Equipping Your Church to Be Part of the Solution to Domestic Abuse
SCRIPTURES TO PRAY OVER abusers
These are scriptures that we encourage you to pray over abusers. You can also use these scriptures to help you find answers to questions that you or others may have regarding domestic abuse.
• Genesis 49:7 Their anger is cursed, for it is strong, and their fury, for it is cruel! (HCSB)
• 2 Samuel 22:28 You deliver oppressed people, but You watch the proud and bring them down. (NET)
• 1 Chronicles 28:9 The Lord examines all minds and understands every motive of one's thoughts. (NET)
• Job 6:26 Here I am desperate, and you consider my words as worthless as wind. (CEV)
• Psalm 5:4-5 Oh God, You take no pleasure in wickedness; You cannot tolerate the sins of the wicked. Therefore, the proud may not stand in your presence, for You hate all who do evil. (NLT)
• Psalm 11:5 The Lord examines both the righteous and the wicked. He hates those who love violence. (NLT)
• Psalm 18:27 You deliver the oppressed, but You bring down those who exalt themselves in their own eyes. (ISV)
• Psalm 19:12 How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. (NLT)
• Psalm 25:3 Those who offend for no reason will be put to shame. (ISV)
• Psalm 34:13-14 Keep your tongue from saying evil things and your lips from speaking deceitful things. Turn away from evil, and do good. Seek peace, and pursue it! (GWT)
• Psalm 36:2 His eyes are too full of conceit to detect or hate his own sin. (BSB)
• Psalm 37:8 Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper— it only leads to harm. (NLT)
• Psalm 37:37 Look at those who are honest and good, for a wonderful future awaits those who love peace. (NLT)
• Psalm 50:19 You do damage with words, and use your tongue to deceive. (NET)
• Psalm 55:20-21 He has put forth his hands against those who were at peace with him; He has broken his covenant. The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, But war was in his heart; His words were softer than oil, Yet they were drawn swords. (NKJV)
• Psalm 59:7 They curse, and their words cut like swords, as they say to themselves, "No one can hear us!" (CEV)
• Psalm 64:6 They plot injustice; they hide a well-conceived plan. Surely man's mind and heart are cunning. (NHEB)
• Psalm 73:6-8 They clothe themselves with violence. From their callous hearts comes iniquity; their evil imaginations have no limits. They scoff, and speak with malice; with arrogance they threaten oppression. (NIV)
• Psalm 90:8 You spread out our sins before you— our secret sins—and you see them all.
(NLT)
• Psalm 101:2 I will walk within my house with a blameless heart. (NHEB)
• Psalm 119:67 Before I was humbled, I wandered away, but now I observe Your words. (ISV)
• Psalm 125:5 For those who choose their own devious paths, the Lord will lead them away, along with those who practice evil. (ISV)
• Proverbs 3:30-31 Don’t pick a fight without reason, when no one has done you harm. Don’t envy violent people or copy their ways. Such wicked people are detestable to the Lord, but He offers His friendship to the godly. (NLT)
• Proverbs 5:21 The Lord sees clearly what a man does, examining every path he takes. (NLT)
• Proverbs 10:6 Blessings accrue on a good and honest life, but the mouth of the wicked is a dark cave of abuse. (MSG)
• Proverbs 10:11 The words of good people are a source of life, but evil hides behind the words of the wicked. (CEV)
• Proverbs 10:23 To do evil is like sport to a fool. (NKJV)
• Proverbs 11:17 A kind person benefits himself, but a cruel person brings himself trouble. (NET)
• Proverbs 11:20 Devious minds are abhorrent to the Lord, but those whose ways are innocent are His delight. (ISV)
• Proverbs 11:29 Those who bring trouble on their families will have nothing at the end. (GNT)
• Proverbs 12:18 Thoughtless words can wound as deeply as any sword, but wisely spoken words can heal. (GNT)
• Proverbs 14:2 Whoever lives with integrity fears the Lord, but the one who is devious in his ways despises Him. (CSB)
• Proverbs 14:9 Foolish people don't care if they sin. (GNT)
• Proverbs 15:1 A kind answer soothes angry feelings, but harsh words stir them up. (CEV)
• Proverbs 15:26 The Lord hates evil thoughts, but kind words please Him. (CEV)
• Proverbs 16:2 All a person's ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs motives. (CSB)
• Proverbs 16:5 The Lord abhors every arrogant person; rest assured that they will not go unpunished. (NET)
• Proverbs 16:27 Evil people look for ways to harm others; even their words burn with evil. (GNT)
• Proverbs 17:19 Anyone who loves to quarrel loves sin. (NLT)
• Proverbs 20:3 Avoiding a fight is a mark of honor; only fools insist on quarreling. NLT)
• Proverbs 21:7 You destroy yourself by being cruel and violent and refusing to live right. (CEV)
• Proverbs 21:21 Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor. (ESV)
• Proverbs 28:13-14 You will never succeed in life if you try to hide your sins. Confess them and give them up; then God will show mercy to you. The Lord blesses everyone who is afraid to do evil, but if you are cruel, you will end up in trouble. (GNT)
• Proverbs 29:1 A person who will not bend after many warnings will suddenly be broken beyond repair. (GWT)
• Proverbs 29:11 A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man holds it in check. (HCSB)
• Proverbs 29:22 A person with a quick temper stirs up arguments and commits a lot of sins. (CEV)
• Ecclesiastes 3:17 In due season God will judge everyone, both good and bad, for all their deeds. (NLT)
• Ecclesiastes 7:9 Don't be quick to get angry, because anger is typical of fools. (GWT)
• Ecclesiastes 12:14 God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad. (NLT)
• Isaiah 1:16-17 Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of My sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right. (NIV)
• Isaiah 2:17 The pride of man will be brought low, and the loftiness of men will be humbled; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day, (BSB)
• Isaiah 5:21 How horrible it will be for those who think they are wise and consider themselves to be clever. (GWT)
• Isaiah 28:17 I will test you with the measuring line of justice and the plumb line of righteousness. Since your refuge is made of lies, a hailstorm will knock it down. Since it is made of deception, a flood will sweep it away. (NLT)
• Isaiah 30:12-13 Because you have rejected this message, relied on oppression and depended on deceit, this sin will become for you like a high wall, cracked and bulging, that collapses suddenly, in an instant. (NIV)
• Isaiah 55:7-8 Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that He may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for He will forgive generously. "My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the Lord. (NLT)
• Jeremiah 4:14 Wash the evil from your heart, so that you may be saved. How long will you go on thinking sinful thoughts? (GNT)
• Jeremiah 4:22 My people ignore me. They are foolish children who do not understand that they will be punished. (CEV)
• Jeremiah 17:10 I know your deeds and your thoughts, and I will make sure you get what you deserve. (CEV)
• Lamentations 3:40 Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord! (ESV)
• Ezekiel 18:31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. (NIV)
• Ezekiel 33:11 I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness. (NLT)
• Ezekiel 33:20 I will judge each of you according to your own ways. (NIV)
• Ezekiel 33:31 They sit before you as My people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it. (ESV)
• Ezekiel 35:11 I will pay back your angry deeds with My own. I will punish you for all your acts of anger, envy, and hatred. (NLT)
• Ezekiel 36:26 I'm going to give you a new heart, and I'm going to give you a new spirit within all of your deepest parts. I'll remove that rock-hard heart of yours and replace it with one that's sensitive to Me. (ISV)
• Ezekiel 36:31 You will remember your evil ways and the bad things that you did, and you will hate yourselves for all these wicked and disgusting things. (GWT)
• Ezekiel 45:9 Stop your violence and oppression and do what is just and right. (GNT)
• Joel 2:12 Return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning. (BSB)
• Obadiah 1:3 The arrogance of your heart has deceived you. (NASB)
• Obadiah 1:10 Because of the violence you did to your close relatives in Israel, you will be filled with shame and destroyed forever. (NLT)
• Jonah 3:8 Turn from your wicked ways and your acts of violence. (GWT)
• Micah 6:8 He has shown you, oh mankind, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? (BSB)
• Malachi 2:16 "I hate the person who covers himself with violence," says the Lord of Armies. (GWT)
• Matthew 5:5 How blessed are those who are humble, because it is they who will inherit the earth! (ISV)
• Matthew 7:12 In everything, treat others as you would want them to treat you, for this fulfills the law and the prophets. (NET)
• Matthew 11:29 Learn from Me because I am gentle and humble. (GNT)
• Matthew 18:3 If you don't change and become like a child, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven. (CEV)
• Matthew 18:6-7 Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to fall away--it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of offenses. For offenses will inevitably come, but woe to that person by whom the offense comes. (CSB)
• Matthew 20:25-28 You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave — just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. (NIV)
• Mark 9:35 Whoever wants to be the most important person must take the last place and be a servant to everyone else. (GWT)
• Luke 6:45 Good people do the good that is in them. But evil people do the evil that is in them. The things people say come from inside them. (GWT)
• Luke 11:35-36 Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness. If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight were filling you with light. (NLT)
• Luke 12:2-3 The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed and all that is secret will be made known to all. Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight. Whatever you have whispered in private rooms will be shouted from the housetops. (NLT)
• John 3:20 People who do what is wrong hate the light and don't come to the light. They don't want their actions to be exposed. (GWT)
• John 3:36 Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment. (NLT)
• Acts 28:27 For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes— so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to Me and let Me heal them.’ (NLT)
• Romans 2:5-6 Because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will judge everyone according to what they have done. (NLT)
• Romans 12:16-18 Have the same concern for everyone. Do not be proud, but accept humble duties. Do not think of yourselves as wise. If someone has done you wrong, do not repay him with a wrong. Try to do what everyone considers to be good. Do everything possible on your part to live in peace with everybody. (GNT)
• Romans 13:10 Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God's law. (NLT)
• I Corinthians 13:4-6 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. (NLT)
• 2 Corinthians 7:1 We need to cleanse ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit and live a holy life in the fear of God. (GWT)
• Galatians 5:19-26 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another. (NLT)
• Galatians 6:8 Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. (NLT)
• Ephesians 4:2 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. (NLT)
• Ephesians 4:29-31 Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. Don’t make God’s Spirit sad. The Spirit makes you sure that someday you will be free from your sins. Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. (NLT)
• Philippians 2:3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves. (NASB)
• Philippians 4:5 Show a gentle attitude toward everyone. (GNT)
• Colossians 3:12 You must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. (NLT)
• Colossians 3:19 Husbands, love your wives and never treat them harshly. (NLT)
• Titus 3:2 They are to slander no one, to be peaceable, considerate, exercising all graciousness toward everyone. (NAB)
• Hebrews 4:13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. (BSB)
• Hebrews 10:30-31 We know the God who said, "I alone have the right to take revenge. I will pay back." God also said, "The Lord will judge his people." Falling into the hands of the living God is a terrifying thing. (GWT)
• Hebrews 12:14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. (NIV)
• James 1:26 If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. (NLT)
• James 3:6 The tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself. (NLT)
• James 3:16-17 Where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. (NKJV)
• James 4:1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Aren't they caused by the selfish desires that fight to control you? (GWT)
• James 4:6 God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble. (NIV)
• 1 Peter 2:1 Get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. (NLT)
• 2 Peter 3:14 Make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in His sight. (NLT)