A Short Prayer to Ask God to Heal You Immediately After Realizing They Didn’t Really Love You
Grief can make us feel used, but grief can bring healing when we turn to God. Rebecca Simon, author of Finding God Every Dayshows how His love restores hearts, through the prayer below.
God,
I wanted so badly to believe that what we had was real. I wanted to believe that the depth, the intensity, the shared dream, had roots. I wanted to believe that I meant something. But I can see it clearly now, and it hurts in a way I can’t express.
They liked the attention, not me.
They loved being needed. They loved having someone to message. They like to be loved, chased, wanted. They never sit for me. Actually, they never chose me. It was the feeling of being wanted that kept them close, it was not at all the heart that I freely gave to them, it was not about the love that I was willing to give them.
God, I know I should be grateful for this clarity, but right now it feels like grief. The sadness I thought I was building with someone. The sadness of the times I thought were compact and solid. The grief of being in danger poured into them, thinking that I was safe. I feel like a fool. I feel abandoned. I feel like my heart was just a mirror they looked into to correct themselves, not a place they intended to live.
I need you now, God. Meet me in my broken hope. I met the pain that tried to convince me that I was only lovable for what I had to offer, not who I am. Remind me that this is not the full story. Remind me that being used doesn’t mean I’m doomed, that being left behind doesn’t mean I don’t deserve something soft and kind. Remind me that someone’s inability to love me well does not take away the fact that I am still deeply, completely, and unconditionally loved by you.
Help me get the bitterness out of my heart before it stops, God. Help me resist the urge to harden my feelings, to promise myself that I will never care like that again. I don’t want to be closed, God. I don’t want to build walls around myself that prevent love from entering my life. I want to heal. I want to grow up. I want to believe that true love still exists. I want to trust the kind of connection that lasts, the kind of connection that lasts, the kind of connection that chooses me – not because it feels good in the moment, but because it’s built into something deeper, something simple.
Thank you for showing me the truth even if it hurts God. Thank you for saving me from building my world with something that never happened. Thank you for reminding me that attention is not the same as love, and that infatuation is not the same as love.
Until the right love finds me, until love like yours hits my life – help me be gentle with myself, God. Help me stay soft. Help me remember that even this heartbreak makes me a stronger person, a kinder person, a person who can still choose love again, again, without fear, despite everything.
Amen.
