Before the feasting begins on Thanksgiving Day, those gathered at the table traditionally take time to give thanks.

“One way that I’ve done within my own family, and I think a lot of other families do, is we go around the table and offer things we’re thankful for,” said the Rev. Peter Nordby, assistant pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Butler.

If you need help formalizing a pre-meal blessing, following are some ideas offered by pastors for what to say before the big meal on Thursday.

Loving God, we thank you for food and water, for all the blessings of the land you have given us, for family and friends who enrich our lives. Our hearts overflow with thanksgiving to you.We pray that you would bless this meal and the people who share it — bless our lives that we might help those who need our help. Be with us today and every day, so that we can become the people you want us to be. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.— From the Rev. Kate Filer, interim pastor at Saint Andrews United Presbyterian Church, Butler

Let us gather together in thanksgiving to God. For God has made us and this Earth, which gives us nurture. Let us gather together in gratitude to one another. For we are the bearers of God’s blessing and love for the Earth and to all people. Let us praise God; let us join hands; let us reach out in care and courage so that the goodness of life may be for all God’s children. Amen.— From the Rev. Phillip Conyers Jr., pastor of Oak Hills Christian Church, Butler

Dear God,Bless this food we are about to partake of, that it may nourish our bodies, and bless this fellowship, that it nourish our souls. Amen.— From the Rev. David Ealy, pastor of St. John’s United Methodist Church in Slippery Rock and Forestville United Methodist Church

Loving God, we are grateful for many blessings that we don’t always consider to be blessings. We thank you for hearts that keep on beating and for lungs that keep pumping without our thought or intention.We thank you for the sense of satisfaction for a job well done. We thank you for good food to eat, clean water to drink, and clean air to breathe. We thank you for bodies and minds that are wonderfully and intricately made.God of endless providing, we give thanks for both the simple, ordinary ways you sustain us and for the complex, amazing gifts of your creation: for the warm scent of fresh bread and the sharp taste of icy water; for the changes in weather that add so much variety and lushness to our world, for the gift of loyal companions on long journeys; for the countless communities and cultures who find you in their midst; for all the ways you reveal yourself, whether close at hand, or out of our reach.Do not let us become complacent, dear God. Keep us always mindful of your care for us, that we may remain your grateful people, servants praying in the name of the Great Servant. Amen.— From the Rev. Jim Bertoti, pastor of St. Peter’s Reformed Church, Zelienople

Thank you God for appearing to hungry people in the form of bread, and help us to remember that we do not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from you.— From the Rev. Gary Brown, pastor of Emmanuel Lutheran Church of Prospect and of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church of Connoquenessing

The apostle Paul says, “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18) and therefore, even in trials and troubles I recognized that He has a beneficial plan for me.So, amid all of the things which we humans perceive as “blessings,” let us have grateful hearts for all the things which our loving God has allowed to enter our lives. But a special appreciation should go to Him “… for His unspeakable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15) Jesus Christ, our redeemer.— From the Rev. David Fisher, pastor of Homeacre Chapel, Butler

O God, when I have food, help me to remember the hungry;When I have work, help me to remember the jobless;When I have a home, help me to remember those who have no home at all;When I am without pain, help me to remember those who suffer.And remembering, help me to destroy my complacency, foster my compassion, and be concerned enough to help, by word and deed, those who cry out for what we take for granted.— From the Rev. David Brown, pastor of North Main Street Church of God, Butler