Prayer for condolences gives you real, scripture-grounded words to offer someone who has just lost a loved one, when your own words feel inadequate but silence feels wrong too. These verses have comforted grieving people for thousands of years, and they still carry that same weight today.
These thirty short condolence prayers are ready to send, speak, or write in a card. If a prayer for grieving was written for the person carrying the loss, let this prayer be what you offer them from the outside, as someone who cares.
Choose one that fits the relationship and the moment, and let it carry the comfort you may struggle to put into your own words.
Prayer for Condolences
1. Romans 12:15 (KJV)
“Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.”
Prayer: Thinking of you and weeping with you during this loss. My heart is genuinely with you right now.
Let this be received as real solidarity, not just a formality.
2. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (KJV)
“Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.”
Prayer: Praying the God of all comfort meets you closely in this loss, in whatever way you need Him most right now.
Let comfort feel specific to them, not generic.
3. Matthew 5:4 (KJV)
“Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.”
Prayer: Praying that as you mourn, real comfort finds you, exactly as Jesus promised it would.
Let this promise feel true, even on the hardest days ahead.
4. John 11:25-26 (KJV)
“Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”
Prayer: Praying you hold onto the hope of resurrection, that this goodbye is not the final word.
Let hope hold steady, even alongside very real grief.
5. Psalms 34:18 (KJV)
“The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”
Prayer: Praying you feel God close to you right now, near to the brokenhearted, exactly where you are.
Let closeness, not distance, be what they experience from God today.
6. Revelation 21:4 (KJV)
“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”
Prayer: Praying for the day every tear is wiped away, even while today’s tears are still very real.
Let future hope not erase the honesty of present grief.
7. Psalms 147:3 (KJV)
“He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.”
Prayer: Praying God heals your broken heart and binds up this wound gently, in His time.
Let healing begin, even if it takes far longer than expected.
8. Isaiah 61:1-3 (KJV)
“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.”
Prayer: Praying God brings beauty for these ashes and comfort for this mourning, in His own good timing.
Let this exchange feel possible, even from within a very hard season.
9. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 (KJV)
“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”
Prayer: Praying you grieve with real hope, not without it, trusting in the promise of resurrection.
Let hope coexist with grief, not replace it too quickly.
10. Psalms 23:4 (KJV)
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”
Prayer: Praying that even in this valley, you sense God is with you, and fear does not have the final word.
Let presence, not absence, be what they feel through this valley.
11. 2 Samuel 12:23 (KJV)
“But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”
Prayer: Praying you find some comfort in knowing this goodbye is not forever, only for now.
Let this hope feel real, not just a phrase repeated out of habit.
12. Psalms 116:15 (KJV)
“Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.”
Prayer: Praying you know this life was precious in God’s sight, not overlooked or forgotten.
Let this truth soften how they carry this specific loss.
13. John 14:1-3 (KJV)
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
Prayer: Praying your heart is not troubled, trusting a place has already been prepared for your loved one.
Let this promise offer real comfort, not just distant theology.
14. Job 1:21 (KJV)
“And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”
Prayer: Praying you can echo Job’s honest words in time, the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away, blessed be His name.
Let this honesty be possible eventually, without rushing them toward it now.
15. Ecclesiastes 7:2 (KJV)
“It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.”
Prayer: Praying this season of mourning teaches something real, even though I wish you were not learning it this way.
Let meaning eventually be found, without minimizing the pain of getting there.
16. Psalms 30:11 (KJV)
“Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;”
Prayer: Praying that in time, God turns this mourning into dancing, though I know that time is not today.
Let today’s grief be honored, not rushed past toward tomorrow’s hope.
17. Isaiah 25:8 (KJV)
“He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.”
Prayer: Praying for the day death is swallowed up forever, and every tear wiped away completely.
Let this future promise offer real comfort, not just distant words.
18. 1 Corinthians 15:55 (KJV)
“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”
Prayer: Praying you sense, even now, that death does not have the final victory here.
Let this truth feel like strength, not just a slogan.
19. 2 Corinthians 5:8 (KJV)
“We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”
Prayer: Praying you find comfort knowing your loved one is now present with the Lord.
Let this comfort be real, without minimizing how much they are missed here.
20. Philippians 1:23 (KJV)
“For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:”
Prayer: Praying you find peace in knowing your loved one is now with Christ, which scripture calls far better.
Let peace and grief exist together honestly, not one canceling the other.
21. Psalms 73:26 (KJV)
“My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.”
Prayer: Praying that even as your heart fails you right now, God remains your strength and portion.
Let this remain true, especially on the days it feels hardest to believe.
22. Hebrews 4:9-10 (KJV)
“There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.”
Prayer: Praying your loved one has entered real rest, the kind this life could never fully offer.
Let this rest bring comfort, even amid the reality of missing them.
23. Psalms 121:8 (KJV)
“The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.”
Prayer: Praying God watches over you closely in the days ahead, especially the hardest ones.
Let this watchfulness be felt in the specific weeks that follow.
24. Romans 8:38-39 (KJV)
“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Prayer: Praying you know nothing, not even this loss, can separate you from God’s love.
Let love remain the deepest, most stable truth beneath this grief.
25. Isaiah 57:1-2 (KJV)
“The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.”
Prayer: Praying you find some peace knowing your loved one has entered real peace themselves.
Let peace for them bring some measure of peace for you too, in time.
26. Psalms 46:1 (KJV)
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
Prayer: Praying God is your refuge and strength right now, a very present help in this specific trouble.
Let help feel present and near, not distant during this time.
27. Deuteronomy 33:27 (KJV)
“The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them.”
Prayer: Praying the eternal God is your refuge, and underneath you are His everlasting arms right now.
Let this image, arms holding you up, feel real in the days ahead.
28. 1 Peter 5:7 (KJV)
“Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”
Prayer: Praying you can cast this grief on God, trusting He genuinely cares about every part of what you are carrying.
Let this act of casting bring real relief, even if only in small measures.
29. Psalms 31:9 (KJV)
“Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly.”
Prayer: Praying for mercy in this distress, and comfort for eyes worn out from tears.
Let mercy meet the exact exhaustion this grief has brought.
30. 2 Corinthians 1:5 (KJV)
“For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.”
Prayer: Praying that just as suffering overflows, so does comfort overflow through Christ, more than matching this loss.
Let comfort ultimately outweigh the sorrow, even if it takes time to feel that way.
Conclusion
Prayer for condolences offers real words when your own feel insufficient, trusting that scripture’s comfort has carried grieving people for thousands of years and still carries real weight today, spoken sincerely rather than out of routine.
Send one of these to someone grieving today, or let it guide the words you choose to say in person.
For the person actually carrying this grief, a prayer for grieving and a short closing prayer for funeral both pair naturally with this one.