A Prayer Through a Divorce

Lord, I never thought I would be praying this prayer. Whatever brought me here — the parts that were done to me and the parts I would do differently — You know it all, and You have not turned away from me.

This is a grief with paperwork. A death that no one sends flowers for. I am mourning a marriage, a future, and a version of my life that ended, and I need You to sit with me in that.

Give me wisdom for the decisions I can't avoid — the lawyers, the house, the money, the schedules and the signatures. Help me be fair when I am tired, and calm when I am provoked.

If children are watching all of this, protect their hearts most of all. Help me never make them carry what is not theirs, and give them the security of at least one thing that does not change: being loved.

Guard me from bitterness, Lord. Not today, maybe — today I am just surviving — but over the long run, keep my heart from hardening.

And remind me, on the worst days, that my life is not over. You are the God who makes a way in the wilderness. Make one for me.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

When to Pray This

Pray this at any stage — when the word "divorce" is first spoken, in the long legal middle, or after the final papers are signed. Walking through this with a counselor or a trusted pastor is wise, not weak; God often does His comforting through them.

A Verse to Hold On To

"Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert." — Isaiah 43:19 (KJV)