Is there a record of an association of prayer with pain? It is well known and well documented that spiritual ecstasies (and the like) are present in Christianity (Paul caught up into heaven &amp;c.). I am looking for theological works which expound on the opposite.

Is there a record (Biblical or extra Biblical) of the association of physical pain with prayer? Clearly Francis of Assisi and all who had the stigmata were afflicted because of/during prayer, but I was wondering if there was any other form which was well known
In Dark Night of the Soul, which is a Western work, John of the Cross talks about the extreme pain that the soul undergoes during prayer if/when God is removing its impurities. 

Also, from the East, tears are considered to be an important part of prayer, and they represent the pain of the soul for its sins being poured out in tears of repentance. 

As for experiencing physical pain, that appears to be a Western phenomena, the Eastern Church does not have record of anyone experiencing stigmata.

Here is the text for the common hymn for an asectic in the Eastern Church:


  With the streams of your tears, you cultivated the barrenness of the
  desert; and by your sighing from the depths, you beared fruit a
  hundredfold in labours; and you became a luminary, shining with
  miracles upon the world, O (name of saint) our righteous
  Father/Mother. Intercede with Christ God that our souls be saved.