Prayers for when you are angry
Anger is one of the most honest prayers there is. The psalms are full of it, spoken straight to God’s face, and God kept every one of those pages.
You don’t have to cool down before you come. These prayers give the anger somewhere true to go.
Start here
When you say things you regret
My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. James 1:19-20 (NIV)
Lord, help me be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. I know that my anger does not produce the righteousness You desire. Give me Your patience and self-control.
Change any words that don’t fit, or stop at the one line that’s true today. More on this one.
All 4 prayers for anger
Each one pairs a passage with a short prayer. Find the line that matches where you actually are, rather than where you think you should be.
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Throne of Grace
When you are angry and still want to pray
Jesus, You understand my anger and frustration.
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Slow to Anger
When you say things you regret
Lord, help me be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.
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Patient in Understanding
When your temper is running your day
Lord, I confess I have been quick-tempered.
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Self-Control
When you want to say what you really think
Father, I want the strength that comes from self-control, not the destruction that comes from unchecked rage.
Questions people ask
Is it a sin to be angry at God?
Scripture is full of people doing it. Job, Jeremiah, David, the psalms of lament. God answers them, sometimes sharply, but never for the crime of being angry. Anger brought to God is a form of still talking to him.
What if I say something I regret?
Say it anyway. God is not fragile and is not learning anything new about you. Several prayers here are deliberately blunt, because a prayer you have edited into politeness is usually a prayer you are not actually praying.
The passages behind these prayers
Some of these come up again and again, in more than one kind of hard day. Each passage has its own page with what was going on when it was written, and what it does not claim: Hebrews 4:15-16 .
When the words still won’t come
Sometimes what you’re carrying doesn’t fit one category. You might also find what you need in prayers for broken trust and betrayal or prayers for doubt. And if all you can manage today is a single sentence, that counts. God has never graded prayers by length.