Five forgiveness prayers in the spirit of Corrie ten Boom — for forgiving the unforgivable, the hiding place of God's love, releasing bitterness from concentration camp trauma, the power God gives to forgive, and trusting God's love in the darkest places.
Get a Personal Prayer Written by AI →O God, I come before You with a wound that seems impossible to forgive. Someone has treated me with cruelty, has violated my dignity, has caused me profound pain. The natural response of my heart is anger, the desire for justice, the refusal to forgive. Yet You have commanded me to forgive, and You call me to follow the example of Jesus who forgave those who crucified Him. Grant me grace to forgive what seems unforgivable. Grant me to understand that forgiveness is not dependent on the perpetrator deserving it or asking for it, but is rooted in my obedience to You and my commitment to be free from the poison of unforgiveness. Grant me to see that holding unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. The poison destroys me far more than it affects them. Grant me to make the conscious choice to forgive, knowing that feelings will follow obedience. Grant me to forgive not in my own strength but by calling on Your Spirit to work forgiveness through me. Grant me to understand that forgiveness does not mean minimizing what happened or approving of the evil, but rather releasing my bitterness and entrusting justice and healing to You. Grant me to forgive so that I might be free. Amen.
Eternal God, I find myself in a dark place where I cannot escape, where evil surrounds me, where my circumstances seem hopeless. Grant me to find a hiding place in You. Not escape from this place physically, but the deeper hiding place of Your love and protection—a place where even in the depths of darkness, I am held safe in Your hands. Just as You were present with those imprisoned and suffering, be present with me now. Grant me to know that though my outer circumstances are dark, my inner life can be illuminated by Your presence. Grant me to experience that reality of which Jesus spoke—that the darkness has not overcome the light, that Your love is stronger than hatred, that Your grace is sufficient even in the concentration camps of life. Grant me to find joy even amid sorrow, peace even amid suffering, hope even amid despair. Grant me to not merely endure my circumstances but to find in them a deeper encounter with You. Grant me to discover that the hiding place in You is more real, more permanent, more sustaining than the temporary refuge of any earthly location. Let my life be a testimony that God's love cannot be destroyed by evil circumstances, that His peace can prevail even when everything seems lost. Let me rest in the hiding place You provide. Amen.
God of healing, I carry within me the weight of resentment from wounds I have endured. I have been treated unjustly, and unforgiveness has taken root like a cancer in my soul. Grant me to release this bitterness. I acknowledge that holding onto resentment seems like power—power to keep the perpetrator accountable, power to deny them my forgiveness. Yet I see now that this supposed power is actually a prison, binding me to the past, poisoning my present, threatening my future. Grant me to genuinely let go, to consciously release my grievance, to say to You, "I give this to You. I release my need for revenge. I release my demand that they suffer as I have suffered." Grant me to understand that forgiveness is not weakness but profound strength. Grant me to forgive not for their sake but for my own, to be free from the bitterness that has held me captive. Grant me to see that in forgiving, I am following the path of Christ, the One who bore the ultimate injustice yet did not hold onto resentment. Grant me to forgive so completely that bitterness no longer has a hold on me. Grant me to move forward, not dragging the weight of unforgiveness, but walking freely into whatever future You have for me. Amen.
Almighty God, I confess that I do not have within myself the power to forgive the wounds I have received. My heart cries out for justice, my flesh wants to hold a grudge, my pride refuses to release the one who harmed me. Yet I know that You have commanded me to forgive, and You never command us to do what is impossible. Therefore, I ask You to work Your grace in me. Grant me the supernatural power to forgive that can only come from Your Spirit. I cannot manufacture this forgiveness in myself; it must be worked in me by You. As I consciously choose to forgive, grant that Your Spirit would work in me to make this choice real, to transform my resentful heart into a forgiving heart, to give me power I do not possess in myself. Grant me to witness in my own life the miracle of transformed anger into compassion, of hate into love, of bitterness into peace. Grant me to experience the power of Your grace as it overcomes my natural inclinations and produces in me the fruit of the Spirit. Grant me to be a living testimony to others that forgiveness is possible, not because humans are naturally forgiving, but because God's grace is infinitely powerful. Let me be a vessel through which Your forgiveness flows into the world. Amen.
O God, when all seems lost, when I have experienced the worst of human evil, when circumstances seem to mock the existence of Your love, grant me to trust that You love me. Not based on my feelings, not dependent on my circumstances, not earned by my goodness—grant me to trust in Your love as a fundamental reality. Grant me to know that even in the concentration camp of suffering, You have not abandoned me. Even when I cannot feel Your presence, grant me to believe in it. Even when the darkness seems complete, grant me to remember the light I have experienced and to trust that it is not extinguished, only hidden momentarily. Grant me to understand that Your love is not the sentimental feeling of a distant God but the deep commitment of One who entered into human suffering, who became human, who died for me. This God who loved me that much will not cease to love me in my darkest hour. Grant me to run to You in my pain, not away from You; to believe that You care more about my suffering than I do. Grant me to find in Your arms not the absence of pain—pain may remain—but the presence of One who suffers with me, who holds me, who will not let me go. Grant me to finish my course with the conviction that though I have tasted evil, I have tasted Your love more deeply, and in the end, Your love will triumph. Amen.
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Download Free on the App Store →Corrie ten Boom (1892–1983) was a Dutch Christian woman whose family sheltered Jewish people during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. Her father Casper, a watchmaker, and her family risked everything to hide refugees in a secret room ("the hiding place") built into their home. The family's courageous work eventually led to their arrest. Corrie, her sister Betsie, and her father were imprisoned; her father and sister died in the camps, while Corrie survived the horrors of the Ravensbrück concentration camp to become one of the twentieth century's most powerful witnesses to the possibility of forgiveness.
What makes Corrie ten Boom's faith distinctive is not merely her courage in hiding Jewish refugees—though that was remarkable—but her testimony of forgiveness toward her torturers. She endured brutal treatment, witnessed the death of her beloved sister Betsie, and experienced the dehumanization of the concentration camp. Yet after liberation, instead of nursing her wounds in bitterness, she traveled the world proclaiming the message of God's love and forgiveness. Her famous encounter with one of her former guards—a meeting where he approached her after she had spoken about forgiveness, and she had to consciously choose to forgive him and pray God's love into his heart—became emblematic of her entire message.
Central to Corrie's theology is her teaching that forgiveness is not a feeling but a choice and an act of obedience. She emphasized repeatedly that we cannot forgive in our own strength but must ask God to work forgiveness through us. She taught that forgiveness does not mean the perpetrator was right or that what happened was acceptable, but rather that we release our bitterness and entrust justice to God. Her life demonstrated that while the wounds of trauma may remain, forgiveness leads to freedom—freedom from the poison of resentment, freedom to move forward, freedom to serve God and others.
Corrie's concept of "the hiding place" encompasses both the literal safe room where her family hid Jewish refugees and the spiritual truth that believers can find a hiding place in God's love even in the darkest circumstances. She believed and lived out the conviction that God's love is not destroyed by evil circumstances, that His grace is sufficient even in concentration camps, and that His presence can bring peace even when external circumstances are beyond our control. Her prayers teach us that forgiveness is possible not because humans are naturally forgiving but because God's grace is infinitely powerful, and that trusting in God's love is not naivety but the deepest realism about reality and our place in God's hands.
Corrie ten Boom endured horrific brutality in the Ravensbrück concentration camp, where she witnessed her sister Betsie's death. Yet after the war, she forgave her torturers and dedicated her life to sharing the message of forgiveness and God's love. Her famous encounter with a former camp guard—where she had to consciously choose to forgive him and pray God's love into his heart—demonstrates the cost and reality of genuine forgiveness.
The Hiding Place refers both to the secret room her family used to hide Jews during the Nazi occupation and, more spiritually, to finding refuge in God's love and protection. Corrie taught that even in the darkest circumstances, believers can find a hiding place in God—not escape from difficulty but protection and peace amid it. God's love becomes the hiding place where even concentration camp prisoners can find peace.
Corrie taught that forgiveness is not a feeling but a choice and an act of obedience to God. She emphasized that we cannot forgive in our own strength but must ask God to work forgiveness through us. She demonstrated that forgiveness does not mean minimizing evil or forgetting what happened, but rather releasing bitterness and trusting God with justice. Her life proved that forgiveness, though costly, leads to freedom and healing.