How Preaching This Week Impacts You Physically and Emotionally

I’ve heard my whole life that, “Pastoring is hard.” I’m a fourth generation preacher’s kid, and I pastored 20 years before stepping away after a severe extended season of depression. So yes, I agree pastoring is a hard job. The emotional and spiritual weight alone is heavy, but add the pressure of preaching this week, or every week, and it becomes overwhelming.

In one sense, pastoring is hard because it’s leadership, and leadership is hard no matter what industry you’re in. I have a friend who’s a pediatrician and another friend who owns a construction business. Trust me, their job is hard, too.

But in another sense pastoring is hard because it has a unique requirement that other leaders don’t have: Preaching every 7 days.

Pastoring is one of the few professions where giving a regular public presentation is part of the job (along with other responsibilities).

So, on top of the leadership and spiritual responsibilities you carry, there is also a public relations element to your job, because every 7 days you stand in front of a group of people and do the most visible (and, I would argue, most influential) thing you do.

Needless to say, that takes a toll on you. I’m sure you already know that, but you probably don’t know just how much it affects you. Let me give you some data to show you how preaching every week is destroying your body.

What Is Happening To Your Body As You Think About Preaching This Week?

In 2017, researchers studied college students before they gave a class presentation. They measured their salivary cortisol (the stress hormone), heart rate, and blood pressure on a normal day, and then again on presentation day. The results were clear.

Cortisol levels spiked hours before they spoke a word. It turns out just thinking about speaking creates a measurable stress response. Other classic stress research on lectures/public talks show similar patterns: elevated cortisol and changes in stress hormones before and after a talk.

What does this mean: When the human body anticipates danger (or a threat) it releases cortisol to motivate you to get ready to run or fight. You may have heard this called, “Fight or Flight.” 

When our ancestors were walking in the woods and saw a bear, their cortisol levels would spike to activate their survival instincts. We don’t fight bears anymore, but when our body senses danger, real or perceived, it reacts the same—cortisol activates survival instincts.

Put simply, every seven days as you prepare to preach, your nervous system is deciding if you should run or fight a grizzly bear in order to avoid being eaten.

When cortisol rises occasionally, it helps you become a peak performer. But when cortisol stays high for long stretches of time, it can damage you. Living with a “survival mindset” causes:

1. Chronic exhaustion and burnout

Long-term cortisol keeps your system revved up, which eventually leads to deep fatigue, emotional numbness, and full-on burnout. It’s like keeping a car in first gear on the interstate.

2. Weight gain (especially around the abdomen)

Cortisol increases appetite and pushes your body to store fat in the midsection. 

3. Elevated blood pressure and heart issues

Because cortisol raises your heart rate and blood pressure, it puts strain on the cardiovascular system. Over time, this increases the risk of heart disease, and stroke.

4. Sleep disruption

High cortisol makes it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep. And poor sleep raises cortisol even more. This becomes a brutal feedback loop: stress → bad sleep → more stress → worse sleep.

5. Irritability, Anxiety, and Depression

Chronic cortisol changes your mood. People under long-term stress commonly report: persistent anxiety, feelings of hopelessness, emotional withdrawal, and decreased empathy.

As you read that list, does anything feel familiar? Do you know any pastors who are chronically tired, overweight, having health issues, struggle to rest, and are moody?

The science and our real life experience make it clear: you were not created to live in survival mode. It’s bad for you physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

What’s the Solution?

So what can you do? I love that question, because I had my own crash and burn experience after 20 years of pastoring. 

I’ve been singing and speaking on stages since I was 5 years old, and finally at 40 years old, my nervous system hijacked my body and took me hostage. I finally had to face all the ways living a public life had affected me. You can only outrun so many bears.

Looking back at my own experience, and walking with so many other pastors, I believe there are at least 3 things every pastor/preacher needs to lower the “survival” mindset we’ve gotten used to. I want to be clear, you’ll never completely get away from the “threats” of ministry. It’s part of the job. And there are certainly no hacks that can get you out of the work of sermon planning. There are just good systems and resources to help you get ahead and stay inspired.

So let me give them to you. 

3 Practices for Healthy Preaching This Week (and Every Week)

1. A Preaching Plan

If simply thinking about preaching this week can trigger a threat response in your body, imagine what happens when it’s Thursday, and your brain is thinking, “what am I going to preach this week???”

That’s why I’m such a big proponent of using a preaching calendar. I know some pastors worry about planning too far ahead because they lean on their gut and instinct, but I would challenge that and say you can still plan in a way that gives you room to lean on your instincts .

I’ve written a lot more about preaching calendars and how to use one here. But having a plan in place is one of the most beneficial things you can do for your soul, your family, and your team. Yes, there’s still work to be done the week of, but you’re not starting from zero.

You can download a free preaching calendar here if you’re interested in trying to get ahead in your sermon planning.

2. A Strong Devotional Life

When I say a devotional life, I don’t just mean reading the Bible or praying. I mean something much deeper than that. I’m talking about a sacred space where you get to be God’s child, not God’s messenger.

That might look like:

• Turning off your phone so no one can get a hold of you
• Sitting in silence to identify and experience your feelings
• Meditating on scripture and letting it speak to you

We have good intentions, but tragically we often end up watching another sermon or listening to a podcast because we know we’re preaching this week and we need some ideas.

72% of pastors said they study the Bible only when preparing sermons or lessons. (That stat is from 2006, but still speaks to the deep dilemma pastors face.)

I don’t believe this is from a lack of discipline or motivation. I think it’s a symptom of the unrelenting pressure to produce. A devotional life is meant to be a private place with God where you’re not pastoring anyone or producing any content. But it’s difficult to do.

You’re Busy

First, it’s difficult because you’re busy. Who has time to sit still? Ministry is full of urgent needs, and constant responsibilities. Not to mention your family responsibilities. Quiet often feels like a luxury, not a necessity.

We’re Performers

But another reason it’s difficult is that we are performers and we feel pressure to constantly have “material.” That pressure turns every scripture into a potential sermon, and every journal entry into a brainstorming session. When you’re desperate to put a sermon together, everything is for sale (even the thing your kid did this week that you will use for an illustration).

A devotional life is soul care. It allows you to preach authentically from a healthy place, and the best thing you can ever bring to your sermon is your healthy self.

3. Rest

Rest for a pastor is tricky. When you work “for God,” to stop working seems sinful. But rest is essential.

Pastors need rest in so many areas. 67% of pastors feel they must be “on-call” 24 hours a day. The good news is this feeling has declined steadily from 84% in 2015 and 71% in 2021. Even though most pastors still feel the pressure to always be available, the trend downward shows that healthier boundaries are slowly becoming more accepted in ministry. 

But let’s talk specifically about preaching rest. Put simply, your body needs a break. Preaching every Sunday—even if you love it—is physically and emotionally demanding. It wears on your voice, and it drains your creativity. (Remember, you’re fighting a grizzly bear).

Anytime I talk about rest, I have to acknowledge that most pastors lead churches of less than 100 people with no staff to help carry the load of preaching this week, and usually expectations from the church to never miss a Sunday. So I’m not oblivious to the fact that finding weekends off from preaching is a giant obstacle for many pastors. Often it’s harder to find a replacement so we just muscle through and end up preaching too much.

Let me offer a few suggestions if you do not have any other ministers in your church to share the load.

1. Ask a retired minister in your community to preach.

You may have to pay them a small honorarium, but often they’re so grateful for a place to preach they will do it for free. Especially if you tell them the reason you’re not preaching this week is to take a break for your health.

2. Host a testimony interview

If you’re preaching a series on prayer, take one week and interview a prayer warrior in your church. What’s their story? How did they learn how to pray? What are some miraculous answered prayers they’ve experienced? People will like it more than you think.

3. Trade pulpits with another pastor in another city (preferably one by a beach 😉)

Yes, you still have to exert physical energy preaching, but you can preach a sermon you are already familiar with and save yourself the mental strain of sermon preparation. Then get there a few days early or stay a few days later and rest.

4. Have a “communicator Sunday.”

Ask 5 people in your church to do a 5-minute sermon. Everyone who knows them will be thrilled to support them, and regardless of the “quality” of the sermons, it will give your church energy to support each other.

5. Cancel service

Ok, maybe this one wouldn’t work, but I’m so serious about you getting rest that I’d be in favor of it. I know it’s hard to find a solution, but your body needs a break.

You can see more ideas people have given on this threads post asking for suggestions.

*One quick note for my pastor friends who do have people around you who could preach instead of you, but you don’t ask them or let them, because they don’t preach as good as you. You’re severely overestimating your importance. You could easily take 4-6 more Sundays off from preaching each year and not only would your church be fine, they would probably like the variety.

Conclusion: You Don’t Have To Live This Way

If you’ve made it this far, you might be feeling two things at once: a sense of relief (“Oh, so this is why I feel the way I feel”) and a sense of grief (“I’ve been carrying more than I realized.”) Both are holy.

Pastoring, especially preaching, is sacred work, but it’s just that—work. It’s not who you are, it’s what you do. Don’t preach truth that heals others, while you slowly destroy your body. You tell people to rest in God while your own nervous system hasn’t rested in months.

If that’s you, hear me: You’re human. And you’re carrying a weight most people will never understand. But here’s the hopeful part: none of this is irreversible.

Your body can heal, your mind can recover, and your soul can breathe again.

Get a plan.
Build a devotional life.
Prioritize rest.

You don’t have to fight so many bears.

If you’re interested in book recommendations on Pastoral Health, what are you looking for? I wrote about my favorites here.