--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When one is in very great pain and fear…" description: "\"When one is in very great pain and fear, it is extremely difficult to pray coherently, and I could only raise my mind in anguish to God and ask for str..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b03/sheila-cassidy-36041_anguish_when-one-is-in-very-great-pain-and-fear_592386.jpg" --- # When one is in very great pain and fear, it is extremely… ![“When one is in very great pain and fear, it is extremely difficult to pray coherently, and I could only raise my mind in anguish to God and ask for strength to hold on.” quote by Sheila Cassidy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b03/sheila-cassidy-36041_anguish_when-one-is-in-very-great-pain-and-fear_592386.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b03/sheila-cassidy-36041_anguish_when-one-is-in-very-great-pain-and-fear_592386.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b03/sheila-cassidy-36041_anguish_when-one-is-in-very-great-pain-and-fear_592386.jpg) > “When one is in very great pain and fear, it is extremely difficult to pray coherently, and I could only raise my mind in anguish to God and ask for strength to hold on.” [Sheila Cassidy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-cassidy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Severe pain and fear hinder coherent prayer, but one can still turn to God for strength in anguish. **In simple terms:** Pain makes prayer hard, yet one can still seek divine help. Key Takeaway Allow space for raw emotion in spiritual practice. Themes faith suffering prayer resilience Mood reflective hopeful Type spiritual personal When to use this quote - hospital recovery - grief counseling - nighttime anxiety - combat trauma - chronic illness Key Concepts spiritual coping psychology of pain theology Questions to Reflect On - How do you pray when overwhelmed? - Can silence be a form of prayer? A Different Perspective Some may feel alienated if faith is presented as only calm. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anguish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anguish/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Praying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/praying/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) ## Related quotes > [“Happy, even in anguish, is he to whom God has given a soul worthy of love and grief! He who has not seen the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/happy-even-in-anguish-is-he-to-whom-god-has-given-a-soul-worthy-of/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [When life seems difficult, (P.U.S.H) Pray Until Something Happens!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/punkinhead-abhishek/when-life-seems-difficult-p-u-s-h-pray-until-something-happens/) [Punkinhead Abhishek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/punkinhead-abhishek/) > [Being a Muslim is very important to me, more important than anything, although sometimes travel makes it difficult for me to always pray when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shkodran-mustafi/being-a-muslim-is-very-important-to-me-more-important-than-anything/) [Shkodran Mustafi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shkodran-mustafi/) > [Do not pray for a path less difficult, but pray for a path more challenging. Only then will you not pray to find a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/do-not-pray-for-a-path-less-difficult-but-pray-for-a-path-more/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Anger is remembered pain, fear is anticipated pain, guilt is self directed pain, depression is depletion of energy. Cure-return to love& joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/anger-is-remembered-pain-fear-is-anticipated-pain-guilt-is-self/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [Why in the world are we here? Surely not to live in pain and fear. Why on earth are you there, when you're everywhere-come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennon/why-in-the-world-are-we-here-surely-not-to-live-in-pain-and-fear-why/) [John Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lennon/) > [“He thought with a kind of astonishment of the biological uselessness of pain and fear, the treachery of the human body which always freezes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/he-thought-with-a-kind-of-astonishment-of-the-biological-uselessness/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Warriors feel pain and fear.. but they never show it and their tears just rolls down as blood…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-sujenthiran/warriors-feel-pain-and-fear-but-they-never-show-it-and-their-tears/) G. Sujenthiran > [“When you truly face your pain you will only see yourself. Your fear was always you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/when-you-truly-face-your-pain-you-will-only-see-yourself-your-fear/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [“Pain and fear cleanse the mind,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-mather/pain-and-fear-cleanse-the-mind/) [Matthew Mather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-mather/) > [I fear not the tears and pain; I fear the loss of your love and trust. I fear not the darkness in the night;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laine/i-fear-not-the-tears-and-pain-i-fear-the-loss-of-your-love-and-trust/) [Laine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laine/) > [To me, what some people call "Pain" or "Fear", are just four-letter words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-hardy/to-me-what-some-people-call-pain-or-fear-are-just-four-letter-words/) [Jeff Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-hardy/) > [“Pain and fear are inextricable- but pain has multiple forms.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-e-schwab-2/pain-and-fear-are-inextricable-but-pain-has-multiple-forms/) [V. E. Schwab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-e-schwab-2/) > [They say the cure is about happiness, but I understand now that it isn't, and it never was. It's about fear: fear of pain,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/they-say-the-cure-is-about-happiness-but-i-understand-now-that-it-isn/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [The pain was her whole world now. Pain and fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-grant/the-pain-was-her-whole-world-now-pain-and-fear/) [Michael Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-grant/) ## More by Sheila Cassidy > [This conversion into prayer of our everyday joys, sorrows, hopes and desires is at first a conscious labor, but after a while it becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-cassidy/this-conversion-into-prayer-of-our-everyday-joys-sorrows-hopes-and/) [Sheila Cassidy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-cassidy/) > [We only deliberately waste time with those we love -- it is the purest sign that we love someone if we choose to spend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-cassidy/we-only-deliberately-waste-time-with-those-we-love-it-is-the-purest/) [Sheila Cassidy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-cassidy/) > [The world is not divided into the strong who care and the weak who are cared for. We must each in turn care and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-cassidy/the-world-is-not-divided-into-the-strong-who-care-and-the-weak-who/) [Sheila Cassidy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-cassidy/) > [“As I write this it sounds rather negative and hard but I do not mean it to be so. Happiness grounded in reality is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-cassidy/as-i-write-this-it-sounds-rather-negative-and-hard-but-i-do-not-mean/) [Sheila Cassidy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-cassidy/) > [Prayer, even more than eating or sleeping, is not a luxury but a necessity, and we are only fully human when we remember this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-cassidy/prayer-even-more-than-eating-or-sleeping-is-not-a-luxury-but-a/) [Sheila Cassidy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-cassidy/) > [“Much of our understanding of God's action in outlying is achieved in hindsight. When a particular crisis or event in our life has passed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-cassidy/much-of-our-understanding-of-god-s-action-in-outlying-is-achieved-in/) [Sheila Cassidy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-cassidy/) > [Slowly I learn the importance of powerlessness. I experience it in my own life and I live with it in my work. The secret…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-cassidy/slowly-i-learn-the-importance-of-powerlessness-i-experience-it-in-my/) [Sheila Cassidy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-cassidy/) > [What we feel at prayer is God's business, not ours, and we must strive to be totally abandoned to the presence of 'consolation' or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-cassidy/what-we-feel-at-prayer-is-god-s-business-not-ours-and-we-must-strive/) [Sheila Cassidy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-cassidy/) > [More than anything I have learned that we are all frail people, vulnerable and wounded; it is just that some of us are more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-cassidy/more-than-anything-i-have-learned-that-we-are-all-frail-people/) [Sheila Cassidy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-cassidy/) > [The tension between the call to the desert and to the market place arises not from the greater presence of God in one or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-cassidy/the-tension-between-the-call-to-the-desert-and-to-the-market-place/) [Sheila Cassidy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-cassidy/) > [Much of our understanding of God's action in our lives in achieved in hindsight. When a particular crisis or event in our life has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-cassidy/much-of-our-understanding-of-god-s-action-in-our-lives-in-achieved-in/) [Sheila Cassidy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-cassidy/) > [It is precisely because we cannot see God that we can only know that our prayer is valid by the effect it has upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-cassidy/it-is-precisely-because-we-cannot-see-god-that-we-can-only-know-that/) [Sheila Cassidy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-cassidy/) [Explore all 13 Sheila Cassidy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-cassidy/) ## More Anguish quotes > [“He put his forehead against hers. “Alannah, my heart is yours.” He said softly. “And yet, I must hand it over to someone else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-morin/he-put-his-forehead-against-hers-alannah-my-heart-is-yours-he-said/) [B.C. Morin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-morin/) > [Knowledge gives a wider choice and more anguish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-florman/knowledge-gives-a-wider-choice-and-more-anguish/) [Samuel Florman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-florman/) > [pg.9 "In my heart there's a peaceful anguish, and my calm is made of resignation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/pg-9-in-my-heart-there-s-a-peaceful-anguish-and-my-calm-is-made-of/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [Memory, with its fugitive adjustments, is the merciful veil to the grim enactments of the first law. It hides the anguish in the human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-aumonier/memory-with-its-fugitive-adjustments-is-the-merciful-veil-to-the-grim/) [Stacy Aumonier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-aumonier/) > [Our religion is itself profoundly sad - a religion of universal anguish, and one which, because of its very catholicity, grants full liberty to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/our-religion-is-itself-profoundly-sad-a-religion-of-universal-anguish/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Being human, we would expel from our lives physical pain and mental anguish and assure ourselves of continual ease and comfort, but if we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-w-kimball/being-human-we-would-expel-from-our-lives-physical-pain-and-mental/) [Spencer W. Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-w-kimball/) > [The intellectuals' chief cause of anguish are one another's works. Jacques Barzun, 1959 all ignorance toboggans into know and trudges up to ignorance again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/the-intellectuals-chief-cause-of-anguish-are-one-another-s-works/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [I saw my parents as gods whose every wish must be obeyed or I would suffer the penalty of anguish and guilt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-wood/i-saw-my-parents-as-gods-whose-every-wish-must-be-obeyed-or-i-would/) [Natalie Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-wood/) > [Every last cast is actually a first cast. The first cast and first chance to catch the next fish. The next time you anguish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-bishop/every-last-cast-is-actually-a-first-cast-the-first-cast-and-first/) [Tony Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-bishop/) > [Journalism is an extraordinary and terrible privilege. Not by chance, if you are aware of it, does it consume you with a hundred feelings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oriana-fallaci/journalism-is-an-extraordinary-and-terrible-privilege-not-by-chance/) [Oriana Fallaci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oriana-fallaci/) > [I have discovered in my long life that there are many words and phrases which have more power than any spell of magick. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-gemmell/i-have-discovered-in-my-long-life-that-there-are-many-words-and/) [David Gemmell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-gemmell/) > [One realizes that human relationships are the tragic necessity of human life; that they can never be wholly satisfactory, that every ego is half…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/one-realizes-that-human-relationships-are-the-tragic-necessity-of/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [I have designed my style pantomimes as white ink drawings on black backgrounds, so that man's destiny appears as a thread lost in an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-marceau/i-have-designed-my-style-pantomimes-as-white-ink-drawings-on-black/) [Marcel Marceau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-marceau/) > [So silently, peacefully, without hurry, without any tension, without any anguish, move into yourself instantly. It is urgent. Unless meditation becomes urgent to you,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/so-silently-peacefully-without-hurry-without-any-tension-without-any/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [It breaks my heart to think about a family weeping over the loss of a loved one. I understand the anguish that some feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-p-bush/it-breaks-my-heart-to-think-about-a-family-weeping-over-the-loss-of-a/) [George P. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-p-bush/) [Browse all 570 Anguish quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anguish/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When one is in very great pain and fear, it is extremely difficult to pray coherently, and I could only raise my mind in anguish to God and ask for strength to hold on.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sheila Cassidy" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-cassidy/when-one-is-in-very-great-pain-and-fear-it-is-extremely-difficult-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Anguish" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-cassidy/when-one-is-in-very-great-pain-and-fear-it-is-extremely-difficult-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b03/sheila-cassidy-36041_anguish_when-one-is-in-very-great-pain-and-fear_592386.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b03/sheila-cassidy-36041_anguish_when-one-is-in-very-great-pain-and-fear_592386.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b03/sheila-cassidy-36041_anguish_when-one-is-in-very-great-pain-and-fear_592386.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When one is in very great pain and fear, it is extremely difficult to pray coherently, and I could only…” — Sheila Cassidy", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Sheila Cassidy", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-cassidy/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "When one is in very great...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-cassidy/when-one-is-in-very-great-pain-and-fear-it-is-extremely-difficult-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-cassidy/when-one-is-in-very-great-pain-and-fear-it-is-extremely-difficult-to/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```