All I've got is:

God is great

God is good

Let us thank him for our food,

Amen.

Oh my.....  Be careful what you ask for!


Being a rather irreverent SOB, here ya go -

Good food, good meat, good God, let's eat!

Sheppard Book: "Do you mind if I say grace?"

Captain Reynolds: "Only if you say it out loud..."

For Food. For Raiment.
For Life. For Opportunity.
For Friendship. For Fellowship.
We thank Thee, O Lord.
Amen.

Hi Hokie,

How bout this:

Do not present a canned prayer, which becomes rote and of no meaning, but take some small anmount of time and Thank God for all that he has given you that day. Mention your wife, your new job, your new child... give a small amount of thought to the riches you enjoy and give thanks for all those things, perhaps mention a blessing for friends or relatives that are sick or in need... I  110% guarantee a much more meaningful and personal prayer than something pre recorded.

Try it, makes you contemplate and thank God in a very personal way.

Dram

"For health and food and love of friends, Father we thank you, Amen"

"God is great, God is good, let us thank him for our food,
by His hands we all are fed,
Thank you Lord, for daily bread"

And as my step kids like:

"God our Father,
God our Father
We thank You
We thank You
For our many blessings
For our many blessings
A-amen
A-amen"
(Sung to the tune of Frere Jacques)

Bless us, O Lord
And these, Thy gifts
Which we are about to receive
From Thy bounty
Through Christ, our Lord
Amen

Thank Him for the things that are important to you in your own words!  You don't talk to your friends or family in someone else's predefined verse, do you?  

And so the disciples asked Our Lord how to pray and he taught them... the Our Father.

So biblically we have 1 case of a rote prayer, from Our Lord's lips which is a good set prayer to say. Of course the words of the play Hamlet are also true "words go up, thoughts stay below, words without thought do not to heaven go".

Which is the threat to any prayer, less with spontaneous ones, but real nevertheless. The solution is not to make a dogma out of not saying standard prayers, but to pay attention to them!

I do this by changing the emphasis and timing, by pausing after lines so as to reflect on what I've just asked for.

Bless us Oh Lord [pause]
and these, thy gifts - [insert here spontaneous specified gifts or remain silent]
which we are about to receive from THY bounty, THROUGH Christ, Our Lord,
Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Point 1) nothing in this set prayer is wrong, bad, awful per se.
Point 2) when otherwise distracted a skeleton of a set prayer helps give direction to one's stray thoughts.

When we sing Pslams we also recite someone else's prayers. It's great to ad lib and make things up as you go, I'm as much a poet as anyone so I appreciate the spontaneity. But like everything, balance is a support, not hindrance to growth.

A friend of mine does it with a succinct, "Lord, thank you for this food.  Amen."

His philosophy is that you should stayed prayed up all the time and that just before eating dinner is not the time to get caught up on a whole day's worth of prayer.

How not to pray:

Mat 6:5  And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
Mat 6:6  But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
Mat 6:7  But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
Mat 6:8  Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

Shok

Quoted:

This is what we used to say to irritate the folks:

"rub-a-dub-dub, thanks for the grub.  Yay God!"

or

Parent: Say grace happycynic

happycynic: Grace

goodstuff guys, thanks!