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Summary
- Psalm 6:2 is a prayer for pain in the Bible’s own words: “O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed.”
- Short prayers cover pain going away, sudden pain, chronic pain, sleepless nights, a doctor’s appointment, someone else in pain, pain too great to pray through and pain of the heart.
- Traditional prayers come from the Unction of the Sick in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer and “A Prayer in Suffering” in the 1888 Catholic Manual of Prayers.
- Catholics “offer up” pain on the basis of Colossians 1:24; the Catechism says suffering “becomes a participation in the saving work of Jesus” (paragraph 1521).
- Paul asked three times for his “thorn in the flesh” to be removed (2 Corinthians 12:8–9); Revelation 21:4 promises a time when there will be no “more pain.”
- Prayer goes alongside medical care; sudden or severe pain needs a doctor or emergency care first.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (1611), text of Project Gutenberg eBook no. 10 (Psalm 3:5; 6:2; 25:18; 38:9; Isaiah 53:4–5; Jeremiah 15:18; Matthew 8:17; Mark 1:32–34; 5:26, 34; John 11:35; 2 Corinthians 12:8–9; Colossians 1:24; Revelation 21:4). https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10
- The Book of Common Prayer (Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A.), Standard Book of 1928. Unction of the Sick, p. 320. PDF facsimile: https://www.artisticdailyprayers.org/uploads/3/0/1/6/30164961/bcp1928std.pdf
- A Manual of Prayers for the Use of the Catholic Laity, prepared and published by order of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore. New York: Catholic Publication Society, 1888. Devotions for the Sick, “A Prayer in Suffering,” p. 466. https://archive.org/details/AManualOfPrayers1888
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997. Paragraph 1521. https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P4N.HTM
- John Paul II. Apostolic Letter Salvifici Doloris, on the Christian meaning of human suffering, 11 February 1984. https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/1984/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_11021984_salvifici-doloris.html
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. https://988lifeline.org/
- Samaritans. “Contact a Samaritan.” https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/
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