The home often symbolizes a place of comfort, warmth and solitude. Yet so often, families carry burdens that feel insurmountable, from separation and divorce to constant conflict and unmet expectations. What we envision as a place of safety and security often feels like a place of hurt and hostility.

Without question, a day in the life of any family raises significant challenges. But what happens when these challenges become commonplace? What happens when family members grow tired and weary? The Bible offers countless promises for hope—but too often, these promises feel better suited for families with smaller struggles than the burdens we face on a daily basis. How do we cope when we can’t seem to locate intimacy and closeness?

We start by meditating on Scripture. Not just on God’s promise for hope, but on his promise for rest, forgiveness and deliverance. Consider the following prayers for healing—and continue to rely on God to restore your brokenness.

1. Lord, I come to you tired and brokenhearted. Help me rest in you.

• Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke and put it on you, and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit; and you will find rest. For the yoke I will give you is easy, and the load I will put on you is light.– Matthew 11:28-30 (GNTD)

2. Lord, forgive me for hurting those closest to me.

• As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our sins from us.– Psalm 103:12 (GNTD)

3. Lord, give me the humility to forgive those who have hurt me.

• Instead, be kind and tender-hearted to one another, and forgive one another, as God has forgiven you through Christ. – Ephesians 4:32 (GNTD)

4. Lord, may I trust you for deliverance and healing.

• He heals the broken-hearted and bandages their wounds. – Psalm 147:3 (GNTD)

5. Lord, help me rely on you for the road ahead.

• So we are always full of courage. We know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord's home. For our life is a matter of faith, not of sight. – 2 Corinthians 5:4-8 (GNTD)