Before We Pray, We Listen

A reel landed on my heart recently, a simple but confronting message:

“Be cared for before being prayed for.”

It shook something in me. Because if we’re honest, how often do we as Christians jump straight to prayer?

“I’ll pray for you.”
“Let’s pray!”
“We’ll keep you in our prayers.”

Beautiful intentions… but sometimes those words become a bypass.

Not just bypassing their discomfort — but bypassing our own.

Prayer can unintentionally become a way to skip the messy, painful, uncomfortable parts of someone’s humanity.

We wrap the moment in a neat spiritual bow instead of staying present long enough to feel the weight of what they’re carrying.

Yet Jesus didn’t rush pain.
He didn’t rush healing.
He sat with the suffering.

“When Jesus saw her weeping… He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.” John 11:33

He listened to the heart before He healed the wound.

People are overwhelmed mentally, emotionally, physically. Many are living in survival mode, reactive, disconnected, and exhausted.

We’re not emotionally equipped anymore to hold space for discomfort even our own.

But the Bible never called us to avoid pain.

“He was despised and rejected… a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.”
Isaiah 53:3

Jesus entered into suffering.
He did not pretend it wasn’t there.

Honesty opens the door for God’s comfort to enter.

And Scripture reminds us that suffering is not the end of the story:

“…we glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Romans 5:3–4

We can’t overcome what we constantly avoid.
We can’t heal what we won’t acknowledge.

If we never pause long enough to listen, truly listen we miss the root.

We miss the emotion beneath the reaction.
The belief beneath the behaviour.
We miss the very thing God wants to restore.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart… see if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23–24

Slowing down creates space for God to reveal what needs healing.

Even Jesus Sat in His Own Suffering

Jesus didn’t bypass His own pain, He stayed in it.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, overwhelmed to the point of death, He did not hide His anguish. He felt it fully.

“My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.”
Matthew 26:38

He fell to the ground and prayed three times, because the weight of what He was facing was agonising.

“Father, if You are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but Yours be done.”
Luke 22:42

And in that sacred space of raw honesty:

“An angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him.”
Luke 22:43

Strength came after the sitting.
Comfort came after the surrender.

Jesus shows us that healing begins not when we escape suffering, but when we stop running from it.

Listening is care.
Presence is compassion.
Witnessing someone’s pain is holy.

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2

“Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” Romans 12:15

When someone feels seen, heard, and safe…

they soften.
they open.
they allow God into the places that hurt.

Because healing doesn’t begin when we step in, it begins when we show up.

“Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” James 1:19

To sit with someone in suffering is not weak faith, it is radically Christ-like love.

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Psalm 34:18

Before we pray, may we pause.
Before we speak, may we listen.
Before we rescue, may we stay present.

Sometimes the greatest ministry is not a powerful prayer, but a quiet moment of care.

Because the way of Jesus was always relationship first, truth and healing flowed from there.

“Above all, love each other deeply…” 1 Peter 4:8

May we carry His love into the discomfort and trust that He will carry the rest.

If you’re longing for a space where you can be held, heard, and supported as you heal…

Join our Gather & Grow Community a safe place to explore emotional resilience with Christ at the centre, Or book an Initial Consult where together we will explore what’s beneath the surface, expand your capacity to feel safe within, and embrace the healing presence of Christ.

You don’t have to carry your pain alone.
There is hope, there is healing, and God is nearer than you think.

Connect with us at Soulroots Therapy Where faith meets embodied healing.