25 Best Easter Prayers to Celebrate This Holy Day
Rejoice with these meaningful blessings.
By Amy Mitchell
Easter is this Sunday, and we're looking forward to seeing the kids light up when they discover their Easter baskets, to decorating Easter eggs together, and to preparing time-honored family recipes for Easter dinner or Easter brunch. However, as fun as these activities are, for Christians, Easter is really all about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And there's perhaps no better way to center you family's celebration on that than to add an Easter prayer to your favorite Easter traditions.
Before the feasting begins, read one of these meaningful prayers aloud at the dinner table as your Easter blessing. It will set your hearts on the reason for your gathering and help teach the little ones that the holiday is about more than candy and egg hunting. These thoughtfully written words articulate biblical truths in beautiful ways and express your gratitude for the spiritual renewal found in the Easter story.
Many of these Easter prayers and blessings are also short enough to send to friends and family as religious Easter wishes and messages. Or perhaps you prefer to quietly meditate on one to bring you peace and comfort. If you find yourself so inspired, head to our collections of Easter bible verses and Easter quotes for further reflection.
This Joyous Time of Year
May the glory and the promise of this joyous time of year bring peace and happiness to you and those you hold most dear.
And may Christ, Our Risen Savior, always be there by your side to bless you most abundantly and be your loving guide.
— Author Unknown
We Are One with the Risen Christ
Lord we lift our hearts to you. As the dawn breaks, may we carry the unity we share into every moment knowing that we are one with the risen Christ. Lord, we lift our eyes to you. As the sunrises, may this moment stay with us, reminding us to look for the beautiful colors of promise in your word. Lord, we lift our prayers to you. As the dew air falls, may we breathe this morning in and know that like the earth, you sustain us, keep us and work within us always. And so, we lift our voices to you. We celebrate the greatest day in history, when Jesus rose from death, defeated darkness and bathed the world in stunning resurrection light. May we ever live to praise you! Amen.
— Author Unknown
The Angels of God Are Rejoicing
Christ is Risen: The world below lies desolate
Christ is Risen: The spirits of evil are fallen
Christ is Risen: The angels of God are rejoicing
Christ is Risen: The tombs of the dead are empty
Christ is Risen indeed from the dead, the first of the sleepers, Glory and power are his forever and ever.
— St. Hippolytus of Rome
Your Victory Is My Victory
Lord Jesus Christ, I rejoice and rejoice continually in Your glorious and triumphant victory over death. For Your victory is my victory. Help me to live by it, in it, and for it. I am grateful to my depths—grateful forever. Amen.
— Selwyn Hughes
Let Us Have Hearts of Thankfulness
Lord God,
You loved this world so much,
That you gave your one and only Son,
That we might be called your children too.
Lord, help us to live in the gladness and grace
Of Easter Sunday, everyday.
Let us have hearts of thankfulness
For your sacrifice.
Let us have eyes that look upon
Your grace and rejoice in our salvation.
Help us to walk in that mighty grace
And tell your good news to the world.
All for your glory do we pray, Lord,
Amen.
— Rachel Marie Stone
Thank You for the Miracle of Life
Father, Thank You for the miracle of life—abundant life here, and eternal life with You in Heaven. Help me celebrate that life every day as I seek You and follow Your plan for my life. Today, I say with the Apostle Paul, “Where, O death is your victory? Where, O death is your sting?” In Jesus’ name, Amen.
— Mary Southerland
May I Always Find My Satisfaction in You
Dear Lord, may I realize afresh today what Your death and resurrection mean for me. Forgiveness, freedom, and the ability to walk with You through this fallen world into eternity. May I always find my satisfaction in You and Your willingness to offer Yourself to me. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
— Rachel Olsen
Easter Grace Blessing
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us this day.
May this meal be blessed as we gather to celebrate together.
May your love be shared amongst us as we enjoy the gift of fellowship.
May we remember to give out the grace and forgiveness that you have freely given us,
And may we always give thanks for your sacrificial love.
Amen.
— Author Unknown
Journey Into the Presence of God
Lord, death could not hold You. And because of You, the resurrection, we, too, can live. Thank You that the grave is only a journey into the presence of God. You have removed the sting of death and empowered this thing called life. Now I will live in Your presence forever. Amen.
— Rebecca Barlow Jordan
Easter Table Prayer
Creator God and Lord of Life, You who call forth from the darkness of death all those who love You, we rejoice, on this Easter Sunday, in the resurrection from the dead of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Visit our home and this table with Your bright blessing of peace and life. We pause in the midst of this prayer to remember all the holy dead of our family who live now in You and who await the final and glorious resurrection of the dead. May they and we, because of our faith in You, our God, taste in the victory of life over death. May the Risen Christ, our Lord and Savior, be our guest as we celebrate His resurrection with this Easter Sunday dinner. Bless those whose work to prepare this meal has truly been a work of prayer, and bless all of us who shall share it with Easter love and joy. May You, then, bless this table and this food, and each of us in Your holy name. Amen.
— Edward Hays, Prayers for the Domestic Church
Easter Children's Prayer
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.
— Author Unknown
Love Overcame
Love overcame
Emerging from a cold tomb
All the truth, majesty and creativity of a living God
Transforming a broken heart
Making a quiet return, in a still and sorrowful garden
The grave stone rolled away, to release redemptive love
Jesus resurrected and restored
Comforts a weeping woman
Speaks with travelers on a journey
Meets with his faithful friends
And they bow down before Christ alive
And acknowledged that the savior has arrived
That the word of God has come alive
And that the extraordinary transformation of heaven and earth is complete.
— Julie Palmer
Draw Us Forth
Draw us forth, God of all creation. Draw us forward and away from limited certainty into the immense world of your love. Give us the capacity to even for a moment taste the richness of the feast you give us. Give us the peace to live with uncertainty, with questions, with doubts. Help us to experience the resurrection anew with open wonder and an increasing ability to see you in the people of Easter. Amen.
— Author Unknown
The Brightest Light
The veil of darkness transformed to the brightest light. The most dreadful end became the most beautiful beginning. The depths of despair fade to reveal hope everlasting. The curse of death defeated by eternal life.
— Author Unknown
Your Radiant and Magnificent Resurrection
Dear Lord Jesus Christ, by Your radiant and magnificent resurrection, You broke the bonds of death and rose from the grave as a conqueror. You reconciled Heaven and earth. Our life had no hope of eternal happiness before You redeemed us. Your resurrection has washed away our sins, restored our innocence, and brought us joy. How inestimable is the tenderness of Your love!
— Saint Gregory the Great
Easter Dinner Prayer
Lord,
As we gather together as family and friends we invite you once again into our lives. May the hope of your resurrection color our days. May the promise of your spirit working in us light up our lives. May the love you revealed to us shape our giving. May the truth in your word guide our journeys, and may the joy of your kingdom fill our homes. As we gather together underneath the banner of your life, we thank you for all the wonderful food that we can now enjoy, and celebrate your glorious resurrection.
Thank you Lord. Amen.
— Author Unknown
Good Friday Prayer
Lord God, Jesus cried out to you on the cross,“Why have you forsaken me?” You seemed so far from his cry and from his distress. Those who stood at the foot of the cross wondered where you were, as they saw Jesus mocked and shamed and killed. Where were you then? Lord God, we, too, ask where you are, when there is trouble and suffering and death, and we cry out to you for help. Be near to us, and save us so that we may praise you for your deliverance. Lord God, we wait, on Friday, for the resurrection of Sunday and sometimes our lives seem a succession of Fridays and we cannot see what is “Good.” Teach us to call your name as Jesus did. Make us to trust in you like little children. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
— Rachel Marie Stone
Easter Morning Prayer
As the world sings triumphant cries to heaven over death that you conquered, help us, Lord, tomorrow as well, when the dresses are put away and the candy is all eaten and on with life we go let us not forget.
The celebration of your resurrection over death is a celebration of life that should continue well beyond the sunrise service and the music, rehearsed for days prior; it is beyond the sign of spring, beyond the lily, beyond new lambs grazing in open fields.
Resurrection is a daily celebration over fear; man's greatest and most powerful enemy. Fear of tomorrow, fear of our yesterdays, fear of what shall become of our young our old our unborn. Resurrection is replacing fear with physical action.
This alone, the most touching and profound of your signs that fear is dead and belief in you brings, not just hope but life.
What better living parable could You have brought? All fear death. All. Even in the garden, You took on our fear if for only moments, it was as real as our fears can be real and You knew then that this single enemy must be destroyed.
And, You sacrificed your life, leaving those who had been comfort, and follower; You left them behind, to conquer fear. I shall cling to this now, and the tomorrows given me. Peace and thanksgiving lifted unto you.
Amen.
— Author Unknown
The Gate of Everlasting Life
Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord’s resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
— Book of Common Prayer, 1979 version
The Resurrection of Your Son
Lord, the resurrection of Your Son has given us new life and renewed hope. Help us to live as new people in pursuit of the Christian ideal. Grant us wisdom to know what we must do, the will to want to do it, the courage to undertake it, the perseverance to continue to do it, and the strength to complete it.
Amy Mitchell is the managing editor at Country Living Magazine. She writes about a wide range of topics, including homes and lifestyle content.
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