This bedtime prayer is for the end of a day when a relationship is still broken, strained or waiting to be mended. It helps you hand the hurt, the silence and the hoped-for reconciliation to God before you sleep. You can pray it word for word as it is written below, or use it as a starting point and speak more plainly in your own words.
Bedtime Prayer for Restored Relationships
Lord, the day is ending and I am bringing You the people I have not been able to reach. I think of the friend who stopped returning my calls, the sibling I have not spoken to since the argument, and the one whose words still sting when I replay them in the dark. I am tired of carrying these things around in my head. Tonight I set them down in Your hands, because I cannot fix them by myself.
Father, You know what I could not say well today. You know what I regret, what I meant to say differently, and what I still hope for them. Where I have been wrong, give me the humility to admit it and the courage to take the first step when the time is right. Where I have been hurt, soften my heart so bitterness does not take root while I sleep. Give me patience to wait without rushing, and wisdom to know what to say when the door opens.
Reach into the places I cannot reach. Speak to the other person tonight, whether they are thinking of me or have closed their heart for now. Heal what has been broken, and make a way for trust to return slowly and honestly. Keep us both safe through the night, and let me wake with a little more hope than I went to sleep with. Thank You for being a God who restores what sin and time have damaged. Amen.
A Shorter Version to Pray in a Moment
Lord, I hand You the relationship that is hurting me tonight. I confess my part in it and ask You to forgive me, and I ask You to soften the other person’s heart as You are softening mine. Guard us both while we sleep, and give me peace until the morning. Let me trust You with what I cannot yet repair. Amen.
Scriptures to Pray Alongside
Romans 12:18
If it is possible, as much as it is up to you, be at peace with all men.
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Pray this verse as a request for your own part in the relationship. Ask God to show you what is yours to do, and to give you the grace to do it without demanding that the other person meet you halfway first.
Matthew 5:23-24
23 “If therefore you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
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Use this passage to examine your heart before God. Ask Him whether there is a wrong you have not yet owned, and whether there is a step toward reconciliation He is nudging you to take.
Psalm 147:3
He heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds.
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Bring the wounds of the relationship to God in this verse. Thank Him that He is the healer, and ask Him to tend both the hurt you feel and the hurt you may have caused.
Ephesians 4:32
And be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you.
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Pray this verse when kindness feels hard. Ask God to make you tender toward the person you are struggling with, and to remind you that you were forgiven before you ever deserved it.
Colossians 3:13
Bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do.
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Let this verse shape your prayer for patience and forgiveness. Ask God to help you bear with the other person’s flaws as He has borne with yours, and to release the grievance you have been holding.
How to Pray This Prayer
Pray this prayer at the end of the day, once the lights are low and before you reach for your phone or fall asleep. Sitting on the edge of your bed with a hand resting open on your lap can help your body settle as your mind slows. If the day has been full of conflict, you might write the person’s name on a slip of paper and place it on your nightstand as a visible reminder that you have handed them over to God.
If you share a home with someone in the relationship, or if a spouse, parent or close friend knows the situation, invite them to pray the prayer with you or over you. Hearing another believer ask God for reconciliation can strengthen your resolve and remind you that you are not alone in the work of mending what is broken.
A Blessing to Close
May the Lord who keeps watch over His people keep watch over this relationship tonight. May He grant rest to the weary heart, mercy to the one who has failed, and patience to the one who is waiting. May His peace settle over the house and the heart, and may the morning bring a fresh and gentle beginning.
