What to Read in the Bible When You Feel Spiritually Burnt Out

There are seasons when opening the Bible feels heavy instead of hopeful. You still believe. You still love God. But the energy to try feels gone. Spiritual burnout doesn’t always look dramatic. Sometimes it looks like silence. Like scrolling instead of praying. Like avoiding Scripture because you don’t want to feel guilty for not feeling anything. If that’s where you are right now, this isn’t a call to “do more.” It’s an invitation to rest with God, not away from Him.

Here are passages to read when your faith feels tired, scattered, or emotionally spent.

1. Psalm 23 (When You Need Permission to Rest)

“He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside still waters.”

Psalm 23 is not a productivity passage. It doesn’t ask you to prove anything. It doesn’t demand more faith, more effort, or more discipline. It reminds you that God leads toward rest, not exhaustion. If spiritual burnout has made you feel like you’re constantly falling short, start here. Read it slowly. Let the words wash over you without trying to analyze or apply them.

You don’t need to “get something” from this passage. You’re allowed to simply be led.

2. Matthew 11:28–30 (When You’re Tired of Trying)

“Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

This invitation isn’t conditional. It doesn’t say, come once you’ve fixed yourself or come when you feel faithful again. It says: come tired.

Spiritual burnout often comes from carrying things God never asked you to hold expectations, performance, comparison, pressure to appear “on fire” all the time. Jesus doesn’t pile more onto you here. He offers rest that fits; gentle, not heavy.

3. Lamentations 3:22–23 (When You’re Running on Empty)

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.”

This passage was written in grief, not comfort. That matters. Burnout doesn’t mean you’re ungrateful. It often means you’ve been strong for too long. This reminder is quiet but powerful: you are still here because God’s compassion hasn’t run out, even if you feel depleted.

You don’t need a breakthrough today. You just need mercy for this moment.

4. Psalm 42 (When You Feel Distant From God)

“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?”

Psalm 42 gives language to something many believers feel but rarely say out loud: I miss God, and I don’t know how to get back. This Psalm doesn’t pretend closeness. It doesn’t rush healing. It names longing honestly. If spiritual burnout has created distance, this is a place to sit without shame. God is not offended by your honesty; He invites it.

5. Romans 8:1 (When Guilt Is Making Everything Worse)

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Burnout thrives on guilt. Guilt for not praying enough. Guilt for not feeling grateful. Guilt for feeling numb. This verse cuts through all of it. Your exhaustion is not a moral failure. Your quiet season is not rejection. Your faith is not fragile because it’s tired.

Condemnation is not your portion here.

If Opening the Bible Still Feels Hard

Sometimes spiritual burnout makes even these passages feel like too much and that’s okay. Faith doesn’t have to be loud to be real. Connection doesn’t have to be constant to be sincere.

You are allowed to approach God slowly. You are allowed to need tools that meet you where you are. That’s why this space exists.. not to push, but to support.

If your faith needs gentleness right now, you’re welcome here. Explore the journals and reflections created for women who want depth without pressure, rest without guilt, and faith that fits into real life.

🤍 You’re not behind. You’re just human.