4. How to Bring Your Pain to God (Psalm 13)

How long can you carry something before it breaks you?
And what do you do when God feels… silent?

In this teaching on Psalm 13, John Ortberg walks us through one of the most honest prayers in Scripture: “How long, O Lord?”

When pain lingers, when answers don’t come, and when God feels distant, we face a choice. We can grumble—turning inward in bitterness and withdrawal—or we can groan—bringing our pain honestly before God.

This Psalm shows us how to lament in a way that leads somewhere. Not by denying pain, but by bringing it fully into God’s presence.

If you’re carrying something heavy right now—a relationship, anxiety, loss, or a long unanswered prayer—this teaching will help you turn that pain into prayer.


📚 Today's Resources:

Bessel van der Kolk, M.D., The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma 

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00:00 – Opening Prayer
00:18 – Psalm 13: Bring Your “How Long”
00:53 – “Will You Forget Me Forever?”
01:30 – What “How Long” Really Means
01:59 – When You Don’t Know the Finish Line
02:15 – When God Feels Hidden
02:36 – The Panic of Not Finding What Matters
03:20 – How the Body Holds Pain
03:46 – Why Pain Lingers in Us
04:15 – What Is Your “How Long”?
04:34 – Naming Real-Life Pain
05:05 – Two Ways to Respond to Pain
05:18 – Grumbling vs Groaning
05:58 – What Grumbling Does to the Soul
06:19 – What Groaning Looks Like
06:51 – Groaning = Honest Faith
07:18 – How This Plays Out in Real Life
07:37 – Warning Against Grumbling
08:02 – Groaning for the World’s Pain
08:23 – Creation Is Groaning
08:56 – When You Don’t Have Words
09:28 – God Groans With You
09:53 – The Turning Point: “But I Trust…”
10:25 – What Actually Changes?
10:56 – Lament Opens the Door to Praise
11:23 – Bring Your “How Long” to God
11:46 – When Hope Begins to Rise
12:04 – From Lament to Praise