Bible verses · from RenounceBible verses for when you are tired
Tiredness can make a long struggle feel impossible. The Bible does not tell tired people to push harder. It shows God feeding, resting and strengthening people who had nothing left. These verses come from the World English Bible. Pray the short prayer at the end.
Short answer
Isaiah 40:29-31 is God's word to people who had run out of strength.
The prophet speaks to a people in exile: he gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might he increases strength. Even youths faint and grow weary, but those who wait for the LORD will renew their strength. The promise is to those who wait.
Isaiah 40:29-31
He gives power to the weary
Isaiah 40 was written to people who felt that God had forgotten them. The prophet reminds them that the LORD does not faint or grow weary, and that his understanding is unsearchable. Then he says that he gives power to the faint. Even young people get tired, and no one is too strong to need him.
The ones who renew their strength are those who wait for him. Waiting is not passive in this passage. It is leaning your weight on God while you still have to live your day.
He gives power to the weak. He increases the strength of him who has no might. Even the youths faint and get weary, and the young men utterly fall; but those who wait for the LORD will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, and not be weary. They will walk, and not faint.
Isaiah 40:29-31
Elijah slept and ate
1 Kings 19 describes a prophet at the end of his strength. Elijah is running for his life, sits under a juniper tree, and asks that he might die. God does not give him a lecture. An angel touches him and says, arise and eat. There is a cake baked on coals and a jar of water. He eats, drinks and lies down again.
The angel comes a second time with more food, because the journey is too great for him. God sees that Elijah needs rest and food before he needs anything else.
When he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree. Then he requested for himself that he might die, and said, “It is enough. Now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.” He lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold, an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat!” He looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on the coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. The LORD’s angel came again the second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.” He arose, and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, God’s Mountain.
1 Kings 19:3-8
- When you are depleted, eat, drink and sleep before you judge yourself.
- If tiredness has grown into thoughts of hurting yourself, call or text 988 in the United States, or your local emergency number, and tell someone near you tonight.
Rest is a gift
Psalm 127 says that it is vain for you to rise up early, to stay up late, and to eat the bread of toil, for he gives sleep to his loved ones. Psalm 3 has David lie down and sleep, and wake again, because the LORD sustains him. Psalm 121 says that he who keeps you will not slumber.
You are allowed to stop, and the one who watches over you does not sleep. Part of fighting well is getting the rest your body needs.
It is vain for you to rise up early, to stay up late, eating the bread of toil, for he gives sleep to his loved ones.
Psalm 127:2
I laid myself down and slept. I awakened, for the LORD sustains me.
Psalm 3:5
He will not allow your foot to be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
Psalm 121:3-4
Jesus knew tiredness
John 4 says that Jesus, wearied from his journey, sat down by the well. He was a man who got tired. In Mark 6 he tells his disciples to come away by themselves to a desolate place and rest a while, because many were coming and going and they had no time even to eat.
If you feel guilty for being tired, notice that Jesus did not. He took his friends aside to rest.
If you are exhausted, give yourself the same kindness the Bible shows its tired people. Rest does not cancel your commitment to change. It protects it. A person who is fed and rested has more to pray with and more to choose with, and God is present in the ordinary work of caring for yourself.
Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being tired from his journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
John 4:6
He said to them, “Come away into a deserted place, and rest awhile.” For there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. They went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves.
Mark 6:31-32
- Plan one real rest this week, and protect it.
His presence and his invitation
In Exodus 33 God tells Moses that his presence will go with him, and that he will give him rest. Psalm 23 describes a shepherd who makes his sheep lie down in green pastures, leads them beside still waters, and restores their soul.
Jesus says in Matthew 11, come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. He makes the invitation to those who are tired, and he does not require them to clean up first.
He said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
Exodus 33:14
He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Psalm 23:2-3
Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.
Matthew 11:28
A prayer to say with these verses
Lord, I am worn out. Feed me, rest me and restore me. Teach me to wait for you without guilt. Renew my strength for what is next, and keep me from running to what harms me when I am tired. Amen.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Bible say when you are tired?
It says that God gives power to the weary (Isaiah 40:29), that he gives sleep to his loved ones (Psalm 127:2), and that Jesus invites the weary to come to him (Matthew 11:28).
Is being tired a spiritual failure?
No. Elijah, David and even Jesus got tired (1 Kings 19, Psalm 3, John 4:6), and the Bible shows God caring for them.
Why does tiredness make temptation harder?
The Bible does not explain the mechanism, but many people find that exhausted minds have less to resist with. Rest and food are part of the fight.
What does waiting for the LORD mean?
In Isaiah 40:31 it means trusting him and leaning on him while you go on with life. The promise is that strength is renewed.
What if I cannot rest?
Take it to God in prayer, and if sleep or exhaustion is a long-term problem, talk to a doctor. Psalm 4:8 shows a person finding rest in God's safety. If you ever feel you cannot go on, call or text 988 in the United States, or your local emergency number, and tell someone near you tonight.
Sources
Checked on October 1, 2026.
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