# Prayers for Grief, and for Your First Christmas Without Them

Seven honest prayers for your own grief, including the hard weeks of a first Christmas without someone you love, each paired with a verse.

Source: Pray.com — https://www.pray.com/articles/prayer-for-grief  
Author: PRAY.COM  
Category: Prayers  
Published: 2026-11-11  
Last revised: 2026-11-11

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**A prayer for grief can be as short as this: "Lord, I miss them, and I don't know how to carry this. Stay close to me today."** God does not need polished words from a broken heart. The Bible is full of people who prayed through loss with tears, questions and long silences, and Jesus himself wept at a friend's grave. The prayers below are for your own grief, including the hard weeks of a first Christmas without someone you love, and each one is paired with a verse from the World English Bible (WEB).

If you are praying for a friend who is grieving, [Pray.com](https://www.pray.com/) has a separate guide, [Prayers for Someone Who Lost a Loved One](https://www.pray.com/articles/prayer-for-someone-who-lost-a-loved-one).

## How to pray when you are grieving

Start where you are. You don't have to sound hopeful or calm to pray, and you don't have to pretend the loss is smaller than it is. The Psalms include prayers that end without resolution, so an honest prayer is a real prayer.

"Loss," the first session of [Pray.com](https://www.pray.com/)'s Healing Grief meditative prayer series, makes the same point in plain words: "You don't have to pretend everything is alright when it isn't." The session centers on the shortest verse in the Bible and draws a lesson from it: "Jesus knew he would resurrect Lazarus and still he wept." If Jesus grieved with the end of the story already in view, you have permission to grieve too. You can play the five-minute session above.

> "Jesus wept." ([John 11:35](https://www.pray.com/bible/web/john-11/#v35), WEB)

## 1. A prayer for grief when you can't find the words

Some days the only prayer you have is a sigh. Paul says the Holy Spirit prays for us in exactly those moments, with a kind of groaning that never turns into sentences.

*Holy Spirit, I don't know what to ask for. I only know that it hurts. Pray for me where I can't, and carry my groaning to the Father. Let my tears count as prayer today. Amen.*

> > "In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weaknesses, for we don't know how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which can't be uttered."
> >
> > — Romans 8:26, WEB

## 2. A prayer for the waves that come out of nowhere

Grief rarely moves in a straight line. You can be fine at the grocery store until you pass the cereal they always bought, and then you are not fine at all. Those waves don't mean you are going backward.

*Lord, the sadness keeps surprising me. When it hits in a parking lot or in the middle of a meeting, be near me in that exact moment. Heal what is broken in me slowly, at the pace you know is right, and keep me from being ashamed of my tears. Amen.*

> > "He heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds."
> >
> > — Psalm 147:3, WEB

## 3. A prayer when you are angry or full of questions

Many grieving people feel angry with God and then feel guilty for it. David asked God "how long" four times in two verses, and the church kept his prayer in its songbook for three thousand years. God can handle your questions.

*Father, I don't understand why this happened, and part of me is angry with you. I am bringing that to you instead of hiding it. Stay with me in the questions, even the ones you may not answer this side of heaven. Amen.*

> > "How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart every day?"
> >
> > — Psalm 13:1-2, WEB

## 4. A prayer for the nights you can't sleep

Night is often the hardest stretch. The house is quiet, the phone has stopped ringing, and the mind replays the last weeks over and over.

*Lord, you see me awake again. Quiet my mind and slow my breathing. Keep me safe through this night, and give me enough rest to face tomorrow. Amen.*

> > "In peace I will both lay myself down and sleep, for you alone, LORD, make me live in safety."
> >
> > — Psalm 4:8, WEB

## 5. A prayer for your first Christmas without them

The first holiday season after a death can feel like a test you never studied for. The ornaments they picked out, the recipe only they made and the songs on every store speaker all point to the empty chair. It is fine to change traditions this year, to keep some and skip others, or to leave early. Tell the people around you what you need.

*Lord Jesus, you came into a dark world as a light, and this Christmas feels very dark to me. Thank you for the years I had with the one I'm missing. Help me hold the memories gently, and give me grace for each gathering, each song and each quiet evening. Let me find you in this season even if I can't find much joy in it yet. Amen.*

> > "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn't overcome it."
> >
> > — John 1:5, WEB

## 6. A prayer for the empty chair at the table

Some families set a candle at the table or say the person's name before the meal. Small acts like these give grief a place in the room, which is often easier than pretending it isn't there.

*Father, there is an empty place at our table, and we all feel it. Comfort each person here in the way they need, the ones who want to talk and the ones who can't. Teach us to comfort one another with the comfort you give us. Amen.*

> > "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."
> >
> > — 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, WEB

## 7. A prayer of hope in the resurrection

Christian hope does not cancel grief. Paul tells the church in Thessalonica that believers grieve, and that they grieve with hope, because Jesus rose from the dead.

*Lord Jesus, you are the resurrection and the life. When I picture the future without the one I love, remind me that you have the last word over death. Hold my loved one in your mercy, hold me in my sorrow, and keep that hope alive in me until the day you wipe away every tear. Amen.*

> > "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus."
> >
> > — 1 Thessalonians 4:14, WEB

## When grief needs more than prayer

Prayer and the help of other people belong together. Tell your pastor or a trusted friend what you are carrying, and ask about a grief group; many churches host one, especially in the months around the holidays. If the weight isn't lifting after many months, or you can't eat, sleep or work, a licensed counselor can help, and a Christian counselor can pray with you as well. If you ever have thoughts of ending your life, call or text 988 in the United States to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, any hour of the day.

The Healing Grief session ends with a line worth keeping close: "don't forget you are not alone." For more Scripture to lean on, see [6 Comforting Bible Verses After the Loss of a Loved One](https://www.pray.com/articles/6-comforting-bible-verses-after-the-loss-of-a-loved-one) and [Bible Verses About Comfort](https://www.pray.com/articles/bible-verses-about-comfort).

## A short prayer to say each morning

*God of all comfort, I am still grieving, and that is all right with you. Give me what I need for today and nothing I can't carry. Be near me in the hard moments, send me people who will sit with me, and keep my hope fixed on you. In Jesus' name, Amen.*

## More to read and hear on [Pray.com](https://www.pray.com/)

- ["Loss" | Healing Grief on ](https://www.pray.com/series/healing-grief/719ac8e0-f963-11eb-b8b0-95d541728ff2/) [Pray.com](https://www.pray.com/)
- [Healing Grief meditative prayer series](https://www.pray.com/series/healing-grief/)
- [Prayers for Someone Who Lost a Loved One](https://www.pray.com/articles/prayer-for-someone-who-lost-a-loved-one)
- [Advent Prayers to Prepare for Christmas](https://www.pray.com/articles/advent-prayers-to-prepare-for-christmas)

*AI-assisted from **[Pray.com](https://www.pray.com/)** episode transcripts, then reviewed and approved by Ryan Beck.*