Prayers for broken trust and betrayal
Some wounds come from the very people who taught you to pray. A pastor you trusted. A church that was supposed to be safe. When that trust breaks, it can feel like the ground between you and God broke with it.
These prayers don’t ask you to pretend it didn’t happen, and they don’t ask you to hurry. They put words to the betrayal and hand it to the One who never broke faith with you.
Start here
When your parents let you down
Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me. Psalm 27:10 (NIV)
Lord, even if my own family forsakes me, You receive me. When those closest to me have betrayed my trust, You welcome me with open arms.
Change any words that don’t fit, or stop at the one line that’s true today. More on this one.
All 26 prayers for betrayal
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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The God of All Comfort
When you need real comfort
Father of compassion, God of all comfort, I come to You with a heart broken by betrayal.
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In Him All Things Hold Together
When your faith feels like it is falling apart
Lord Jesus, when betrayal has shattered my world, I hold onto this truth: in You all things hold together.
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Rooted in Love
When you need to feel loved again
Father, after betrayal has uprooted me, I ask You to root and establish me in Your love.
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A High Priest Who Understands
When you think God cannot understand
Lord Jesus, You understand the pain of betrayal.
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Never Forsaken
When you are afraid God will leave too
Lord, even when people have betrayed and forsaken me, You never will.
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God Is My Salvation
When you are afraid to trust again
God, You are my salvation when human saviors have failed me.
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Perfect Peace
When your mind will not stop replaying it
Lord, after betrayal has shattered my peace, I ask You to keep me in perfect peace.
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God Longs to Be Gracious
When you are still waiting on God
Lord, You long to be gracious to me.
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Trust in the Lord
When you trusted someone and it broke
Lord, I have learned the danger of trusting in humans alone.
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Forgiveness
When you cannot forgive yet
Father, forgiveness feels impossible after what was done to me.
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Trust With All Your Heart
When you do not know who to trust
Lord, after my trust has been broken by people, I choose to trust in You with all my heart.
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Fear of Man is a Snare
When you fear what people will think
Lord, fear of people has ensnared me after being hurt by them.
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Shield Around Me
When people talk about you behind your back
Lord, many have risen against me, but You are a shield around me.
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In the Presence of Enemies
When you have to face the ones who hurt you
Lord, You prepare a table before me in the presence of those who have betrayed me.
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When Parents Forsake Me
When your parents let you down
Lord, even if my own family forsakes me, You receive me.
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Do Not Drag Me Away
When people who seemed good hurt you
Lord, protect me from those who speak kindly but harbor malice.
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Never Be Put to Shame
When you were humiliated in front of people
Lord, I have taken refuge in You.
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What Can Man Do
When you are afraid of what they can do
Lord, those who should have protected me have harmed me instead.
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Under Your Wings
When you need to hide until it passes
Lord, have mercy on me.
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Under His Wings
When you need to feel safe again
Lord, You cover me with Your feathers.
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Rise Up Against the Wicked
When nobody stood up for you
Lord, who will rise up for me against those who have wronged me?
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My Help Comes From the Lord
When you do not know where help comes from
Lord, my help comes from You, the Maker of heaven and earth.
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Cannot Be Shaken
When you need something solid to stand on
Lord, those who trust in You are like Mount Zion, unshakable.
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Do Not Put Trust in Princes
When a leader you believed in let you down
Lord, I learned the hard way not to put my trust in human leaders who cannot save.
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God Works for Good
When you cannot see any good in it
Lord, I trust that in all things—even this betrayal—You are working for my good.
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Watch Out for Deceivers
When you are learning who is safe
Lord, help me watch out for those who cause divisions and teach contrary to Your word.
Questions people ask
Is it wrong to still be angry at a church?
No. The psalms are full of people saying exactly that to God, out loud, and none of those pages were removed. Anger at people who did real damage is not a sin to confess. What the prayers here try to do is give it somewhere to go other than round and round in your own head.
Do I have to forgive them to move on?
Not today, and not on anyone else's schedule. Forgiveness in scripture is never described as pretending it did not happen or deciding it did not matter. If you are not there, the prayer for that is here too, and it says so honestly rather than rushing you.
Can I trust God if I cannot trust his people?
That is the question underneath most of these prayers, and it deserves a better answer than a slogan. Several of them separate the two on purpose: the people who broke faith with you are not the same as the One who did not.
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: 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 , Colossians 1:15-17 , Ephesians 3:14-21 , Hebrews 4:15-16 , Hebrews 13:1-6 , Isaiah 12:2-4 , Isaiah 26:3-4 , and Jeremiah 17:5-8 .
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 when you are angry, prayers for grief and despair or prayers for loneliness. And if all you can manage today is a single sentence, that counts. God has never graded prayers by length.