Parable
Parable Of The Unforgiving Servant Prayer
A short, Scripture-shaped parable prayer for an ordinary moment of Christian faith.
The prayer
A prayer to pray now
Lord, I see it so clearly in Your parable. One servant owed more than he could ever pay. The other owed a small debt. The first was forgiven, and then turned around and choked the second over the small amount. Lord, I do this all the time. You have pardoned me for sins that would crush me, and then I walk into the next room ready to make someone pay for a small wrong. The difference is grotesque when I stop to look at it. Loosen my grip on the collar of that second servant. Forgive me for treating mercy like it is mine alone and too costly to give away. Make my forgiveness as out of proportion to the offense as Yours has been to mine. Amen.
How to pray it
- Read it slowly. Move through this prayer one line at a time, out loud if you can, letting each phrase land before the next.
- Make it personal. Pause where a line meets your day and name the person, fear, or hope it touches before God.
- Carry it with you. Keep one sentence with you — on your phone or in your pocket — and return to it when the day gets loud.
Verses to pray
Pray these slowly, one line at a time. Scripture quoted from a public-domain translation.
When he had begun to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.18:24 Ten thousand talents (about 300 metric tons of silver) represents an extremely large sum of money, equivalent to about 60,000,000 denarii, where one denarius was typical of one day’s wages for agricultural labor.
Matthew 18:24
Questions about this prayer
When should I pray parable of the unforgiving servant prayer?
Pray it whenever the words fit your moment — at the start of the day, in a hard stretch, or when you simply want to turn toward God.
Which Bible verses anchor this prayer?
This prayer is anchored in Matthew 18:24. The "Verses to pray" section above quotes them in full.
Can I save or share this prayer?
Yes. Use the Copy prayer button to copy the words, or open the Chosen Portion app to keep a daily prayer, devotional, and Scripture with you.