How to Let Go of Your Regrets - Your Nightly Prayer

Your Nightly Prayer

How to Let Go of Your Regrets
Your Nightly Prayer for May 20, 2025
by Candice Lucey

TONIGHT'S SCRIPTURE

“One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus." - Ephesians 2:8-9

SOMETHING TO PONDER

We all have regrets. What would have happened if you had said “yes” to that invitation, or stood firm with “no” to that first drink? What if you had picked up the phone or hadn’t said those terrible things? It’s normal to wonder, but draining and fruitless to get stuck in the past, full of self-recrimination or anger. We waste so much time; it would be better spent living out God’s present call on our lives and reflecting on his promises for our future.

Paul wrote, “I have been taken hold of by Christ” (v.12) because this gives him confidence: Christ was sanctifying him by the power of his Holy Spirit, and Christ was holding Paul tightly. This is true of all believers. Our Savior has hold of us, and we are growing wiser. We will make better choices and become more like Jesus, as long as we aren’t stuck in the past thinking about the people we once were. That person and those sins we have confessed to and have repented over are taken care of. Continuing to stew on them is like trading precious gems for worthless plastic baubles: we have the beauty of God’s grace right in front of us, completely untarnished by our regrettable choices of yesterday or yesteryear.

What does moving forward look like? At night, as we try to drift off, we can pray for the discipline to live in Christ, in the present, and to put ourselves behind us. Paul’s goal was to pursue “the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.” (v.14) Forget what you should have done or should not have done: if you get stuck looking backwards, go all out: cast your mind back 2,000 years to what our Savior did for us. We can never revisit his life, death, and resurrection too often, but this should catalyze positive movement in our thinking. The memory of Jesus’ sacrifice reminds us that our salvation rests in his work, not in ours, and that God had a plan from the start to pay for the mistakes he knew we would make. Sinking into regrets is like lingering in the tomb, but we are reborn; we are new people with Christ’s resurrection life in us. (2 Corinthians 5:17) Go to sleep thinking about that marvelous truth - don’t let regret steal your rest.

YOUR NIGHTLY PRAYER

Father,
When I think back and start to ruminate on past mistakes, filling my mind with regrets, it pulls me out of myself. I know you are the key to rest. Sleep is such a gift - show me how to claim that gift in the present and not live in the past. Show me how to claim the gift of a redeemed life, and let go of myself so I can embrace the life you have given me so that I can live for your glory in the morning.
Thank you, Jesus, amen.

THREE THINGS TO MEDITATE UPON

1. Jesus paid it all. It’s so simple, and we hear it often, but the truth is our debt is paid, and one of the ways we honor God is by believing it to the point where we can rest.

2 . For everything you regret, there are also choices you can look back on with peace. Prepare yourself for the onslaught of your regrets by focusing on that alternative list.

3. The promises of Jesus, which have been fulfilled, can encourage us to look ahead with confidence to the promise of his return and forget about ourselves entirely. Our regrets and our successes are eclipsed in importance, beauty, and power by “the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8)

Candice Lucey is a freelance writer from British Columbia, Canada, where she lives with her family. Find out more about her here.