Praying in Pain: How to Know You're Heard When You Haven't Been Healed
Book Description
Prayer is how we survive the grip of crushing pain.
Sometimes there are no words. Buried in grief and pain, we don't know what to say, how to pray. Glenna Marshall has been there. Suffering for over a decade with chronic pain, she has spent nights exhausted, frustrated, and, at times, prayerless.
Praying in Pain is inspired by the words of the psalmists, fellow friends and saints of old, who understand loss, pain, and heartache. Taking the beautiful, honest words of the Psalms—words like, how long, hear me, heal me, help me, I trust you, I love you—Glenna composed The Sufferer's Lament; this prayer gives words in those moments when it feels as if there are none.
As Glenna takes the reader through this rich prayer, she shares guidance on who God is, how He works in suffering, and how to pray while we wait for Him. Readers will gain understanding of why God doesn't always heal this side of heaven, how to pray as they wait in pain, and what good purposes the Lord might bring from their ongoing suffering. This prayer serves as a springboard for learning to pray Scripture. Praying in Pain is a light in the darkness and a balm to every hurting heart.
I can think of no other place or time in my life when God has most faithfully met me. In the dark. In the night. In the crucible of my deepest and hardest physical suffering. What we pray in the dark shapes our suffering, removing the sharp, bright edges of anger and softening them with trust in God's presence and faithfulness.
Author
Glenna Marshall is married to her pastor, William, and is the mother of two sons. She is the author of The Promise Is His Presence, Everyday Faithfulness, Memorizing Scripture, and Known and Loved. She is a member of Grace Bible Fellowship in Sikeston, Missouri, where she and her husband have served for over twenty years.
Endorsements
"Knowing Glenna for several years now, I have found a real, true friend who understands pain. This book reflects the many ways she has ministered to me, pointing me to Jesus, praying for me, and encouraging me onward. Honesty and hope abound in Praying in Pain. I have found God's Word through Glenna's faithful writing a comfort to my hurting and hope-filled soul, and I know you will too."
—Kristen Wetherell, chronic Lyme disease sufferer and author of Jesus Will Meet You There and Hope When It Hurts
"Like a balm to an aching heart and a weary body, Praying in Pain is truly a gift to every person suffering from a chronic condition. Glenna doesn't offer empty words that fall flat, but authentic words of honesty, comfort, and truth that will shine the light of hope into the darkest places of one's pain."
—Sarah Walton, author, long-term sufferer of chronic Lyme disease, mast cell activation syndrome, and multiple autoimmune diseases
"Praying in Pain is a true balm to the suffering soul. It a book that is rich in theology and tender with compassion. My friend and trusted author Glenna Marshall invites us to lament and look to Jesus to hold us and help us in our trials. Her writing is raw and real as she has personally wrestled with the fragility of our flesh on this side of heaven. This book will soothe and strengthen you as Glenna opens the Word of God to show you that Jesus is more than qualified to share in your suffering. He will not abandon you in the ache of your affliction but rather sustain you until that Day when our groaning and grieving will give way to glory. Let her writing inspire and instruct you on your journey."
—Beth De Courcy, Disabilities Director at Kindred Church, sufferer of an autoimmune disease
"I have read all of Glenna's books, and this one is her best. I wept as I read her honest account of her struggles and fears surrounding chronic illness, for they mirrored many of my own. I'm grateful for the way God used this book to remind me that He sees all my suffering and will one day put a definitive end to it. If you have a chronic condition or love someone with a chronic condition, this book is for you. I know I will come back to it again and again."
—Erin Mount, sufferer of ulcerative colitis and depression
"This is a resource I truly pray will bless many. As someone living with chronic illnesses, learning how to lament has been one of the most significant ways the Lord has helped me grapple with ongoing pain and suffering. Glenna Marshall faithfully models what it looks like to pray from the place of deep suffering, and guides readers through the rhythms of lament, crying out, remembering, and resolving in a way that is both deeply practical and biblical. More than anything, this book is written with such a tender heart toward those who know this kind of pain and is helpful in reorienting the sufferer's heart toward the precious hope we have in Christ Jesus."
—Portia Collins, author and Bible teacher, sufferer of fibromyalgia and inflammatory arthritis
"In Praying in Pain, Glenna took my hand as a fellow sufferer, and walked with me down the path of biblical complaint (lament). As someone who struggles to believe God will listen to my cries, I found both comfort and exhortation in her writing. I so appreciate her version of 'The Sufferer's Lament,' but even more so, I have been thankful for the opportunities at the end of each chapter to form my own personal lament to the Lord. In pouring out my own complaint, I have found what Glenna says to be true—that the Lord met me in it because 'no one knows suffering like Jesus. He is not only with you in your pain, He also carries you through it.' I may or may not receive healing in this life, but in either circumstance, I will know the Onewho hears my prayers."
—Beth Govier, teacher, sufferer of multiple sclerosis
"Those who have walked the long road of chronic illness know that it's not always physical symptoms that cause the most pain. Few questions have broken my heart as deeply as, 'Lord, how can You still allow this?' Glenna understands firsthand the grief and frustration that accompany long-term illness; she also knows that prayer in suffering is a gift that keeps us near Christ. In Praying in Pain, she invites us to lift our weary heads to behold Jesus, the One who will sustain us to the end (1 Cor. 1:8). I closed this book with tears in my eyes and four words in my heart: 'Suffering now, glory forever.'"
—Katie Laitkep, writer and sufferer of post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome
"Those who've been touched by the flames of suffering understand the desire for rescue. Sometimes our testimony isn't of physical healing on this side of heaven, but of Jesus helping us to walk all the way home. Glenna Marshall teaches us to bring our honest complaints and cares to Jesus through biblical lament and the truths she's learned in her fiery furnaces of pain. I closed Praying in Pain in awe of God's love for me and hopeful of my perfect body in heaven!"
—Josephine D. Rose, author of Talking to God, sufferer of CPTSD and inflammatory conditions
"Glenna has written an honest and beautiful book about suffering that serves as a lighthouse on these rough seas. In this book, Glenna uses her words and lived experience to, in a way, come and sit beside me, offering real and tested gospel hope and comfort. These words offer respite for those of us who stare down a pile of medical bills, prescriptions that cost more than our cars, doctors who don't always listen, families who bear the burden, and who sometimes feel like we're barely making it day to day. This book is trustworthy scaffolding for those who suffer."
—Andrea Burke, author, sufferer of polycystic kidney disease and polycystic liver disease
Additional Information
Cover: Softcover
Number of Pages: 192
Publisher: Moody Publishers
Publication Date: June 2, 2026