A Prayer for Forgiveness (When You Cannot Yet, or Cannot Ask)
Forgiveness is not one prayer. It is a decision you make once and remake for weeks. This one is short enough to keep repeating.
The prayer
Lord Jesus,
I have carried this thing for long enough now, and I do not know how to put it down.
You forgave the ones who put you on the cross while they were still doing it.
I am not there yet. Take me the rest of the way.
If it is on me: give me the courage to say I am sorry, plainly, without a "but".
If it is on them: give me the grace to release them, even if they never say a word.
Do not let this thing turn my heart bitter while I wait.
Amen.
The verse behind it
Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
When to say it
- When their name comes up and your body tightens.
- When you go to text them and stop.
- When you are about to talk to them.
- Every night you cannot sleep because the conversation is still running.
Send it as a film
Some words are easier to send than to say. If you have a hard letter to write and want it to land gently, A Message Written for Them lets us put it in Jesus's voice, with their name in it. You read every line before we make the film.