5 Verses to Pray When You Are Angry
For the last few weeks, I’ve felt the Lord nudging me to write verses and prayers post about anger. I kept trying to push the thought aside.
It’s just so much more fun to write about hope and give you a feel-good pep talk. But it seemed each time I prayed about what I should write … God whispered the word anger to my heart.
It makes sense.
Everyone wants to believe their anger is “righteous.” We love to use verses that say Jesus was angry to justify emotional outbursts.
And that’s true but…
Mark 3:5 begins –
Jesus was angry as He looked around at them,
and it continues with –
but at the same time, He felt sorry for them because they were so stubborn and wrong.
Anger is an emotion. There will be times when you and I get angry. It’s a given!
But…
God’s Word has a lot to say about how you and I speak and act when that emotion begins to boil over.
It’s okay to be angry. It’s not okay to be cruel when we’re angry.
So, I’m going to God in prayer…
5 Verses to Pray When You Are Angry
1 Thessalonians 5:9
For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out His anger on us. (NLT)
Father, Your Word tells us evil, injustice … sin makes You angry. Yet, it also tells us of Your love, grace, and mercy. Thank you for Jesus and for Your undeserved forgiveness. Amen.
Psalm 4:4
Don’t sin by letting anger control you. Think about it overnight and remain silent. (NLT)
Father, You understand anger. I believe You want me to be angry about evil, injustice, and sin but you don’t want me to sin when I’m angry. Like You, may I let love be the force that guides me. Please forgive me for the times I’ve hurt someone through angry words or actions. By the power of Your Spirit, grant me the gift of patience that I might come to You in prayer when I’m angry asking for Your guidance that I might know how to address the issue without adding to the problem. Help me, Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.
Proverbs 15:1
A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare.
Father, give me a gentle answer that comes from a tender heart when my temper rises and my mind fills with the unkind words I’d like to speak. Please help me remember to put the relationships ahead of being right. Help me respond gently and forgive quickly. Help me love like You. Amen.
Ephesians 4:26
And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.
Father, it’s sometimes hard to remember that I don’t have to allow my emotions to control me. Feelings are a gift from You and so many of them help us enjoy the experiences of life. Things like love, happiness, and enthusiasm. But then there is also fear, hate, and grief. Those feelings introduced when sin entered the world. Satan still tempts us with doubt. Please forgive my failures and help me defeat the enemy by overcoming anger with love. On my own, I can’t … but with You, I can do anything even let go of anger.
James 1:19–21
Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.
Father, I’m sorry. Make me quick to listen and slow to speak … I fail so often. Slow me down when anger rises. Please help me. Fill my heart and mind with Your truth. Please defeat the enemy’s efforts to distort Your Word and divide Your children. Teach us, Lord, by the power of Your Spirit. Keep me focused on You, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. You are my hope and my salvation. I surrender this day to You. With your help, I believe I can handle anger ways that honor You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Oh, friends, it’s hard, isn’t it?!
I don’t want to stop to think or slow down to pray when I’m angry. I want to vent and let everyone know exactly how they’ve upset and offended me.
But then I read…
Control your temper, for anger labels you a fool. Ecclesiastes 7:9
Ouch!
I’m ready to give up the “fool” label. You too?!
With God’s help, we can do this.
What do you do to avoid foolish temper flares?
Hey there Deb, Happy Friday! I so appreciate this post on controlling anger through prayer. And I appreciate this week’s features as well. I’ve already read one or two of them. 🙂 Thanks so much for hosting, my friend! Have a great week in the Lord with Rev.
With so much going on in our world right now, it’s all too easy to become angry. But you’re exactly right, Deb – anger is a dividing factor, not a unifying one. Thank you for showing us it’s not the anger itself that is bad, it’s how we deal with it, putting love for God and others first.
Blessings, and happy weekend!
Quick to listen and slow to speak…how many times I’ve wrestled with this! Thanks for these challenges Deb, and for the feature today. Hugs!
Thanks for listening to the Lord on this one, Deb. With so much anger swirling around us, it’s important that we put Jesus on display by our responses.
On my own, I can’t but with you, I can let go of anger. That’s the beauty of the God we serve, giving new meaning to I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
My word lately has been – Grace. I totally understand when God keeps dropping a word into your heart. Your subject of anger seems to go right along with my personal theme of Grace, thank you for being obedient to His nudge, I don’t think we realize just how much He uses us to speak into the lives of others!
Thank you for the feature, Deb! You bless me! What do I do to avoid foolish temper flairs? I wait. If I’m angry, I try to keep my mouth shut until I’ve had some time to cool down.
Yes, well I never knew I had a temper til I got married (read: no longer got my own way…) – Ha! Of course, it wasn’t funny to my husband ! Yes, always listen to God. Well done and I’ll share just in case someone else discovered her temper when she got married. (:
Thank you Deb for this brilliant Post on Anger. I am blessed reading it. It’s such a great reminder. Happy Weekend to you!
Deb, Thank you for such a great post! My post this week was about defeating thoughts using scripture. These verses you provided are good ones to have on hand when we find ourselves angry!
I also want to thank you for featuring one of my posts today. I was completely surprised when I got on to link up this week’s post only to find a graphic of last week’s post. It took me a minute or two to figure out what was going on….LOL! I have been reading your blog since joining By His Grace Bloggers and I am completely humbled that you chose my post. You have no idea what an encouragement that is to me! THANK YOU!
I hate to admit it I have allowed anger to control on a few occasions, and yes, it led to sin. It is not something I am proud of. I have also allowed anger to fuel me for good and took active steps to improve a situation. I have even found a little anger helped me to do what was right when I wanted just to do what felt good or relieved someones pain. They needed the pain to move forward. Thank you for the key verses and wise words.
I was talking to my small group today about this very thing, Deb. I always turn to the Lord when I feel anger and He is so good to calm my heart and give me perspective–more often about my own heart than my offenders! 😉 Thanks so much for the shout out about my post last week too!
thank u so much for this post, anger is really bad when been unable to control it well, especially when it appears on ur face. God help us all.
Amen, Yusuf! We need God’s help to love each other as He commands and part of that is knowing how to manage our anger according to His will. God bless you!
I found your blog while doing research for my devotional on Jonah, when he was angry with God. Thank you!
Thank you, Mary Jane. I appreciate your visit and your encouragement. God bless you!