When letting go feels impossible

Prayers to Forgive Someone Who Hurt You

Forgiveness is easy to admire and brutally hard to do, especially when the wound came from someone close. It is rarely one clean decision; more often it is a decision you remake every time the memory returns. These prayers are for each round of that fight, prayed to the One who forgave from a cross.

A prayer to begin forgiving

Father, You know what was done to me, and You know I have not let it go. Today I am not claiming warm feelings; I am making a decision in Your presence: I choose to forgive. Take the debt I have been holding over them and put it in Your hands, where justice actually lives. I cannot do this without You, which is why I am here. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

A prayer when the anger comes back

Lord, I thought I had forgiven this, and then the memory returned this morning and the anger arrived right behind it. Peter asked how often he had to forgive, and Your answer was more times than anyone wants to count. So here I am, forgiving again, the same person for the same wound. Do not let the bitterness take root back in me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

A prayer for the person who hurt me

Father, You ask me to pray for the ones who have done me wrong, so I am obeying before I feel it. Bless them. Work in their heart the way You are working in mine. If they never admit what they did, I release them to You anyway, because vengeance is Yours, not mine, and carrying it was breaking me, not them. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

A prayer to receive forgiveness myself

Lord, being wounded made me forget that I am also someone who wounds. I have needed forgiveness all my life, from You and from people I have hurt. Thank You for being faithful and just to forgive. Let the mercy You keep showing me become the mercy I show, because forgiven people forgive. Keep my own slate clean before You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

From Scripture

Verses for this prayer

“Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”

Ephesians 4:31-32

Bitterness is something to put away, like taking out what rots. The model and the fuel for forgiving is how God forgave you.

“Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.”

Matthew 18:21-22

Jesus’ arithmetic means: stop counting. Forgiveness for deep wounds is usually repeated, not one-and-done.

“Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Romans 12:19-21

Forgiving does not mean pretending justice does not matter. It means handing the case to the only righteous judge.

“Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.”

Luke 23:34

Prayed from the cross, mid-injury, for people who never apologized. This is the forgiveness that makes ours possible.

Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (KJV), public domain.

Common questions

Questions about this prayer

Does forgiving someone mean I have to trust them again? +

No. Forgiveness releases the debt; trust is rebuilt by changed behavior over time, and reconciliation takes two willing people. You can fully forgive someone and still keep wise boundaries, especially where the harm was serious or ongoing.

What if I do not feel like I have forgiven them? +

Forgiveness is a decision that feelings follow slowly, sometimes by years. If you keep choosing to release the person when the memory surfaces, you are forgiving, whatever your emotions report on a given day. Bring each relapse of anger back to God without shame.

Do I have to tell the person I have forgiven them? +

Not always. If they have asked for forgiveness, telling them is a gift. If they are unaware, unsafe, or no longer living, forgiveness can happen entirely between you and God. The transaction that frees you does not require their participation.

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