“Dear Lord, we thank you for this food that we're about to receive.”

English Lesson: Dear Lord, we thank you for this food that we're about to receive.

You and your family are having a Thanksgiving day meal together. You've been asked to say a blessing before everyone starts eating. This is how you start it.

Dear Lord, we thank you for this food that we're about to receive.

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(someone) is about to (do something)

"You're about to ___" means "You're going to ___ soon". Here are some examples with "about to":

I'm about to lose my temper with you.

It looks like they're about to begin. Why don't we go find a seat.

Oh, hi Charles. I was just about to call you.

receive (something)

To "receive" something basically means to get it from someone.

We received over a hundred submissions.

The word "receive" is pretty formal. It's used in official documents or in business communication. In normal conversation, "get" is more common:

We got over a hundred submissions.

"Receive" is often used in a pair with the word "give" - there's a famous saying "It's better to give than to receive."

Dear Lord,

This is a common way to start a prayer in English, especially among Protestant (non-Catholic) Christians.

Other common ways to start a prayer include:

Lord,

Dear God,

Dear Father,

O Father,

Heavenly Father,

(I/we) thank you for (something)

This is a very formal way to thank someone. It is commonly used in prayers. For example:

Lord, I thank you for all the gifts that you have given me.

Another situation in which you might use "we thank you" is in a formal note to your employees or coworkers at work, like this:

We thank you sincerely for all of the hard work that you have done.