Healing Family Relationships Through PrayerSample

When I am in the middle of a conflict with one of my sons, I am usually focused on his disobedience, his bad attitude, or his irresponsibility. It is easy to point to his behavior as the source of the problem. Rarely is a family conflict 100 percent the fault of one person and 0 percent the fault of the other. Normally, when two fallen people conflict, both have contributed some sin along the way.

We often judge our family members, quick to see their character problems and bad behavior, yet we can be blind to our own toxic attitudes and harmful actions. Jesus says that while we may see the speck in our brother’s eye, we are ignoring the log in our own. Ouch!

We all have blind spots, so we need to pray and ask God to open our eyes to see how we have contributed, and are contributing, to what might be a broken relationship. Your prayer may sound something like this:

"Lord, I know that my conflict with ________ is not all his/her fault. I know I have made things worse with my actions and attitudes. I also admit that I struggle with focusing all my thoughts and feelings on what he/she has done to hurt me. Please show me everything I have done to hurt ________. Bring to my mind the things I have said that have hurt ________ and made our conflict worse."

As God brings these things to mind, confess them and ask for His forgiveness before seeking forgiveness from your family member.

Reflection Question: Why do you think it is hard for us to recognize our contribution to family conflicts?