This tool helps him to release the past.

There are moments in life when the past will not let go. I’ve started the path of recovery, made amends where I could, committed to change, and yet — the memories remain. The images return. The shame lingers. While I’ve begun to move forward on the outside, my mind is still caught in the painful echoes of what I’ve done. This is where the Prayer of Divine Remembrance comes in. 

“God, grant me Your divine remembrance.

As You do not hold my past against me,

help me to release the things I have done

and the images I have seen. Amen.”

A Simple Prayer, A Powerful Hope

This prayer is intentionally brief and easy to memorize. Much like the beloved Serenity

Prayer, it is designed to be a practical spiritual tool in the daily fight for peace. Even in

sobriety, my mind has been gripped with flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, or images that seem impossible to erase.

This is not the Prayer of Divine Forgetfulness. Forgetfulness implies a flaw or a lapse in

attention. I cannot pretend the memories and images don’t exist. The prayer is not about

denying the past but about surrendering it. Just as my group and sponsor keep no record of

my wrongdoing, neither does my Higher Power. In this prayer, I am humbly asking for that

same nature to be imparted to me.

For Recovery

I’m sharing this prayer because it has helped me. It helps with specific memories that resurface. 

Examples where this prayer can help:

-A porn or sex addict who cannot unsee what has been seen.

-A person who exploited or abused another person.

-A person who engaged in other illegal activities who relives the images of their actions.

-Any person with distracting and unwanted memories and images that resurface in their mind.

When I pray, I am asking my Higher Power for a divine healing of my memories. It is a

surrender of every image and regret that still cries out for attention. It is an invitation for

peace to fill the spaces between thoughts and impressions.

For trauma, there is also another version of the prayer, written for not what I’ve done, but for what has been done to me. I, like many others, fell into addiction as a result of trauma perpetrated against me. In moments of healing these wounds, this modified version may be more appropriate.

“God, grant me Your divine remembrance.

As You do not hold my past against me,

help me to release the trauma I have experienced

and the images I have seen. Amen.”

This version is a lifeline for the innocence that was stolen by abuse, early sexual exposure, or

any other traumatic event in life. Once again, not all of these examples apply to me, but I am

sharing this tool to offer help to the following people:

-A survivor of abuse who relives the trauma through memory.

-A veteran who has seen the violence of war.

-A first responder who was first on the scene of terrible accidents.

-Any witness to a violent act or the aftermath of an accident

This prayer is a request to cleanse the mind and wash away the lingering shadows that trauma leaves behind. It is not a denial of the past but a reordering of it — inviting God to replace these memories with peace.

Using the Prayer Daily

The prayer can be written on a note card, kept in a wallet, taped to a mirror, or memorized as a

spiritual defense against unwanted memories. I pray this prayer in the morning, the evening, or when the images resurface. I say it out loud. I whisper it. I hold it in my heart and let it bring clarity to my mind, 24 hours at a time.

Closing Words

The Prayer of Divine Remembrance is not magic. It does not guarantee instant forgetting or

erasure. But it is part of a conversation in a growing relationship with one’s Higher Power. As I pray, I am not pretending my past didn’t happen. I am declaring that my past is no longer my master and I will no longer be haunted or bound by it.

This is not forgetfulness. This is freedom. This is divine remembrance.