Prayers and Scripture
Prayers for forgiveness
Whether you are seeking forgiveness or struggling to give it, this is holy and difficult ground. God's mercy is deeper than your failures and wider than your wounds.
These verses speak of a God who forgives fully and asks us to do the same. Receive grace, and extend it.
A prayer for forgiveness
Father, I come to you carrying both my own failures and the hurts others have caused me. I confess my sins, and I thank you that you are faithful and just to forgive me and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Wash away my guilt, and remove my sins as far as the east is from the west. Let me truly receive your mercy instead of punishing myself with shame. And where I am holding on to bitterness, give me the grace to forgive as you have forgiven me. I cannot do this in my own strength, so soften my heart and free me from the weight of every grudge. Help me to be kind and tenderhearted, releasing what I have wanted to hold against others. Thank you for delighting in mercy. Let your forgiveness flow through me, and make me whole. Amen.
Bible verses about forgiveness
These passages are drawn from the King James Version. Read them slowly, and let them shape your own prayers.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:9
“And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”
Ephesians 4:32
“Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.”
Colossians 3:13
“For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:”
Matthew 6:14
“As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.”
Psalms 103:12
“Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.”
Micah 7:18
You do not need the perfect words to bring forgiveness to God. Pray the words above as they are, or let them be a starting point for your own. He hears the honest prayer, and he is near to everyone who calls on him. Return to this page whenever you need to, and pray as often as your heart needs.
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