Prayer in the Pain
Written By Drew Messick
Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
Luke 5:16
I’m flat on my back again. Calling out of work because I’m in so much pain. I can’t stand up straight or sit without wincing. I hesitate to text the prayer team—embarrassed to ask for healing again. I’m in the 95th percentile for submitting prayer requests, always asking…for my back, my kids, my anger.
Overall, life is good. My boys are healthy, my wife is amazing, and I have a good job. I start off each morning with a simple gratitude list. I write down five things for which I am grateful. After that, I pray, read a devotional, and pray a little more.
On the good days, I pray as prompted. But, on the bad days, it’s more along the lines of panic, hit my knees and cry out, “God, heal my back. Remove my pain. Give me the ‘best’ exercise routine and inspire me to follow it.”
God has used my pain to point me back towards him. Lying in bed, I pray because I have nothing else. I slow down and listen to the body that God gave me. “God, heal my back. Help me be a good father. Help my wife with the boys today. Help my friend who is struggling.”
In this time of Advent, when God became human and arrived on our home planet, I ponder what Jesus must have felt. As a baby, he was cold and hungry and poopy, and his mom had to hold him, feed him, and change his diaper. He got sick and injured, and was bitten by bugs. He was tired at the end of his workday with sore muscles and splinters. He was beaten and pierced. Jesus knew pain.
He also knew prayer and utilized it better than most of us. There are over twenty occasions in the Gospels where Jesus is found praying. In good days and bad, he was constantly relying on prayer and the Holy Spirit. “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done. Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34, 22:42).
Now, during this time of Advent, we can remember that we are not alone in the struggle and the pain of human experience. Jesus knows what it is like and wants to comfort and instruct us in the pain.
Our hope is that the same Spirit is living in us.
Our hope is that God is listening and is working in us through the pain.
Our hope is in the name of Jesus—the One who entered our pain so that He could redeem it.
Overall, life is good. My boys are healthy, my wife is amazing, and I have a good job. I start off each morning with a simple gratitude list. I write down five things for which I am grateful. After that, I pray, read a devotional, and pray a little more.
On the good days, I pray as prompted. But, on the bad days, it’s more along the lines of panic, hit my knees and cry out, “God, heal my back. Remove my pain. Give me the ‘best’ exercise routine and inspire me to follow it.”
God has used my pain to point me back towards him. Lying in bed, I pray because I have nothing else. I slow down and listen to the body that God gave me. “God, heal my back. Help me be a good father. Help my wife with the boys today. Help my friend who is struggling.”
In this time of Advent, when God became human and arrived on our home planet, I ponder what Jesus must have felt. As a baby, he was cold and hungry and poopy, and his mom had to hold him, feed him, and change his diaper. He got sick and injured, and was bitten by bugs. He was tired at the end of his workday with sore muscles and splinters. He was beaten and pierced. Jesus knew pain.
He also knew prayer and utilized it better than most of us. There are over twenty occasions in the Gospels where Jesus is found praying. In good days and bad, he was constantly relying on prayer and the Holy Spirit. “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done. Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34, 22:42).
Now, during this time of Advent, we can remember that we are not alone in the struggle and the pain of human experience. Jesus knows what it is like and wants to comfort and instruct us in the pain.
Our hope is that the same Spirit is living in us.
Our hope is that God is listening and is working in us through the pain.
Our hope is in the name of Jesus—the One who entered our pain so that He could redeem it.
Reflective Question for the Day
What pain are you experiencing?
Where is your hope in the pain?
Drew Messick has seen more than 200 bird species this year. He has been excited for Christmas since September, and his favorite Christmas treat is shortbread, especially his great-grandmother's recipe.