A Prayer to Accept Criticism and to Grow from It
By Vivian Bricker
Bible Reading:
“Whoever heeds life-giving correction will be at home among the wise. Those who disregard discipline despise themselves, but the one who heeds correction gains understanding” (Proverbs 15:31-32).
Listen or Read Below:
A few months ago, I started meeting with a career coach from my college. Since I was struggling so much to land a full-time career, I figured the best route was to consult my alma mater. The woman who was my career coach is a mastermind whose knowledge truly humbles me. She is wise, honest, and extremely intelligent. The advice she has imparted to me during our coaching sessions has been life-changing.
At the beginning of our sessions, she said I would need to learn to accept criticism. While I used to struggle immensely with criticism since it would trigger childhood issues, I have now learned to accept it. Criticism can hurt our feelings, but if it comes from someone who is truly trying to help us improve, we don't need to let it.
When my career coach reviewed some of my writing, she told me it needed to come alive. She described it as being “dead.” She discussed one of my devotional pieces and said the idea was good, but I never delivered on it.
As I sat there and listened to her speak, intense embarrassment and sorrow filled my heart. I thought I had learned to accept criticism, yet here I was, feeling awful about myself. My career coach gave helpful advice to make my writing come to life, which was insightful; however, my feelings were still hurt.
In the days after this meeting, I started second-guessing all my pieces. I didn't want to write anything because I felt foolish for thinking I could be a writer. I just kept hearing the recurring statements in my head, “You can't do anything right. You're not good at anything.”
It took a little bit to get out of this mental prison, yet the Lord helped me to learn from the criticism, to accept it, and to truly grow from it. While criticism is never pleasant, it is important to our own growth and improvement as individuals.
The Bible tells us, “Whoever heeds life-giving correction will be at home among the wise. Those who disregard discipline despise themselves, but the one who heeds correction gains understanding” (Proverbs 15:31-32). Listening to life-giving corrections will help us grow from our mistakes.
Our mistakes are part of our lives, but they don’t define us. What matters is that we keep working toward self-improvement. This can be accomplished by following the Bible and allowing the Holy Spirit to work in our lives.
Criticism will be hard for most of us because it uncovers previous wounds. Maybe our parents were overly critical of us when we were children, and when other people are critical of us in our adult life, it brings up a multitude of negative feelings.
Rather than feeding into these feelings, we can choose to listen to constructive criticism and recognize that the person offering it genuinely wants to help us improve. They are not trying to tear us down.
Listening to them and applying their advice will truly help us in our lives. Whenever criticism becomes hard to accept, ask the Lord to help you accept it and to grow from it. He will give you the peace and comfort that you need.
Let's Pray:
Dear God, criticism is not something that I enjoy. Like many people, it makes me feel bad about myself. It also triggers many memories from when I was younger, and my parents were overly critical of me. Please help me to learn to accept criticism and to grow from it. Equip my heart to remain strong when others criticize me. I want to take it in stride and to listen to the wise.
While I know it might still hurt me at times, I know You can help me overcome the pain and disappointment. I trust that You can guide my heart to the way of wisdom rather than ignoring the ways of the wise. Thank You, God, for always hearing my prayers.
In Your Son’s Name, I pray, Amen.
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Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/lovelyday12
Related Resource: Establishing a Routine of Rest
For a long time, rest felt less like a gift and more like a guilty indulgence — something to be earned, something to feel vaguely ashamed of, something that productive, faithful people did not really need. In a world that measures worth by output, the idea of stopping feels dangerously close to falling behind.
But what if rest is not optional? What if it was never meant to be? Tonight, lay down the hustle. Receive the gift. This is exactly what you were made for. Your Nightly Prayer is a daily Christian prayer podcast from the LifeAudio Podcast Network and Crosswalk.com. Each night, the team behind Crosswalk.com brings you a devotional and prayer to help you end your day in conversation with God. May these nightly prayers help you find the words to pray and focus your heart and mind on the love of God as you end your day. If you like what you hear, subscribe on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode!
Originally published Tuesday, 02 June 2026.
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