The Returning to God Prayer

Years ago, a friend who had turned away from God wrote me a letter. He wasn’t trying to justify leaving. He was trying to come back, and his struggle surprised me. He ended with this line: “Please read this to anyone thinking about leaving so they don’t leave, because it is oh-so-difficult to return.”

If you have left God or have thought about it, this prayer is for you.

Decades ago, in the midst of my own spiritual crisis, hopelessness had set in. I remembered better times and struggled to believe they could return. I felt much like this psalmist in Psalm 42:

My heart is breaking as I remember how it used to be: I walked among the crowds of worshipers, leading a great procession to the house of God, singing for joy and giving thanks amid the sound of a great celebration!

Psalm 42:4 NLT

Sensing my despair and guilt, a friend nonchalantly said to me: “If Manasseh and Ahab, two of the most evil kings to ever live, can return to God, surely you can make a comeback.”

Some readers will find it repulsive to be compared to the most evil kings in Scripture. But I was so hungry for hope that I was thrilled. I opened my Bible and read their stories.

The LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. So the LORD brought against them the army commanders of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon. In his distress he sought the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his ancestors. And when he prayed to him, the LORD was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God.

2 Chronicles 33:10-13 NIV

You can read Manasseh’s entire story to confirm his evil, but our focus today is his prayer. Despite all his evil and sin, God heard his prayer because he “humbled himself greatly” before God—to such a degree that “the Lord was moved.” God restored him back to his kingdom, and in this way, Manasseh knew the Lord.

Then there is Ahab, who Scripture says “sold himself to do evil” more than anyone before him (1 Kings 21:25-29). Yet when Ahab humbled himself, God noticed. The nation still faced consequences for its sins, but not Ahab—all because he prayed what I call a “returning to God prayer.”

Here’s what I learned: God responds to humility, not résumés.

The challenge is that we often inherit ideas about God from unreliable sources. When we’re hopeless, we create a view of God disconnected from truth—sometimes shaped by religious people whose faith is more performance than relationship, or by people who confidently describe a God they’ve never known. These secondhand versions of God are often distant, apathetic, or powerless. But Scripture shows us who God actually is.

The truth about God is that he created and loves people. He has always wanted us, including when we leave or even think about leaving him.

Pay attention, O Jacob, for you are my servant, O Israel. I, the LORD, made you, and I will not forget you. I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.

Isaiah 44:21-22 NLT

God’s love is expressed in this truth: he has always been willing to pay the price to set us free and run to his love. This willingness is most exemplified by sending his Son to earth personally to pay the price for anything that separates us from God’s love.

Through the following scripture, God tells us the secret to returning is that our prayer be “contrite and humble.” He will “restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.” That applies to those of us who have created distance between ourselves and God—whether through disappointment, disillusionment, anger, or even hate for how God has not come through for us, protected us, or given us what we thought we deserved.

God says, “Rebuild the road! Clear away the rocks and stones so my people can return from captivity.” The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.”

Isaiah 57:14-15 NLT

Here we get to the core of how we return to God: We must have courage. We need courage to come back to God, ask forgiveness of sin, and believe God still loves us. We need courage to return to his people, regardless of how many we have hurt or been hurt by.

When we have this courage, it’s because God gives us a heart to know him. Rather than worrying about what people may say or how they may respond, we trust that the one we are returning to is God. And when we return to God, he will make our relationships with people work.

I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.

Jeremiah 24:7 NIV

The key in all this is not to concern ourselves with what we have done or how we might look to others. As we’ll read in the following scripture, “tearing our clothing”—acting humble and repentant on the outside —may result in church attendance, but it will not result in returning to God. Only tearing our hearts brings us back to God.

That is why the LORD says, “Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.” Return to the LORD your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish.

Joel 2:12-13 NLT

Jesus once told a story about a son who left home, squandered everything, and came back to his father insecure (Luke 15:10-32). The father didn’t scold him. Instead, he ran to meet him, threw a party, and celebrated. Why? Because heaven doesn’t keep score when someone returns—it celebrates.

When we say the “Returning to God” prayer, it is not about how we might look to others or what we did in the past. It is instead about eyes completely focused on God, the humility to admit that God is the right way, a contrite heart to own our foolishness in not valuing God before this moment, and the acknowledgment that his love and kingdom are the absolute best and most valuable things on earth (Important note: God’s kingdom includes other Christians, so we must not think returning to God is independent and isolated from his people).

If you have left God, this process may not be emotionally easy, but it will be spiritually transformative. So trust God, pray, and plan your return. And for those considering leaving, say your returning to God prayer now so you don’t end up writing a letter of regret, but can instead write one about revival.

Struggling is a normal part of the journey, but so is leaving and returning. So go ahead—say the returning to God prayer so you and those who love you, especially God, can celebrate.

Perception — Change how you see

“God, help me see you as you truly are, not as one who brings fear, disappointment, distance, or any other form of punishment or rejection. Let me perceive that you have been waiting for me, that you want me back, and that the price has already been paid for me to return to you. Help me see that returning is not weakness; it’s courage. Open my eyes to see that you are merciful, compassionate, slow to anger, and filled with unfailing love.”

Process — Change how you think

“God, quiet the voices telling me it’s too late, I’ve gone too far, or I no longer belong. Transform the way I process my past. Teach me that it’s proof that I need you, not evidence that I am unredeemable. Help me stop thinking about what people will say and start thinking about who you are. Rewrite my understanding of return so that it’s about a changed heart, not performances or appearances. Change how I think about humility—it’s not humiliation, it’s the pathway home.”

Purpose — Change what you live for

“God, give me the courage to value you above my pride, my shame, and my fear of others. Show me that the purpose of returning is not to fix my reputation but to restore my relationship with you.“

Path — Change where you are going

“God, clear the way home. Remove the rocks and stones—internal and external—that make returning feel impossible. Lead me to humble myself greatly before you, knowing that when I do, you are moved.”

A song for your playlist

“Celebrate Me Home” by Lizzy McAlpine:

Lyric highlight:

Please, celebrate me home
Play me one more song
That I’ll always remember
That I can recall whenever I
Find myself too alone
I can sing me home.