Prayers on the subject of anger

Lord God, please forgive me when I have not used self-control in dealing with my anger. In my life and in the lives of those I love, please bring healing and restoration to the areas which have been damaged or hurt because of anger. Search my heart! Speak to me! Help me become still when my emotions feel out of control. Help me not to sin in my anger, but use this energy instead to work through problems in a constructive way. In the powerful name of Jesus. Amen.

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Lord Jesus, there is anger in my heart and I cannot root it out. I know that I should calm down and offer the hurt and disappointment to You but my emotion is running away with me. Help me to think of ways to deal with my feelings creatively; give me peace of heart as well as mind. Let me learn from this experience and grow into a better human being. Amen.

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Many Psalms express anger. Psalms Now is an excellent collection of the psalms on this and other themes rewritten for contemporary use.

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The following prayer is a now defunct website called The Angry Prayer Project.

An Angry Prayer for Somebody with a Terminal Illness    (Based on Psalm 31)

In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge from this disease that is ravaging my body; deliver me from this pain and humiliation into your righteousness. Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock, a strong fort around me as my muscles fail,

I cannot control my own bodily functions anymore and I feel so vulnerable. Lead and guide me through this period when others must tend to my every need and I must endure never ending indignity.

Free me from the trap that is set for me Into your hands I commit my spirit, O LORD, the God of truth. My heart is filled with resentment at those who cling to worthless idols like money or sex or power but enjoy perfect health while I trust in the LORD and I am plunged into the depths of this illness.

I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul. You have not handed me over to death yet,   you have set my feet in a spacious place. Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief.

My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because my bones grow weak. My co-workers are afraid of saying something wrong so they say nothing at all; I am a horror to my friends– those who see me on the street flee from me because they fear the answer to the question, “How are you doing?” I am forgotten, as if I were dead; I have become like a hard drive in a broken computer, I have all this stored knowledge but no one will access it because it’s too much trouble, it’s easier to plug in a new friend and start over.

But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.” My calender is in your hands; deliver me from my enemy, my disease, whatever that means. Shine on me, like the Sun that threatens me. Is justice too much to ask for?

How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who love you and respect you, which you bestow on those who take refuge in you. In the shelter of your presence, hide me from the failures of my friends; keep me safe from hurtful tongues.

Praise be to the LORD, for he showed his wonderful love. In my alarm I said, “I am cut off from your sight!” Yet you heard my cry for mercy when I called for help. Even in my despair I knew you could hear me.

Love the LORD, all the saints! The LORD preserves the faithful, the proud God pays back in full. Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.

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