17 Powerful Prayers for the Deceased

Losing someone you love is one of the hardest trials you can face in life, but our biggest prayer for those departed is that their souls rest in eternal peace with Christ in Heaven. Here are 17 powerful prayers for the deceased.

Prayer for Close Loved One
Jehovah Shalom, our God of peace, we ask that You receive our loved one from death into eternal life. May Your never-ending light shine on our loved one because of the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, slain before the foundation of the world. We thank You that because of Your great act of love, death is swallowed up in victory. All glory to You, through all the ages, oh Lover of our souls. Amen.

Prayer for Soul to Sleep in Peace
O Lord, our Great Shepherd, our dear one has passed from his earthly body. Because of the righteousness that You assigned us through Your great atonement, receive our loved one into heaven. He placed his trust in You while living on this earth. We are grateful that there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. May he sleep in peace until You return to judge the living and the dead. Amen.

Prayer to Receive Spirit of One Who Has Passed
Lord our Living Stone, we pray You will receive the spirit of our loved one who has died. She placed her trust in the work of Your Beloved Son Jesus and was freed from sin by Your Spirit of Life. Because of her faith, may You receive her into heaven where she can enjoy unending joy and peace in Your presence. Her hope and our hope are in You, kind Savior. Amen.

Prayer to Forgive Sins of Departed One
Jesus our Mediator, we thank You that You stand at the right hand of our Father in heaven, ever interceding for us. And now we ask that You grant our loved one mercy. Please forgive the sins he confessed before he died, so he may enter into Paradise and into Your holy presence. We know by Your Word that his eternal state will be determined by his actions during his life here on earth. Amen.

Prayer for Family of Deceased
God of all consolation, we pray Your blessing and Your comfort over this family who has lost their loved one. Comfort them with the knowledge that the spirit of their loved one is with You in heaven. May they know that because of their own faith and the faith of their loved one, they will be reunited one day. In the meantime, we ask that they feel Your consoling arms of love embracing them. Amen.

Prayer for Father
Lord of life, I come to You grieving the passing of my father, who has been my steady rock all my life. I know that Your own Son Jesus was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. I thank You that my father listened to and believed Your message of salvation through Jesus’ death and resurrection. I am trusting that he has already passed from death into life. May my father now enjoy freedom from death and sadness. Amen.

Prayer for Mother
God of infinite mercy, through my tears for my beloved mother, I rejoice that she is now face-to-face with You. Truly Your Son Jesus is our Merciful and Faithful High Priest, and He has provided the ultimate sacrifice for my mother’s redemption. I thank You that she has put her faith in Jesus. I thank You that when she closed her eyes for the final time on this earth, she awakened in Your presence. Amen.

Prayer for My Brother
Light of the world, I commit my dear brother into Your loving arms. I pray You will remember how my brother honored You throughout his life by his love and good deeds for others. He believed in Jesus and loved Him with all his heart. Now that he has been released from his mortal body, I pray that he will rest in peace until the trumpet call of God. May the mortal be clothed in immortality. Amen.

Prayer for My Sister
Lord God of our salvation, I commend to You my sister, who has exchanged the perishable for the imperishable. Receive her into the joyous company of all the saints who have placed their faith in You. I thank You for giving Your own Son, Jesus, to atone for our sins through His death on the cross. I thank You for the hope of the resurrection because Jesus is the first fruit of those raised from the dead. Amen.

Prayer for My Child Who Has Died
Lord of love, my heart is breaking for my dear child has passed from this life. I thank You that You are near to the brokenhearted and those crushed in spirit. Indeed, blessed Father, You endured the same pain when Your only Son Jesus died for the sins of the world. May Your holy angels usher my child into Your presence, for You said to let the little children come to You and forbid them not. Amen.

Prayer for My Friend
God of exceeding joy, I grieve for my friend who has just died. And yet I know that for those who trust in You, to be absent from this body is to be present with You. Through my tears, I rejoice that she is experiencing the joy of being in Your radiant presence. I rejoice that You have wiped all tears from her eyes. I rejoice that we shall meet once again, in our glorified bodies. Amen.

Prayer for God’s Mercy
Righteous Judge of the living and the dead, in Your unfailing mercy, received our loved one. We know we must all face You at Your judgment seat and give account to You. We know that You will repay us for all the things done in our bodies, whether good or bad. Please remember our loved one’s life of kindness and mercy to all. Please remember our loved one’s trust in You, for we are saved through faith. Amen.

Prayer for Soul of Loved One
Lord our Dwelling Place, I lift up to You my loved one, who has just slipped from her body. Remember her trust in You for salvation. She believed in Your Name and confessed You as her Savior. I thank You that You gave her Your Spirit as a pledge of what is to come. Have mercy on her soul, according to Your great compassion. May she rest in peace, in the presence of You and Your angels. Amen.

Prayer for Eternal Life
Lord, holy and true, receive our loved one into Your heaven. We know that when the earthly tent in which we live is dismantled, we have a new and eternal home in heaven, not built by human hands. Our loved one trusted in You, for You reconciled us to Yourself through Christ. He lived his life aspiring to please You in all things. May his mortality be swallowed up by life. Amen.

Prayer to Receive into Eternal Home
Lord our Refuge, we are saddened to lose the companionship of our loved one. But we know she lived her life walking by faith and not by sight. Please receive her into Your eternal home. We know her great desire was to be home with You in the city of the Living God. Welcome her into Your home, with the saints who have gone before and to the myriad of angels in joyful gathering. Amen.

Prayer to Commend to God
Lord our Deliver, we commend our dear brother in Christ into Your loving arms for eternity. Because he believed in You, he was raised to new life with Christ. Our brother set his sights on the realities of heaven. He lived for eternity’s values, with his mind on things above, not on earthly things. May he be received by You into heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at Your right hand. Amen.

Prayer to Wipe Away All Tears
God of infinite mercy, our loved one has been freed from this mortal body of suffering and pain. Even though she was a good person by earthly standards, we know none of us are good enough to stand in Your righteous presence. We thank You for the atoning power of Your Son Jesus Christ, who has made a way for all of us to enter freely into Your presence. May You receive our dear one and wipe away all her tears. Amen.

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