Printables

When we’re anxious, afraid, overwhelmed, or in pain, shifting focus from our circumstances to God can require strength and courage we don’t feel. Yet, carrying our anxiety alone allows it to grow into a deep, dark, stagnant well, but when we surrender it to God, He turns it into streams of flowing water: fresh, clear, and life-giving. Let these seven exercises ground you in the moment. God is waiting for you, ready to take your anxiety and give you His peace.

“What do I do? How do I help?” When a loved one has a mental illness, we may be unsure of what to do or how to help. Where do we start? The truth is, there are many ways to help. These seven are a great place to begin.

Living with chronic illness, mental illness, and chronic pain can leave us exhausted, overwhelmed, and impatient, yet we are still called to be kind. Let these short prayers lead you back to God's heart of rich and generous loving-kindness.

Lean into these verses, write them in a journal, choose one or two to memorize, and then think about who else might need to read them. The Word of God is alive and powerful, bringing us comfort in a way that nothing else can.

Pause, breathe deeply, and rest in God’s presence. Each prayer is a whisper of hope, a spark of gratitude, a cry for help, or a gentle nudge toward peace—perfect for quiet moments of reflection and soul-deep connection with the One who loves you most.

These 15 practical tips can help us develop healthier ways to navigate everyday life.

Do you struggle to believe that your mental illness is real? Do you feel shame or wonder if others believe it's real? With God, mental illness has no stigma. Scripture is balm for our souls as it speaks directly to our hearts.

Use these quotes as an invitation to embark on an 18-day suffering and joy journey. Think about, pray about, and journal through these thought-provoking quotations.

We are invited by the One who is the Word to be inspired by the Word—to savor it, treasure it, learn from it, and hide it in our hearts. Let these verses and questions draw you into God’s presence, where He can quench your thirst and nourish your weary soul.

What if, for one full day, Jesus lived in your house, ate in your kitchen, hung out with your friends, listened to your music, went to your appointments, scrolled through your phone, experienced your loneliness, heartache, and pain, felt your anger, symptoms, numbness, and loss, heard your darkest thoughts, and was moved with compassion for you for every one of those 86,400 seconds?

Gatherings are times for reminiscing, laughter, and catching up. Yet sometimes, we carry past hurts, broken trust, and lingering disagreements with us. Asking intentional questions is a great way to invite conversation, grow empathy, facilitate trust, and strengthen relationships. Let’s lead with prayer, kindness, forgiveness, the hope of reconciliation, and the love of Jesus as we gather.

When we’re lonely, anxious, afraid, or overwhelmed, the most significant thing we can do is turn to the one who knows us and loves us completely – the God of all comfort.

This 30/365 photo challenge is a fun, personal challenge that only requires a commitment to pick up your camera or phone to capture a photo every day for a month—or a year!

Pray through these 33 Biblical One Another Verses, meditating on what it means to love one another deeply from the heart as we learn to walk each other home selflessly.

Discover 36 fun, easy ways to add more movement to your day. This creative list offers quick ideas to shake off the blues and put a little shimmer in your step—no gym required! Gentle ideas for all abilities.

Choose a quiet moment, open your journal, and begin with whatever thoughts are on your heart.

Fifty-two of Jesus's 307 recorded questions in the Bible are listed here—one for each week of the year.

You can approach these questions slowly in any order you choose, one question and one conversation at a time over many months. This is an exploration and an opportunity to grow more deeply in love as you rediscover one another.

Hope is often portrayed as strong and steady, yet for many of us, it can feel fragile, distant, or simply out of reach. Accessible hope, however, arrives quietly in a flicker, a whisper, or a still, small voice. It doesn’t demand that we feel hopeful; it invites us to lean into the one who helps us gather hope—to hold it, carry it, and return for it each day—not all at once, not perfectly, but (like manna from heaven) just enough for today.

Poetry is an invitation to explore your story in a new way, to write about moments or emotions without explicitly naming them, to play with the musicality of words and phrases, to choose words, punctuation, and line breaks carefully. There is no right or wrong way to read or write poetry, just an invitation to begin.

Allegory is a beautiful, artistic form of storytelling that allows us to explore difficult, painful, or vulnerable parts of our stories from a safer distance and a fictional character’s perspective.

As we open our hands in surrender, speaking honestly with God about where our axe head flew off, what feels like loss actually grafts us deeper into Jesus. Ask God to show you where you lost your edge.

Purpose is the reason something exists or was created. It is the reason we act or choose not to act. Purpose encompasses our intentions and objectives.

Considering its great size and power, an elephant must exercise self-control and restraint to effectively navigate and thrive. Likewise, breath prayers help us navigate and thrive through the elephant-sized gift of our breath (and the One who is with us in every breath).

As spouses, how can we pray for one another? Where can we intentionally invest in one another? How can we creatively carve out a little one-on-one time? What could we do to help us bond and share more of our lives?

Remembering God's Faithfulness

God’s people built Ebenezers, touchstones of help, to anchor them in truth in the midst of frightening, challenging, painful, and difficult circumstances.

A bucket list is an invitation to dream with God. Ideas don’t have to be grand or extravagant. Sometimes, the best adventures happen right in our own backyards. Creating your bucket list also provides opportunities to invite friends and loved ones to have rich conversations about their dreams.

Biblical hope is a settled, determined, and enduring confidence in who Jesus is and what He has promised. Our hope is in Christ alone. The mystery is Christ in us, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27)

Celebration isn't reserved only for mountaintop moments, but is also valuable in marking ordinary moments—small wins, quiet mercies, tender flickers of joy. Even when progress feels like a pebble in our palm, we can choose to rejoice, trusting that God is present and worthy of praise in every moment we are given.

From the very beginning, God wove celebration into creation: the rhythm of day and night, the dance of wind and waves, the song of the stars declaring His glory. Celebration is more than an emotion; it’s an act of worship, a holy echo of God’s own joy.

The Collect is an ancient form of prayer meant to guide and focus the pray-er. Known for brevity, a Collect begins by recognizing who God is, what He is like, and what He does then collecting our thoughts on something specific, such as suffering, hope, pain, or peace.

Pain, cultivated by the Spirit’s compassion, invites us to care deeply, grow together, and suffer with one another so that none of us is isolated or alone. Pain opens the door to the Spirit’s compassion in us.

It doesn’t take much to brighten someone’s day, offer a few words of comfort, keep in touch with a photo, or add a little light-hearted humor. A simple, heartfelt text can make all the difference. We may not be able to meet with friends, family, co-workers, or neighbors very often, but we can reach out and send a simple text. Texting can become a personal ministry.

Looking for a great way to connect with, encourage, inspire, and love on others? Text them! It only takes a few minutes to brighten someone's day.

Contemplative coloring is an easy, fun, and practical way to release emotions and lean into Jesus. Choosing to be with God helps quiet the noise of the world and deepen our prayer lives with every line, stripe, and stroke of color. As our fingers move across the page, our hearts move toward God in prayer.

14 Ways to Make a Difficult Day Brighter • Grief takes time, but God is with us. He loves us beyond imagining, and He is gathering every heartbroken tear. Gratitude can become a beautiful thread in our grief journey. It doesn’t ease the pain or injustice of grief, but it does remind us that there is still good in God’s world, that God is still good, and that no matter how we feel, we are not alone. 

Talking about the impact of chronic illness, mental illness, chronic pain, and disability on our lives can be incredibly difficult. Sometimes, we are unsure what we think or how we feel, either for ourselves or for our friends or loved ones.

Discover creative ways to love God and others right where you are, and however you are able. Serving is less about what we do than about why we do it.

Depression can make it difficult to practice healthy self-care. Building an Action Plan gives you quick, doable steps each day.

Gratefulness is choosing to focus on God rather than our circumstances. Fixing our eyes on Jesus reminds us of His gracious, compassionate love and unending faithfulness.

God created us with a complex range of emotions which can be difficult to identify and explain. The Emotions Wheel is a tool designed to grow our emotional intelligence, thus strengthening our relationship with God as well as our compassion and empathy for others.

Color Your Own - Full Page

Discovering our God-given purpose begins with trust, with learning to be present with God in each moment. It is less about why we were created and what we are created to do than about who we are created to be.

May God shower His blessings on all mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers, mothers-in-law, and mother-like figures! May He give grace and strength for all your days!

We’re so grateful for every prayer, kind act, helping hand and dollar donated so that together, we can serve in meaningful and intentional ways all over the world. Without you, we simply couldn’t do what we do.

Recognizing that Jesus suffers with us (and that we are God’s beloved children, though flawed by sin) is a first brave step towards self-compassion.

Do you know how much God loves you, how valuable you are to Him? Do you feel seen, known, treasured, safe, and chosen? God cares about every detail of our lives. He is our shelter from the storm, our strength when we are weak, and the one who loves us beyond all imagining. Yet how often do we identify ourselves by the single most important detail about who we are—a child of God?

For many of us, the emotional vulnerability of illness and pain has raised questions about what we did to cause it and what we are not doing to cure it. Yet feeling shame for the illness and pain we did not cause and cannot cure isn’t Biblical. God doesn’t consider us inconvenient, inadequate, incompetent, or unworthy. He loves us deeply, perfectly, and completely simply because we are His.

Jumpstart your gratitude adventure with 12 creative exercises! Gratitude isn't always easy for those of us living with chronic illness, mental illness, chronic pain, or disability—or for those of us serving as much-needed caregivers. Sometimes all we need is a little jumpstart! Choose an exercise and get your thankfulness flowing from prompt to prayer.

God delights in working through His people. Every act of service, word of encouragement, and prayer offered in love is part of the good work He has prepared for us to do. God will use our little loaves and fish, multiplying them to feed and encourage His people.

There are dozens of ways to spread the irresistible aroma of kindness! One is through handwritten notes, reminding others that they are thought of, cared about, and prayed for.

Order your favorite Chronic Joy bookmarks and gift them to friends and loved ones, send them in your Christmas cards, or leave one with your restaurant tip.

The quiet power of words that are handwritten with love (offered without pressure for eloquence or perfection) becomes a prayerful act of care and reminds the writer that small, faithful acts can carry great love.

Radical connection isn’t about who we click with or are comfortable with. It’s about forming deep relationships and investing in the people Jesus lays on our hearts to connect with on this leg of the journey.

Eye-Spy • People Watching

Holy Attention draws us into fresh gratitude. When we pay close attention to creation, we can experience the awe and wonder of God’s infinite creativity.

Sight & Scroll • Spot 1 • Feast

Choose something specific (a color, shape, sound, object, or even an idea) and look or listen for it throughout your day. When you find it, take a picture of it or make note of it.

Hymns are an often overlooked form of prayer. What are you struggling with today? Have you taken it to God in prayer? Hymns can help us express the deepest and greatest longings of our hearts.

He left the 99 to rescue me – yesterday, today, and always (Matthew 18:12 paraphrase). Our worth isn't based on who we are or what we can do but on who God is. We are the work of His hands.

Gratitude is a gift given to us by God. At its core, gratitude is about not taking anything for granted. Living a life of gratitude is about learning to draw near to God, being thankful for what we have, for who God is, and for who He created us to be.

Intercessory prayer is a conduit of God’s mercy and grace. As we pray for others, we grow in compassion, patience, and humility, learning to love one another as we love ourselves.

Joy is one of God’s most exquisite gifts, delicate yet fierce, gentle enough to comfort and strong enough to endure—a divine thread woven through every moment, reminding us that we are seen, loved, and never alone. In Jesus, joy is not a feeling, but a way of being, the Spirit alive in us. Let these verses and quotes lead you into greater joy!

God pursues the places where we have been wounded, weakened, or failed, where we are vulnerable, where anxiety spins and depression sinks, where loneliness is rampant and grief lingers, and where suffering and loss are constant or sustained.

Biblical lament is a holy liturgy for processing our pain and grief that can deepen and strengthen our faith and trust in God, moving us from pain to praise. Lament is about staying present in our grief, wrapping words around our wounds, and sharing them honestly with God.

Laughter is a respite from the difficulties and unexpected challenges of chronic illness, mental illness, chronic pain, and disability. Humor is an oasis of God’s joy in the midst of life’s storms.

Marriage is a gift, a holy weaving of two imperfect people into one through a lifetime of difficult, beautiful, exasperating, and amazing mountain-top moments of God-ordained sanctification.

Living Brave begins with faith, with living authentically from the inside out. It’s messy and gritty, and reveals how much we really trust God.

Discover how celebrating God’s goodness—even in suffering—deepens faith, renews joy, and transforms everyday moments into holy praise.

These verses and quotes invite us into the compassionate presence of our God who hears, understands, and delights in us. As we linger in prayer, we discover that every moment can be a prayer—a continual communion with the God who loves us beyond measure.

It isn't easy for us as Christians to admit when we’re not doing well mentally or emotionally, but metaphors can build a bridge facilitating greater understanding, empathy, and compassion. Craft your own mental illness metaphor.

God doesn't promise to heal mental illness, but He does promise to be with us in it. Through prayer, God meets us in our suffering. Use these short prayers as often as you need words to cry out to Jesus.

Chronic illness, mental illness, chronic pain, and disability can be challenging for us to explain and equally difficult for others to understand, but metaphor can help bridge that distance.

The Ministry of Presence is one of the greatest gifts we can offer to another. Whether we cry with, pray with, listen to, or simply sit in silence beside another, our presence carries the deep, deep love of Christ, telling someone, “You matter. Your story matters. You are seen, you are loved, and I am choosing to be with you.”

The word "reconcile" (Greek root kapar, meaning to change or exchange) means to bring together or heal what is broken and encompasses our relationships with God and one another.

God is called by many names, each expressing a truth about His nature or a promise to His people. El Shaddai ("I am God Almighty." Genesis 17:1) is the first name God calls Himself in Scripture. Learning God’s names deepens, strengthens, and enriches our relationship with Him.

Parenting a child with chronic illness, chronic pain, mental illness, or disability is filled with joy, worry, hope, overwhelm, laughter, sadness, loss, and often, grief. There are moments of laughter and wonder, and others marked by desperately whispered prayers.

Pain, cultivated by the Spirit’s compassion, invites us to care deeply, grow together, and suffer with one another so that none of us is isolated or alone. Pain opens the door to the Spirit’s compassion in us.

Labyrinths are rooted in the ancient practice of pilgrimage, the once-in-a-lifetime journey that early Christians made to walk in Jesus' footsteps. For those unable to travel to the holy land, labyrinths became a symbolic pilgrimage. Whether walked with feet or fingers, a labyrinth is a slow, quiet, and meditative invitation to pray for others, ask for forgiveness or healing, give thanks, praise God, or simply celebrate.

Writing our own psalms is about learning to express our emotions unedited and giving voice to our joy and pain.

Writing haiku teaches us to focus on a single moment, awakening us to the wonder of creation.

Prayer can move mountains, usher in miracles, and change us by opening our minds to the suffering others face and the circumstances they experience. As we pray, we grow in gratitude, humility, and hope.

Being followers of Jesus, we are all called to listen, lead, and love. Prayer opens our hearts and eyes to those we can guide with a listening ear and a kind word. Begin with the prayers below, use them as they are, or create personal prayers of your own.

Lord, thank You for the ministry of caregiving. Help me be flexible, kind, and intentional (especially when I'm weary) as I act as Your hands and feet. Amen.

Beautiful in its simplicity, this ancient prayer of reflection helps refocus our hearts and minds. How often do we come to the end of a day and wonder where the time went or regret the way we handled a situation?

Depression can make it difficult to find the words to pray. Use these short prayers to guide your thoughts until you are able to find your own. May they bring comfort on dark days.

Parenting reveals our greatest weaknesses and most vulnerable places, causing us to question our judgment, fear our inexperience, feel overwhelmed by our limitations, and regret our mistakes. Yet God’s promise of hope remains.

Sometimes, when our prayers seem to go unanswered, the most honest thing we can say is, “Lord, give me the courage to surrender my suffering to You one more time.”

Chronic Joy’s small-group prayer guidelines help facilitate safe, growing, and trusting small groups. Our nine small-group prayers will kickstart the prayer lives of those with chronic illness, mental illness, or chronic pain.

Illness and pain can dull our vision and dampen our sense of wonder, yet God’s extraordinary imprint is on display all around us. What if wonder is His invitation to be surprised again and again? What if wonder is the beginning of true worship?

Shame attacks the core of our identity, making us feel worthless, insignificant, and weak, isolating us from each other and from God. Shame withers when we are connected to the God of infinite worth, overwhelming compassion, and endless love. May these words help you enter into prayer when shame is weighty and raw.

The Bible contains over 900 names of God, which reveal His character and nature. Praying His names deepens our understanding of Him, strengthens our relationship with Him, and enriches our prayer life. Consider these questions: How does this name deepen my understanding of God? How does this name strengthen my faith? How does this name increase my trust in God’s promises? How does this name change the way I view my circumstances?

Illness and pain can dull our vision and dampen our sense of wonder, yet God’s extraordinary imprint is on display all around us. What if wonder is His invitation to be surprised again and again? What if wonder is the beginning of true worship?

Chronic pain can be difficult and unyielding, causing us to feel overwhelmed, misunderstood, and sometimes even desperate. When words are few, let these prayers and questions guide you into the presence of God, where you are known, seen, and loved completely.

What is your favorite Psalm? Why? When did you choose it? What was happening in your life at the time? Have you ever considered writing your own psalm?

God’s peace is altogether different from the peace of the world because God’s peace is not a gift; it’s a person: God’s own Son, Jesus, the Prince of Peace. God’s peace is abundant, unspeakable, generous, plentiful, extravagant, lavish, expansive, affectionate, and never-ending.

Practicing physical self-care is showing your body simple kindness, generously giving it what it needs, and doing things that help you live well. Connection with others is rooted in love, nourished through prayer, and strengthened by brave vulnerability.

Exercise your brain, keep your mind sharp, redirect your thoughts, and focus on what is positive and true with these ideas. Emotional self-care helps us identify what we’re feeling and how to express it in healthy ways.

Spend a little time getting to know God better: who He is, what He’s like, how He feels about us, and how He acts toward His creation. Sabbath rest helps us discover the peace only found when we trust in God's presence.

Discover how praising and celebrating God’s goodness transforms grief, waiting, and everyday moments into faith-filled joy and gratitude.

This downloadable PDF provides helpful tips for organizing your small group and defining group roles.

Music fills the pages of Scripture, woven into creation from the very beginning—before the birth of the earth or the creation of man. Even God sings! Singing is a ministry belonging to all the people of God for the great glory of God. 

Grief is no stranger to those of us affected by illness and pain. Sorrow is unavoidable, individual, and a universally shared journey. But grief is also a precursor of hope and the catalyst for growth. Lament gives us the language to name our pain, creating space for hope without minimizing grief and trauma. Through lament, we learn to speak of loss, sorrow, and grief honestly with God, asking the hard questions without condemnation.

The stewardship of courage begins with a deep faith in God, is accessed by prayer, and is lived out in patient waiting and hopeful trust.

When our roots are grafted to God’s, we are linked to believers around the world and across time. Do you feel disconnected today? Reach out and share the love of Jesus. It’ll strengthen your faith and renew your spirit.

Creatively Express Your Story

We can feel isolated and powerless when living with chronic illness, but what if your story begins to bridge the gaps?  What if your story offers a glimmer of hope to someone standing at the edge of hopelessness?

What is a Medical Story? For our healthcare teams to build the best possible treatment plans for us, we need to learn to keep well-maintained logs of symptoms (and their severity), medications, treatments, dates, and brief notes. Keep track with our Medical Story Log.

We've all heard it! Texting is a terrible way to communicate, but it's possible to connect, encourage, celebrate, and remind loved ones of how dearly loved they ... yes, by text! Loving one another makes all the difference. So open that app and text someone today! You'll both be glad you did.

Sometimes your friend is having one of those days—the kind where everything feels heavy, friendships feel confusing, or life just feels like a lot. You just want them to know, I see you. I care about you. I’m here. When you write notes to your friends using Scripture, simple prayers, and a few of your own words, you'll remind them that they are seen, valued, and never alone. Your words make a difference!

How has God gifted you? Where do you feel His gentle nudge to love one another? Do you feel the Spirit's tug to get involved? A grace gift is a beautiful Holy Spirit-inspired act of ministry that works harmoniously with the gifts given to the Body of Christ.

Discover the spiritual discipline of celebration: an ancient Biblical rhythm that nurtures joy, strengthens faith, and helps us notice God’s goodness even in desert seasons.

If you feel overwhelmed and need encouragement, these verses will give you courage and confidence. Why not meditate on them throughout your day and share them with your friends?

Joy is discovered in big events and in small, seemingly insignificant moments, in both mountain-top experiences, and smaller expressions we can easily overlook, like a kind word or a helping hand. 

God sees you as someone of infinite value. He sees who you are in Christ, and who you will become as the Holy Spirit lives and breathes in you.

When was the last time you were wonderstruck? How long has it been since something took your breath away? Wonder invites us to be surprised by God, to stand in awe of His holy mystery, and to recognize His extraordinary in our ordinary. Wonder leads our hearts into worship.

Wonder Walks is an invitation to savor God’s holy fingerprint in every atom of creation, to engage our senses, to cultivate curiosity, to listen for His still small voice, and to delight in His extraordinary creativity.

Wonder nourishes our souls, inviting us to feast on the inexplicable mystery of the Holy, witnessing God's fingerprint in every atom of creation.

We believe in salvation by grace, a free gift from God, given to all who believe in His Son Jesus Christ and accept Him as Lord and Savior.

Chronic Joy's mission field is tremendous - more than half the world’s population - yet our ministry focus is always one precious life at a time.

We offer a wide variety of programs to meet the needs of all those affected by chronic illness, mental illness, chronic pain, and disability.