By Dorri Partain

It’s a popular prayer that won’t be found printed in any prayer book or Bible.

“My Kitchen Prayer” has instead been copied many times in church cookbooks and printed onto various plates, plaques and trivets, to the point that the original author would appear to be anonymous.

The author, M. Peterson, did copyright their composition in 1944, as very early prayer plaques show the name, date, and copyright mark. But either the copyright expired or the prayer has since been plagiarized to the point that anyone feels they have the right to copy and use it without checking for the copyright.

The early copyrighted prayer plaques had a blank space at the top left corner where a picture or photo could be attached, such as an image of Jesus. Those versions also include the Bible verse from Job 23:12, “I have listened to the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.”

Written as four stanzas, many plaques do not include the complete prayer, only using the first stanza and then any combination of the last three – the plaque shown here omits the third stanza.

The complete poem reads as follows:

God bless my little kitchen, I love its every nook, 
And bless me as I do my work, wash pots and pans and cook.
And may the meals that I prepare be seasoned from above,
With thy great blessing but most of all thy love.
As we partake of earthly food, the table for us spread,
We’ll not forget to thank thee who gives us daily bread.
So bless my little kitchen, God, and those who enter in,
May they find naught but joy and peace, and happiness therein.
Amen

This popular style of plaque was created using plaster of paris and a reusable mold. After being spray-painted gold, the details were painted using car model paints. A date written in pencil on the back shows it was completed on July 8, 1973.