt. May what You did for us define us and give us continual confidence in our mission on earth. We praise You Jesus. Amen. - Emma Danzey
A Resurrection Day Prayer
Lord, I thank you for the finished work of the cross. I praise you for the resurrection that brings hope I will have everlasting life. Teach me to acknowledge what you have done for the world through salvation on a daily basis. Forgive me if I have neglected to share the gospel due to feeling incapable or uncomfortable. I pray for opportunities to share my faith. I ask for boldness to tell others about the resurrection. In Jesus’ name, Amen! - Victoria Riollano
Easter Victory Celebration
Father, thank You for the miracle of life. Help me celebrate that life every day. I say with the apostle Paul, “Where, O death, is your sting?” This powerful reminder of Your victory over death through the resurrection of Jesus Christ fills me with hope and courage. It reassures me that in You, there is eternal life, and that the end here is but the beginning of an everlasting joy in Your presence.
Lord, let this truth resonate within me not just in moments of reflection but in every aspect of my daily life. May it empower me to live fully, love deeply, and spread the light of Your grace to those around me. In moments of doubt or fear, remind me of Your conquest over death, and the promise of life eternal with You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
An Easter Prayer of Hope and Joy
Holy Spirit, faithfully nudge and remind us that we are children of God, freed from the chains of sin by Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, and resurrection and assertion to heaven where He is seated by the Father. Bless our minds to remember and embrace the freedom, hope, joy, and peace we have in Christ. - Meg Bucher
10 Short Easter Blessings
These blessings are a perfect opening prayer for the Easter meal or to send in a text, card, or social media to share the joy of the resurrection!
- "May the joy of the resurrection fill your heart and home this Easter and always. Amen."
- "Blessed Easter to you! May you feel Christ's love shining brightly upon you."
- "Wishing you the hope and beauty of spring, and the promise of a new beginning. Happy Easter!"
- "May the miracle of Easter bring you peace, joy, and renewal. Blessings to you and yours."
- "As we celebrate Easter, may your life be blessed with the love and grace of God. Amen."
- "Let the light of the risen Lord fill your home with happiness and peace. Easter blessings to you."
- "Blessed Easter! May you find comfort in the promise of Christ's resurrection."
- "Wishing you an Easter filled with faith, hope, love, and joy. May God's blessings be upon you."
- "On this glorious day, may you feel the warm embrace of God's love and the joy of the resurrection."
- "Easter blessings to you! May the story of Easter inspire you with new hope, new goals, and new life."
Why Do We Celebrate Easter?
Easter is not observed in the same ways by everyone. The holiday, in many homes, is about the arrival of spring, celebrating adorable bunnies, giving out candy, and gifts to children. While these traditions can be fun and maybe a part of your family traditions, they are not the reason why Christians celebrate Easter. Jason Inman summarizes why Christians celebrate Easter in one sentence. He says “We celebrate Easter to worship our eternally perfect God who separated Himself from every other deity by choosing to give up His own rights and life to restore and save the rights and lives of His creation.”
Easter is about God showing up in the form of a man that died for our sins because he knew this was the way to convey his message of divine love that we could actually grasp. God knew we needed the salvation of humanity had to be personal. There was no heavenly substitute that could help mend the gap between him and his creation. God himself showed up on Earth in a flesh suit so that we might believe and be able to one day join him in Heaven.
God desires a genuinely intimate connection with his creation. Easter is the very personal story of a loving God willingly offering his son Jesus as an undeserved and unimaginable sacrifice for our brokenness. This is why we celebrate because God came, spoke, died, and rose again so we could have hope.
3 Family Easter Traditions
1. Make Resurrection Eggs
A great way to tell the story of Easter to your kids is through Resurrection Eggs. If you aren’t familiar with these storytelling eggs, they are a dozen of your traditional colorful plastic Easter eggs each filled with things that help tell the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection. As your kids open each egg you then read to them Scripture or a script that summarizes the text to talk them through all the details of the Easter Bible story.
You can use these eggs in your home to help your kids better understand what Jesus did for them. They are also great to use for a Sunday school lesson or as a homeschool lesson. Once you make or buy one set, store them away safely so you can reuse them each year to help refresh your family’s minds on the true and beautiful story that Easter celebrates.
2. Create a Christ-Centered Easter Basket
Everyone loves to devour those chocolate bunnies and mounds of jellybeans, but why not add some items to those delicious candy-filled baskets that help remind your children that Jesus is the reason behind all the fuss. Adding a kid’s book that tells the story of Easter gives you the chance to pause together and read the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection to your kids. The Easter Story by Parragon Books is one of many great kids’ books that tells the story of Easter in a way your kids will enjoy.
VeggieTales have two adorable Easter-themed DVDs that would make a great gift and give you the chance to sit down and watch these together on Easter Sunday. Making sure your Easter baskets tell the story of Jesus helps to make sure the message of God’s love isn’t lost in all of the festivities.
3. Organize a Family Sunrise Service
Take advantage of your kids’ natural tendency to be early risers and have an at-home sunrise service together. Start the day watching the sun peak through the sky in all its brilliance and use this beautiful moment as a way to point your kids to the truth that Jesus was the life that was the light for all mankind (John 1:4).
Together take a moment to read John 1:1-7 and other passages that tell the Easter story. Sing together about the resurrection of Jesus. Resurrecting by Elevation Worship is a beautiful song that celebrates the Easter story. Making some delicious resurrection rolls (bread rolls that have empty insides) is a yummy way to illustrate the empty tomb for your kids. The rolls make a great conclusion to a meaningful way to begin your family’s Easter Sunday together!
Easter is such a beautiful time for us to come together and joyfully celebration the moment Jesus confirmed he was who he said he was when he rose from the dead. May your heart and home be filled with joy as you take time together to meditate on the gift of your salvation. Let gratitude for Jesus’ death and resurrection produce a renewed sense of hope in your heart this Easter.
Photo credit: ©GettyImages/Deagreez
Amanda Idleman is a writer whose passion is to encourage others to live joyfully. She writes devotions for My Daily Bible Verse Devotional and Podcast, Crosswalk Couples Devotional, the Daily Devotional App, she has work published with Her View from Home, on the MOPS Blog, and is a regular contributor for Crosswalk.com. She has most recently published a devotional, Comfort: A 30 Day Devotional Exploring God's Heart of Love for Mommas. You can find out more about Amanda on her Facebook Page or follow her on Instagram.
This article is part of our larger Holy Week and Easter resource library centered around the events leading up to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We hope these articles help you understand the meaning and story behind important Christian holidays and dates and encourage you as you take time to reflect on all that God has done for us through his son Jesus Christ!
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