Job 16

When prayer feels like pain

Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my advocate is on high. ~ Job 16:19

Yesterday we talked about going into your secret place to pray and to meet with God honestly, consistently, and personally. But what do you do when even your prayers feel heavy? When you show up to your quiet place and all you have to offer is pain?

That’s exactly where Job was in chapter 16. He had lost everything, his children, his health, his wealth and now even his friends had turned on him. Instead of offering comfort, they criticized him and questioned his character. Yet, in the middle of all that pain, Job still went to God with all he was going through.

He didn’t hide how he felt. He didn’t pretty up his words. He said, “I have been crushed… My face is red with weeping… Yet my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high.” (Job 16:7–19, paraphrased). Job didn’t feel heard or understood by anyone on earth, but he knew God was still listening.

Have you ever been there? You go to pray, but the words don’t come out right. Or they do, but they sound more like complaints than praises. You feel misunderstood, even in prayer. I’ve been there. There were days I sat with tears instead of words, moments when all I could say was, “God, please help me.” And though nothing seemed to change at first, something always did inside me. I was heard. I was held. God was there.  The truth is when you go to God in your pain, you don’t need perfect words for Him to listen. You just need an honest heart.

Here’s how to start:

• Go to your secret place, even if you feel numb or frustrated. You don’t need to “feel spiritual.” You just need to show up.
• Be honest with God. Tell Him how it really is. If you’re tired, say it. If you’re hurting, pour it out. He can handle it.
• Remember who is listening. Job said, “My advocate is on high.” You have someone in heaven, Jesus Himself, who intercedes for you (Romans 8:34).
• End by trusting God to respond, even if you don’t feel anything immediately. Faith isn’t about feelings, it’s about trusting that your Father hears, even in silence.

If all you can do today is groan, then groan. If all you can do is cry, then cry. But don’t stop praying and don’t stop running to God when the pain of life hits. God doesn’t require eloquence or Elizabethan English, He desires closeness. Even Job, in all his sorrow, still found a way to say, “God, You are my witness. You see it all.”

Today, I want to encourage you to bring your pain into your prayer. Don’t run from God in your suffering, run to Him. He sees what others can’t. He understands what others don’t. While friends may misjudge or misunderstand, your Advocate never does. He’s on your side. He’s in your corner and He’s always listening.

Today’s scripture reading: Job 16

1 Then Job spoke again:

2 “I have heard all this before. What miserable comforters you are!

3 Won’t you ever stop blowing hot air? What makes you keep on talking?

4 I could say the same things if you were in my place. I could spout off criticism and shake my head at you.

5 But if it were me, I would encourage you. I would try to take away your grief.

6 Instead, I suffer if I defend myself, and I suffer no less if I refuse to speak.

7 “O God, you have ground me down and devastated my family.

8 As if to prove I have sinned, you’ve reduced me to skin and bones. My gaunt flesh testifies against me.

9 God hates me and angrily tears me apart. He snaps his teeth at me

and pierces me with his eyes.

10 People jeer and laugh at me. They slap my cheek in contempt. A mob gathers against me.

11 God has handed me over to sinners. He has tossed me into the hands of the wicked.

12 “I was living quietly until he shattered me. He took me by the neck and broke me in pieces. Then he set me up as his target,

13 and now his archers surround me. His arrows pierce me without mercy. The ground is wet with my blood.

14 Again and again he smashes against me, charging at me like a warrior.

15 I wear burlap to show my grief. My pride lies in the dust.

16 My eyes are red with weeping; dark shadows circle my eyes.

17 Yet I have done no wrong, and my prayer is pure.

18 “O earth, do not conceal my blood. Let it cry out on my behalf.

19 Even now my witness is in heaven. My advocate is there on high.

20 My friends scorn me, but I pour out my tears to God.

21 I need someone to mediate between God and me, as a person mediates between friends.

22 For soon I must go down that road from which I will never return.

Journal:

• What pain or frustration have I been holding back from God?
• What do I need to say to Him today that I’ve been afraid or too tired to say?

Write your prayer honestly and let it come from the heart.