Getting Over Rejection Prayer

This Getting Over Rejection Prayer helps us express our feelings of hurt to God and shows us how to rebuild our sense of self-worth by focusing on God’s acceptance of us.

There are many times in our lives when we experience rejection. Some examples are dating breakup, in-laws who don’t accept you, divorce, cliques in school, job search or other communities just to name a few. Here is a prayer process I went through recently when I was rejected by someone.

Honestly tell God how you feel

Rejection feels awful. When we put ourselves out there to let someone know we want to know him/her better we are vulnerable. Our willingness to be vulnerable is either rewarded by the other person’s acceptance of us or we are discouraged by their rejection.

Recently I invited someone to participate in something with me and they gave a reason why they couldn’t. It turned out they had plans with a few other people and instead of just telling me what they wanted to do they made up an excuse. I assume this was an attempt not to hurt my feelings. However, this has happened before when I attempted to reach out to this group of people. They not only didn’t want to do something I initiated they also excluded me from participating in their plans.

You may ask why would I even try to have a relationship with them? Well the answer is I received mixed messages. Prior to this I had needed help and they were willing to help me. I thought their help meant they considered me a friend. What I have learned is the help came from their sense of obligation to help those around them. So, it could have been anyone and they would help. While this is a strength they have to be helpful to others, I had misread their actions to mean that they were now including me in their circle. I was wrong and being rejected hurt.

Ask God if you’re basing your sense of self-worth on whether certain people accept you.

Because rejection often hurts, we may cry over what we have lost such as a relationship, a job, or an opportunity. We may ask, “What is wrong with me that they don’t want me”?

I know that that morning when I realized their polite excuses were actually veiled rejection I felt hurt. I cried. Then, I asked myself what is it about me that keeps them from accepting me into their circle? It is reasonable to see if there is something I am doing that I want to change about me.

Then I realized that it is important to remember that the person or people who reject me are not the ones I look towards to determine who I should be.

Ask God to help you focus on His acceptance of you, not on the rejection of others.

Rejection is a difficult part of life – God is always with me. That’s a statement I wrote down to help me refocus after being rejected.

Will it still hurt to be rejected? Yes. But I am okay because God accepts me for who I am right now. He meets me where I am and loves me unconditionally. I am God’s creation and I am beautifully made. I am by no means perfect and I have a lot to learn but God is teaching me through His word, through the examples given to me by Jesus and through the counsel of the Holy Spirit.

I reminded myself that the God of all creation accepts me. So, no matter who rejects me I am never alone. Also, rejection by others may not be about something I need to change. It may be about something they need to work on.

God allows us to experience things for our benefit and for the benefit of those around us. But whatever the reason we know that He has our best interest at heart.

Ask God to help you trust him so you can put yourself out there again and be vulnerable.

When I experience rejection it is sometimes hard to allow myself to be vulnerable again. However, if I want to participate in the gift of this life that God provides then I have to take chances.

In being vulnerable I am acting out my trust in God that whatever happens I know He is with me and even the experience of rejection may be what is best for me, I just don’t understand it in the moment because I don’t have the advantage of having the omniscient view that God has. But accepting something as true even when I don’t understand or have proof to support it is part of trust and faith.

Claim and believe these “20 Things I Know to Be True Even in the Midst of Rejection”

God created me.
God is with me.
God will comfort me.
God loves me.
God knows what is best for me.
God forgives me and will give me the strength to make amends if I have done something I should not have done.
God wants what is best for me.
God’s will prevails.
God accepts me for who I am.
God will tell me how to be the best me if I will listen and follow His will.
God does not reject me even when I stray but He waits for me to return to Him.
My relationship with God is more important than all other relationships. So, He is the only one who I want to please.
When my relationship with God is first and I seek His will all other relationship will fall in place. God will always come first.
Focusing on my relationship with God frees me from the need to be accepted or to avoid being rejected by people.
It will always feel nice to be accepted but if rejection comes I don’t have to try to get people to accept me because who I am is based on my relationship with God.
The one I want to please and receive acceptance from is God.
My guide to being the best me is the example set for me by Jesus, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and the Word of God.
I am the only one who can be me in this world and that makes me special.
If I try to be who someone else wants me to be then I am not being me which means I am setting myself up for failure.
If I allow myself to change so that other people will accept me then I have placed them in a position of authority, which only God should have.

Pray this “Getting Over Rejection Prayer” to talk to God about how you’re feeling.

Dear God

You extended an offer for me to have a personal relationship with You, the creator of all, the Father of Christ.

I am humbled that You offer me, Your servant, the privilege of coming to You in prayer.

Lord, so often in life I find myself rejected by someone or a group of people. When this happens I tend to feel hurt and want to pull back so that I don’t allow myself to be vulnerable again.

I have come to realize that I may often be more concerned about whether other people will like me than I am about appreciating that You love me.

You have offered me a way to overcome rejection. I focus on my relationship with You.

I stop questioning what is wrong with me because I know if You love me then I have what I need.

If there is something about me that I need to change then You will show me and lovingly support me in making that change.

You will provide for me including giving me the relationships that will enrich my life. If someone rejects me then that relationship is not what is best for me right now.

Please help me to never place others in a position that gives them more authority that You. When I think of how my focus has been divided. I have spent my time trying to figure out how to get others to accept me. I have given my need for their acceptance to be more important than my relationship with You. Please forgive me.

Thank you for always accepting me for who I am with all that I have done. I am grateful for my relationship with You.

Your grateful servant,

Amen

Scriptures to believe and claim for yourself

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. (ESV)

Zephaniah 3:17

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. (ESV)

Psalm 34:18

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. (ESV)

Romans 8:28

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (ESV)

Romans 12:1-2

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (ESV)

Isaiah 41:9

You whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, “You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off”; fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (ESV)

Genesis 1:27

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (ESV)