As a Christian minister, I am often called upon to pray. During worship services, at hospitals, or funerals, families will ask for me to speak to God on their behalf. The pain people are experiencing is so great that it seems the right words fail to come to me. Therefore, I am grateful for this short book of prayer starters.
Early on, the author notes that “There is no ‘one size fits all’ way of praying through pain. When going through a health crisis, unexpected death, job loss, or other difficult situation, people will respond in a variety of ways. This book gives you an example of how those in the Bible talked to God during their seasons of suffering. And, crucially, she adds the reminder that because God doesn’t usually answer us like God did in the Bible days, we must be mindful of the importance of listening as a part of prayer.
While written for laypersons, I think this book would be a great asset for clergy to have on hand. Whether counseling a congregant or preparing to pray for a public worship service, Barbara Lee has given us a springboard to start our conversation with our Heavenly Father.

The cover is inviting, featuring a predominance of warm colors with darker ones present. The predominance of arcs suggesting one’s life as a journey gives the book a symmetry, suggesting that while pain may be unwanted, there could be a purpose behind it.

I am a Protestant by faith, so I was curious what a Catholic would counsel a parishioner going through pain. However, it wasn’t simply idle curiosity. I am a man in pain myself, not just physical but emotional, suffering significant recent relationship losses..
I liked the shortness of the chapters, the prayer starters throughout, and the one key idea per chapter. However, I did get frustrated when other Scriptures were suggested in this section. Were readers going to be as lazy as me, I wondered, and skip these additional references?

It is not my place to review theology, but I was disappointed to find the suggested prayer for a disciple in pain in the Epilogue was addressed to the Lord Jesus. Sadly, this is becoming more popular in Protestant circles as well. Biblically speaking, prayer is to be offered to God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ. This was clearly our Lord’s teaching and His practice. (Matthew 6:8-9,11:25, John 14:13, 15:16, 16:23)

The strength of the book is that it helps the vulnerable turn to God’s Word in their pain, and for that Barbara has served her readers well.

This book is a practical guide for how to pray and what to pray when you are working through pain and is helpful for navigating this stick feeling when you’re dealing with a circular loop of despair and need a rope to bring you to praying scripture as a means to pull you out.
What it won’t necessarily do is validate or soothe your emotional pain or sit with you in your despair with relatable stories of people who are where you are.