7 Small Ways to Walk With God—Even When Life Feels Heavy
You can love God and still have a hard day. Here are seven gentle ways to make room for faith, joy, and encouragement in the life you already have.
Maybe you meant to start the morning with prayer. Instead, you started it looking for a shoe.
Then the coffee went cold, somebody needed something, and your phone offered seventeen new reasons to feel behind. By lunchtime, the quiet moment you had planned with God was somewhere between answering that message and figuring out dinner.
If that sounds familiar, pull up a chair. You are not the only one.
Walking with God daily can begin with honest prayer, a few verses of Scripture, and one loving response to the person in front of you. Those small practices belong alongside deeper Bible study, worship, and community. They give faith somewhere to go on an ordinary Tuesday.
You do not have to get the whole day right to turn toward God in the middle of it.
You don’t have to wait for an easier life to experience joy
In a conversation with Mel Robbins, psychologist Dr. Kelly McGonigal challenges the idea that joy is something we earn once everything finally goes well.
She describes people finding connection and meaning amid caregiving, illness, and extraordinary hardship. Those moments do not erase suffering. They offer something sustaining within it. Listen to the discussion at 6:38–12:07.
That feels like an invitation worth considering: perhaps we can make room for goodness before we have everything figured out.
For Christians, it raises a deeper question. How can we notice God’s gifts, return to His Word, and care for one another in the life we actually have?
The seven practices below connect insights from the podcast with separately sourced research and our own Christian reflections. The faith applications are ours; the studies explore human behavior and well-being, not the effectiveness of Pop Open Cards.
Pick one practice that fits today. There will not be a quiz, and nobody is checking your highlighter collection.
Listener note: The linked podcast includes a casual use of “Oh my God” around 41:41 and discussions of depression, hopelessness, grief, serious illness, and war. No strong profanity was found in the supplied transcript; the audio has not been independently checked word for word. Please use your judgment when listening with children.
1. Begin with the prayer you actually have
Sometimes prayer sounds like gratitude. Sometimes it sounds like, “Lord, I do not know how to do this.”
Both can be honest beginnings.
At 44:45 in the podcast, McGonigal suggests starting with the emotions that are actually present and considering what they may be drawing our attention toward. Before trying to change how we feel, we can acknowledge where we are. Listen at 44:45–45:04.
There is an interesting research connection here. In a 2007 brain-imaging study, labeling the emotions in negative images was associated with reduced activity in the amygdala compared with other ways of processing those images. This was a laboratory task, not a study of prayer, but it offers evidence that putting emotion into words can influence our response to it. Read the research by Lieberman and colleagues.
The Psalms give us room for that kind of honesty with God. Psalm 13 begins with the ache of waiting. Its writer brings his questions into prayer while they are still questions.
You can do that, too. Tell God you are disappointed. Tell Him you are grateful. Tell Him you have been trying to hold everything together and could use some help.
Your prayer does not need better vocabulary. It can begin with the truth.
Carry hope today: Finish this sentence: “God, today I’m feeling…” Stay with that prayer for a moment before deciding what comes next.
2. Take one verse with you
Have you ever read something meaningful in the morning and completely forgotten it by lunchtime?
Good intentions can have surprisingly short legs.
In the podcast’s discussion of attention, McGonigal explains that we cannot process everything around us. She invites listeners to deliberately look for reminders of love, goodness, and care that might otherwise go unnoticed. Listen at 33:49–35:33.
A separate 2016 study series explored a related idea: connecting an intention with a distinctive cue can help people remember to act when the opportunity arrives. A reminder is especially useful when it catches our attention at a moment when we can do something about it. Read the research by Rogers and Milkman.
That suggests a simple way to use Pop Open Cards: little cards you pop open to reveal a Bible verse, ready to keep close or share.
Read the verse, then look up the surrounding Bible passage. Consider what it means in context. Place the card somewhere you will notice it, and decide what seeing it will remind you to do.
Perhaps a passage about love becomes a reminder to listen patiently before responding. Perhaps a passage about trust gives you words for a worry you keep carrying around.
This is our practical application of the reminder principle, not a claim that researchers tested the cards. A handwritten verse can serve the same purpose. The goal is to give your attention a gentle invitation back to Scripture.
Carry hope today: Place one verse beside your coffee maker or computer. When you notice it, pause for a short prayer connected to what you read.
3. Notice something good without denying what hurts
Some days, the hard things take up most of the view.
The appointment. The bill. The conversation that did not go well. The thing you are trying not to worry about, which has apparently decided to become your full-time companion.
You do not have to pretend those things have disappeared to notice a little goodness beside them.
McGonigal describes an overwhelming season involving her parents’ health. One practice she found sustaining was looking back for a highlight of the day, rather than giving every last moment of attention to what might go wrong tomorrow. Listen at 36:41–38:42.
That is her personal experience. Related research offers additional context: across three experiments, people assigned to gratitude-focused exercises showed benefits on several measures of well-being, though not all of them. The most consistent finding concerned positive emotion. Gratitude helped in some ways; it was not a universal fix. Read the research by Emmons and McCullough.
Philippians 4:8 invites believers to give attention to what is true, lovely, and worthy of praise. “True” belongs in that list. We can look honestly at our day and notice something worth giving thanks for within it.
Perhaps someone remembered to check on you. Perhaps the afternoon light caught your attention. Perhaps the dog greeted you like you had returned from a three-year expedition instead of the grocery store.
Carry hope today: Name one specific good thing before bed. Thank God for it, and tell Him what hurt, too. Gratitude and sadness can sit at the same table.
4. Bring prayer into a walk, a song, or an ordinary task
If adding another habit sounds exhausting, begin with something already in your day.
Pray while you walk the dog. Listen to a Psalm while you fold laundry. Play a meaningful worship song while you prepare dinner.
McGonigal discusses movement and music as resources that can help us engage with life. She also makes room for people who cannot stand or move in the suggested ways. The invitation is to work with what is available to you. Listen to the music discussion beginning at 22:43.
Here is a fascinating finding: researchers observed dopamine release during intensely pleasurable music listening. They also found that anticipating a musical high point and experiencing it involved different parts of the brain’s reward system. This concerns especially moving musical experiences—not a guarantee that every song will change everyone’s mood. Read the research by Salimpoor and colleagues.
For Christians, music can also carry words of worship and remembrance. Colossians 3:16 connects songs with the life of faith and community. A familiar hymn may give you words when your own feel difficult to find.
Take a prayer walk if that suits your body. Listen from your chair if that is what today allows. There is no spiritual leaderboard for step counts.
Carry hope today: Play one meaningful song during a familiar task. Notice a line you want to bring into prayer. You do not need to force a particular feeling.
5. Remember who helped you through
One of the podcast’s most moving moments comes when Robbins remembers friends meeting her at the hospital during a frightening crisis involving her newborn son.
Years later, that memory still reminds her that she was not alone. It also makes her want to be someone who shows up for others. Listen at 29:10–32:40.
There is research behind the idea that remembering can become a resource. Across two experiments involving an acute stressor, recalling positive personal memories, rather than neutral memories, was followed by a smaller rise in cortisol and less negative emotion. These were short-term experimental findings, not proof that remembering something happy resolves grief or trauma. Read the research by Speer and Delgado.
Psalm 77 moves from distress into remembering God’s deeds. The questions do not all disappear. Remembering gives the writer something else to hold alongside them.
Your memory does not have to involve a dramatic rescue. It may be the friend who listened without rushing you. The meal that arrived. The person who quietly took care of something you did not have the energy to handle.
Those moments count.
If a particular memory feels too painful to revisit, choose another. This is an invitation, not an emotional obstacle course.
Carry hope today: Write down one memory of being cared for. Ask what it reminds you of now. If someone helped, consider thanking them—they may not know what their kindness meant.
6. Let encouragement become something you do
You do not have to feel wonderfully hopeful before doing something kind.
At 56:18, McGonigal describes choosing actions that make connection or joy more possible. One of her examples is sending an encouraging note to let someone know they are being thought of. Listen at 56:18–57:33.
That is a natural connection to the heart behind Pop Open Cards. Encouragement becomes something a person can hold, reread, and carry into the rest of their day.
Research also suggests that kindness can benefit the giver. A 2018 review combined 27 experiments involving 4,045 people and found a small-to-medium average improvement in the giver’s well-being. That is a modest benefit across studies, not a promise that every generous gesture will make you happy or receive a response. Read the review by Curry and colleagues.
First Thessalonians 5:11 calls us to encourage and build one another up. The place to begin is with the person: What are they carrying? What would help? What might make them feel remembered?
A Pop Open Card with a personal note can be part of that care. So can a meal, a ride, or ten unhurried minutes.
If someone needs a listening ear, let them finish. If they need practical help, the card can accompany it. And if they decline a card, kindness still looks like respecting their answer.
Carry hope today: Think of one person and ask, “What would make them feel cared for?” Choose one small action. No perfect speech required.
7. Let someone encourage you, too
It is possible to become so used to checking on everyone else that you forget you are allowed to need a check-in.
In the podcast, McGonigal offers a generous reframe: accepting help can give another person an opportunity to contribute and connect. She also describes how shared experiences can create a bridge between people who were previously strangers. Listen at 57:57–1:02:11.
A small laboratory study offers a striking illustration of supportive presence. In a 2006 experiment involving 16 married women, holding a husband’s hand reduced threat-related brain responses while participants anticipated possible electric shocks. It was a small, specific sample, but it illustrates that support can matter at a bodily level. It does not mean every relationship or every kind of touch feels safe. Read the research by Coan, Schaefer, and Davidson.
Galatians 6:2 calls us to carry one another’s burdens. Sometimes you help carry. Sometimes you let a trustworthy person take a little of the weight.
You might ask a friend to pray with you. Accept the offer of dinner. Tell someone that the cheerful answer you gave earlier was not the whole story.
If you do not currently have that person, a supportive church community, peer group, or qualified counselor may be a place to begin. Loneliness is not proof that you have failed.
Carry hope today: Tell one safe person something true about your week. You do not have to tell the whole story at once.
Start with one small thing
Please do not turn these seven ideas into seven new reasons to feel behind.
Choose one. Pray honestly while the coffee brews. Carry a verse. Notice something lovely. Remember someone who helped. Give encouragement without expecting anything back. Let yourself receive a little care.
Some days, these practices may feel comforting. Other days, you may still feel tired afterward. Your emotions do not have to change on command for your prayer to be sincere.
Christian hope is more than a good feeling we manage to produce. It is trust in God that we practice even when the feeling is hard to find. Seeking professional support when needed is not a failure of that trust. Prayer, community, and encouraging reminders can accompany care.
That is the heart behind Pop Open Cards: carry hope, share God’s promises.
A small card can invite a moment with Scripture or help someone feel remembered. Keep a few close for yourself and a few to share. You do not need a perfect opportunity. You can begin with the person already on your mind.
Explore Pop Open Cards and find a little hope to carry.
You can love God and still have a hard day. You can also begin again right in the middle of it—even if the coffee needs reheating.
0 comments