Bible Verses for Grief and Comfort | Prayers for Loss

Comfort in grief

There is no right way to grieve, and no schedule for it. Some days you will have plenty to say to God. Other days you will have nothing at all, and that is not a failure of faith.

Scripture does not rush grieving people. It sits with them. Jesus wept at the grave of a friend. The psalms are full of people who told God exactly how much it hurt.

The Bible verses for grief below are for the days after a loss. They are not here to explain your pain or tie it up neatly. They are here to keep you company, and to remind you that you are not alone in it.

God is near the brokenhearted

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Psalm 34:18 · NIV

Close. Not watching from a distance, waiting for you to feel better. Close to you now, in the worst of it.

Psalm 147:3God tends to people whose hearts are broken, and He dresses their wounds.

Binding a wound is slow, careful work. God is not in a hurry with your heart.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Matthew 5:4 · NIV

Jesus did not say blessed are those who get over it quickly. Mourning is not something to hide from Him.

Biblical words of comfort

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
2 Corinthians 1:3–4 · NIV

The God of all comfort. There is no grief too large or too strange for Him to meet.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
Isaiah 43:2 · NIV

When, not if. God does not promise a life without deep water. He promises you will not go through it alone.

Isaiah 41:10Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will strengthen you, help you, and hold you up.

When you’re grieving a death

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
John 11:25–26 · NIV

Jesus said this to Martha on the way to her brother’s grave, a few minutes before He wept there Himself. Hope and tears were in the same place.

1 Thessalonians 4:13–14We do grieve, but not like people who have no hope. Because Jesus died and rose again, God will bring with Him those who have died in Him.

Paul does not tell grieving people to stop grieving. He tells them they grieve with hope.

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
Revelation 21:4 · NIV

Every tear. God will not wave your grief away. He will wipe it away, one tear at a time.

Scriptures for comfort and peace on the hard days

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Psalm 23:4 · NIV

You walk through the valley. You are not stuck in it forever, and you are not in it by yourself.

John 14:27Jesus leaves us His own peace, not the kind the world gives, and tells us not to let our hearts be troubled.

Psalm 73:26Even when body and heart give way, God holds my heart up, and He is all I need, for good.

Prayers for grief

Sheila Renae wrote twelve short prayers for specific moments in grief: the drive you did not want to take, the 3 a.m. ache, the first holiday without them. Here are three. Borrow them when your own words will not come.

The drive you didn’t want to take

Jesus, be near me on this road. Steady my hands, and steady my heart.

When you’re afraid you’re forgetting their voice

Lord, don’t let me lose them twice. Hold what I’m afraid to lose.

A closing prayer

Whatever today holds, Lord, hold me through it. Amen.

It is okay to lament

Lament is a kind of prayer the Bible makes room for again and again: honest grief and even complaint, brought to God instead of away from Him. Many of the psalms are laments. Psalm 13 opens with “How long, LORD?” and nobody tells the writer to cheer up.

If you do not know where to start, the free Written Lament (free PDF download) page gives you four honest questions and room to write. You do not have to make it sound holy. God hears honest words. There is more on this in The Sacred Art of Lament.

If today feels like more than you can hold, you do not have to carry it alone. If you are in crisis in the US, call or text 988, any time, day or night.

The printed grief prayers and the written lament page resting on linen

Two printables, free to keep, print and share. No email required.

Grieving with hope

Christians grieve. Hope does not cancel grief or hurry it along; it keeps it company. That teaching walks through what grieving with hope can look like, with prayers for grief and loss you can pray along the way.

Read: Grieving With Hope