A Prayer to Forgive Someone Who Hurt Me

Father, the hurt is still fresh, and even saying their name makes my jaw tighten. What they did to me was real, and pretending it did not wound me has only buried the ache deeper.

I confess I have rehearsed the conversation a hundred times, sharpening my reply, keeping the offense alive because letting it go feels like saying it did not matter.

But carrying this is exhausting me. I do not want it living in my body anymore, this clenched, watchful anger. So I bring the whole of it to You, the wrong they did and the part of me that wants them to suffer for it.

You forgave me when I had no right to it, and You ask me to extend the same mercy I have received. Help me obey even when my feelings drag behind. Forgiveness does not mean what they did was fine. It means I am handing the debt to You.

Guard me from bitterness taking root where this wound is. Soften what has gone hard in me.

I release them, not because they earned it, but because You set me free first. Carry what I am finally putting down. Amen.