When You’re Too Tired to Pray Another Prayer
Have you ever stood in the shower, whispering, “Lord, I can’t do this anymore”?
The dishes are undone, the house is in chaos, your body is aching—and tomorrow’s responsibilities are already pressing in. You love God. You pray. You serve. But you wonder if your faith will hold under the weight of caregiving.
If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Many Christian caregivers—spouses, daughters, sons, even grandchildren—carry the same hidden exhaustion. You want to care faithfully. You want to honor God. But you’re worn down by long nights, difficult choices, and the silence of feeling unseen.
Friend, I want to remind you today: trusting God when too tired is not about your strength—it’s about His.
God Renews You When You Are Weary
Caregiving is not a sprint; it is a marathon. And like any runner, there are moments when your legs feel like they can’t take another step.
Isaiah 40:29–31 tells us:
“He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength… they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles.”
When you say, “I can’t,” God whispers, “I can.”
When you are too tired to plan tomorrow, He promises new strength for today.
Try this today:
- Pause and pray a simple breath prayer: “Lord, renew me.”
- Write down one small task for today instead of all the tasks for the week.
- Remember that rest is not weakness—it’s stewardship.
Your Efforts Will Bear Fruit
Maybe you’ve asked, Does any of this even matter? The midnight laundry. The hard conversations. The endless repetition.
Galatians 6:9 reminds us: “Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”
Your caregiving faithfulness is not wasted. God sees every hidden act of service. The harvest may not come in the form the world promises—ease, recognition, or financial gain—but it will come in God’s timing.
Think of caregiving like planting seeds:
- Every act of love is a seed.
- Every sacrifice is a seed.
- Every prayer whispered in tears is a seed.
God is the one who brings the harvest.
Weakness Is Not the End of the Story
In a marathon, runners hit a wall—muscles scream, lungs burn, and they feel finished. Caregiving feels the same. You think, I don’t have anything left.
Psalm 73:26 reminds us: “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
Your endurance doesn’t rest on how tightly you can cling to God. It rests on the truth that God clings to you.
This is where the DigniCare™ Method helps caregivers like you reframe your role:
- Decide: Accept that God has placed this season in your life.
- Clarify: Define what matters most—your walk with God and your loved one’s dignity.
- Assess: Identify where you are—your strengths, your limits, your resources.
- Steward: Faithfully manage yourself, your skills, and your support systems.
- Grow: Let this season sanctify you, shaping your faith for eternity.
Trusting God when too tired means remembering you are not alone in this. He is carrying both you and your loved one.
The Finish Line Is Eternity
This caregiving journey will not last forever. There is a finish line—and it is Christ Himself.
Hebrews 12:1–2 urges us: “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.”
The finish line is not simply the end of your caregiving role. It is the eternal presence of Christ. That’s the joy set before you. That’s the promise that makes today bearable.
Remember:
- Caregiving is temporary.
- Glory is eternal.
- Christ carries both you and your loved one across the finish line.
This is what I call Therapeutic Truth-Telling™ — speaking truth with compassion, never hiding behind lies or avoidance.
What You Can Do Today
If you are too tired to take another step, ask yourself: Am I fixing my eyes on my own strength—or on Jesus?
You don’t have to walk this alone. That’s why I’ve created a Christian Caregiver Community where you can receive biblically grounded support, join monthly prayer calls, and gain lifetime access to a library of practical tools—all for less than $100.
And if you want to start small, join my free monthly workshop: How To Immediately Reduce Dementia Caregiver Overwhelm and Stress In 3 Easy Steps.
Final Encouragement
Christian caregiver, you have hope. You may be exhausted, but you are not abandoned. God is a God of dignity, of order, and of truth. And in Him, you will find the strength to keep running this race—not because you are strong, but because He is.
I pray the Lord blesses you and keeps you as you continue caring for your loved one. Now, take the next step. Join the workshop. Step into the community. Let’s walk this road together.
Transcript
Have you ever thought, I am so tired, I love the Lord, I pray,
Introduction to Caregiving Journey
I serve, but I don’t think I can keep doing this. Maybe you have whispered the same words that I think all the time. Maybe you’ve dragged yourself through another long day of caregiving and wondered how on earth you will find the strength for tomorrow. Caregiving doesn’t just wear out your body, it can wear out your faith. So how do you keep trusting God when you’re too tired to keep going? Hey Christian Care Companion, welcome to Dementia Caregiver Support for Christians, the podcast where I help Bible-believing Christians walk this marathon of caregiving with clarity, perseverance, and the steady hope that Christ himself is the one who carries you to the finish line. If you are a weary caregiver who wonders if your faith will hold, a spouse who feels like your strength is gone, or a family member who fears you cannot endure this pace, this podcast is for you. But before we start.
I want to invite you into our new Christian caregiver community for less than $100 and a one-time investment. You get lifetime access. That includes monthly Ask Me Anything calls, a regular prayer meeting to lift one another up before the Lord, and a curated library of content so you don’t have to dig for your answers, all from a Christian worldview. And you will have access to ask me questions in a space in between the sessions. So this is practical stewardship in action. It is a safe, faith-filled community designed to keep you steady in the long haul. Away from the world’s view of dementia and looking at it through God’s lens of our sanctification.
And here is your invitation. I’m looking for the first 100 caregivers to join me by the end of this year. If you are amongst the first 100, you will receive a 15-minute personal welcome walk through with me. The link is in the show notes, and this is a gift of simplicity in your complicated season. And if you’d like to start smaller, don’t miss out on our free monthly workshop. It is happening this Saturday, September the 6th at noon, and I’ll be teaching live, answering your questions and helping you find real strength and hope for your caregiving journey.
Joining the Caregiver Community
You can sign up at thinkdifferentdementia.com forward slash WSL.
Whether it’s in the community or in the workshop, take the next step. You do not have to do this alone. We are here together in this and now we are going to continue the conversation from our last episode where we talked about how dementia caregiving is shaping your identity in christ and
The Weight of Caregiving
But not by erasing you or letting you go away, but by renewing you in Christ. And let’s be honest, even when we know that God is at work, we get tired. Some days you wonder if you can take another step. Last episode, I was reflecting. The two episodes were recorded back to back.
And so I was reflecting this morning in the shower. I’m like, Lord, I can’t do this. I don’t have any more in me. We’re in the middle of moving. My house is a mess. I moved in with my dad. My office is a mess. I am privileged to come work here.
And our duplex is a mess. And we’ve got to get it put together so that we can rent it out. And all of that is going on in my head. And I was exhausted. And I wondered, how am I going to record two podcasts and an intro and do an interview with somebody and go get this duplex put together? But scripture is clear. The Christian life is race. It is not a sprint. It is a marathon. And the only way we keep going is not in our own strength, but by God’s promise to sustain us until the end. And what’s really interesting is I was exhausted this morning in the shower at 6 a.m., and it is now 10.30, and I’m energized because I have been focusing my eyes on serving you and serving the Lord and praying for His kingdom to come and not my will be done. And so, the Lord, God promises to sustain us in this journey.
So, first thing, the race is long, but God will renew you when you are weary. The second thing is, the reward is sure, God promises us a harvest. The third thing is we are weak but God is your portion forever and the last thing is the finish line is eternity it is glory it is being with God and so I encourage you today today’s episode is to encourage you that when you’re tired that when you’re exhausted to continue to trust God in the season.
We live in a series of transitions. We live in a series of moments. And this moment is but a light, temporary affliction, even though it feels never-ending. One of my recent clients, one of my one-on-one clients, I remember having this conversation with her. She was in the middle of a crisis. So we’re talking about the endurance for the marathon, but the marathon in our life is also interspersed with these friends. And what I told her was when we know how long a season is going to be, it is easier for us to have endurance for the race because there is an end point. And my encouragement to her was, in my experience, my 30 years plus of being an occupational therapist, the sprint, the crisis, the incident.
Lasts about four months. And so she was in the middle of this messy mix of four months. And so I encouraged her to know that this season of crazy, of doing, is going to last about four months and then we’ll have stability again. So the reason I bring that up is because the race is long and God will renew you. And so interestingly enough, this particular client, she’s had a little bit of a breather, and just that little bit of reprieve has given her the ability to renew herself, because God is giving her some rest. Some things happened, some things changed, and we were able to get some additional support around her. But Isaiah 40 verses 29 through 31 tells us, He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might, he increases strength.
Even youth shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted. But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint.
God Renews the Weary
So, yes, the race is long, but God renews the weary.
Endurance is not just about pushing through all the tasks. It is not just about continuing. It is about waiting on the Lord who will help renew your strength for the next thing, for the next day.
I know it doesn’t feel like that. And that is where practical stewardship does come in action. And I mentioned this the last solo episode. I’m recording the two back-to-back, so the last episode is kind of in my mind. And this morning in the shower, as I was reflecting on all the busyness, all the things, I’m running a business, I am a wife, I’m a caregiver, I’m a mother, I’m a daughter of the King. I have all of these roles and responsibilities and all the stuff, the busyness. I woke up this morning in a not good headspace and I’m like, I can’t do this, Lord. I can’t do this. So it’s a good day for me to be recording this podcast on endurance because he has given me the endurance to do this. He helped me reframe my thinking. He helped me focus on what I need to do. He helped remind me that he is the one carrying me through this, and he has focused my eyes on his kingdom through the recording of this podcast.
So this podcast is a service to you. It is my gift to you to point your eyes to Christ, but it is also God’s way of renewing me in the inner man and allowing me to get renewed by him because it’s focusing my eyes back on scripture. It is focusing my eyes on praying for you, praying for this community, praying for the business, praying for my dad, praying for my kids, all of these things.
The Sure Reward
So the race is long and God will renew you when you are tired. The second thing is, we of all people, of all caregivers, have a sure and certain reward. God promises us a harvest. So.
I know that sometimes in the messy middle of the doing, the cleaning the sheets, the incontinent episodes, the short temper that we may have, we wonder if this makes a difference, if it matters, because it feels like no one is seeing all of the hard, all of the long nights, all of the difficult choices. And Galatians 6 verse 9 tells us, let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season you will reap if we do not give up, right? For in due season we, you and me, will reap if we do not give up. So marathons are not won in the first mile.
Marathons are won by continued, steady, faithful steps, step by step by step. And your obedience, even though it is not seen necessarily by the world, is not wasted. God is promising you a harvest. It may not be a harvest here. It may not be a monetary harvest. It may not be an easy caregiving journey. It may not be any of the things that the world tells us that you should want. You should want ease. You should not want to feel overwhelmed. You should not be in burnout, all of these things. That’s what the world tells us. But God promises you a harvest, a harvest in eternity. It’s not a harvest today. It is a harvest in eternity. So our journey as a Christian is a series of mortifying yourself. It is a series of perseverance in the faith, right? And when God calls you to this role, when God calls you to himself.
He will carry you to the finish line. And we are not running with uncertainty. And as an aside, if your loved one who is living with dementia is a believer, then God himself is carrying them to the finish line. It’s not you, it’s not me, it’s God. God will complete our faith for us because we cannot do it ourselves. He carries you to the finish line. You are not running in uncertainty and the prize is sure because Christ has secured it for us. We will not fall away.
Weakness and Strength
We will have endurance for the race. And the third thing that we’re going to look at, yes, I am weak. The runner is weak, but God is your portion forever.
So I know sometimes it feels like we are running on fumes. There are a lot of things. We got to navigate healthcare. We got to navigate keeping ourselves well. We’ve got to do all of these things. And all of that falls under the umbrella of our stewardship. So if you’ve been following along with me, the first phase that we go through is accepting the calling that God has given us to be a caregiver. The second phase that we go through is to define clearly where we are going. Where are we going? And remember, this is not a we’re going to a nursing home or an assisted living, etc. Those things are true. Those things are real. We got to deal with them for sure. But where do we want to be after our caregiving journey is done? And that is with the eye on eternity. Me as a Christian believer, how do I want to come through this? How do I want a lost and dying world to see my caregiving as a sacrifice, my response to the adversity that I am experiencing? Clarity, clarity on where we’re going. Then the third phase is we’re assessing where we are. Where am I as a human, as a caregiver? What are my strengths? What are my weaknesses?
What is the stage of dementia? What are the resources we have available? That is what we do in the assess phase. And then the fourth phase of this is stewardship. And we’re constantly stewarding three things, ourself, our skills, and our resources, right? And so when you look at this through a stewardship lens, it changes your perspective.
Navigating Our Caregiving Journey
And then the last phase of this is our own growth in sanctification. But the third point here, where we’re talking about the runner is weak. I want to remind you that Psalm 73 verse 24 says, My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. He will carry you and me through. In a marathon, a body has its limits. Your muscles scream, you get tired.
The same is true in our caregiving journey. The same is true in life. The same is true when you have a baby. The same is through when you start a new job or you’re moving, all of these things. We are living in a marathon, but our confidence is not in ourselves. It is that God is our portion and he will not let you go. So the Westminster Confession speaks of the perseverance of the saints, that those who are truly saved can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere to the end and be eternally saved. This means that, Our endurance doesn’t rest on us holding on and clinging to God. It rests on God clinging to us. He takes you through.
The Finish Line of Glory
And then lastly, remember, the finish line is glory. The finish line is eternity. The finish line is your loved one, if they’re a believer, being upheld and being in the kingdom of God. It is you, when you are finished with running your race as a Christian, being in the presence of Christ, Hebrews 12 verses 1 and 2 say, Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and the perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated, he is finished, seated at the right hand of the throne of God. He endured the cross. This caregiving journey is our cross to endure. And just in spite of that.
He is going to be the one to uphold us all the way through this journey. Caregiving is not forever. The finish line is Christ himself in eternity. And the joy set before us is far greater than the pain that we are enduring now, than the fact that the person we love is going to die, the fact that our children are going to die. All of these things are not forever there is one thing and one thing only that is forever and that is eternity you and i were born we have a beginning and we have eternity and if you are not a believer and you’re listening to this podcast i’m excited that you’re here reach out to me i’d love to have a conversation with you because we have a physical body and an undying soul and we are going to be in one of two places. So we pray for you. I pray for all unbelieving caregivers, because I think that is why the world’s view of dementia is so terrible. It’s because it’s coming from the space of having no hope. We have hope. Christian caregiver, you have hope. You have hope in Christ. So even if this journey lasts for years. And it can.
It is temporary compared to the eternal weight of glory in Christ. Keep your eyes on him. Keep your eyes on him. So, firstly, the race is long, but God will renew you. Secondly, the harvest is sure. Perseverance is never wasted.
Thirdly, yes, your strength may fail, probably will, but God is your portion forever. And lastly, the finish line is Christ himself, and he will not let you fail.
Reflecting on Our Strength
So I want you to reflect. If you are too tired to take the next step, like I was this morning in the shower, Are you fixing your eyes on your own strength or on Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith? And I will tell you, the moment I started doing these podcasts where I fixed my eyes on Christ, it changed 100% how I see today, how I see the tasks ahead of me, how excited I was to serve new today. And yet again, if you need more help, come to the free workshop. It is tomorrow, September the 6th. The link is thinkdifferentdementia.com forward slash WSL.
If you are ready for the next step, join the Christian caregiving community. This is the lowest place that I can think of to serve you as a Christian. I want thousands of people in there because there is power when we are together. There is power when we pray for each other, when we uplift each other, and when we look at your caregiving journey through the eyes of God’s view on caregiving and not our view on caregiving and our view on dementia,
God’s Order and Truth in Caregiving
it radically changes your world.
God is a God of dignity. We are created in his image and we have dignity and worth because of that. Not because of who we are, not because we’re independent, not because we have autonomy, but because God created us. The second thing is there is order. There is order in this process. It is not confusing. I can show you that because I serve a God of order. There is order and dimension. And lastly, I serve a God of truth. We can do this truthfully. We do not need to use therapeutic lying. I’m excited to show you how. That is what we look at in the $100 lifetime access. Well, it’s less than $100 lifetime access community. And you will hear more about it if you need to come to the workshop. We can talk about it there. It is a low barrier of entry, and my goal is 100 caregivers in there by the end of this year. Will you help me meet that goal?
I pray for you every day, and as I end all of the episodes, may the Lord bless you and keep you, and I will see you in the next coaching style episode. We’re going to look at how to communicate differently in late-stage dementia without frustration. So it’s another coaching-style episode. I hope to see you there, and thank you for listening. If you like these episodes, please share with another Christian caregivers, and may the Lord bless you. See you next time.
