Faith-Based Ways to Create Emotional Balance in the New Year:A Guide for Working Moms to Guard Their Peace, Anointing, and Mental Health
As working moms, the start of a new year often comes with a mix of hope and pressure. We want to do better, be better, feel better. We want peace in our homes, clarity in our minds, and balance in our hearts. And yet, if we’re honest, emotional balance doesn’t always come naturally—especially when we’re juggling work, motherhood, marriage, ministry, friendships, and everything in between.
Emotional balance isn’t about having a perfect schedule or a stress-free life. It’s about learning how to anchor yourself when life feels full. It’s about guarding your peace, protecting your anointing, and caring for your mental health with wisdom and intention.
As I’ve reflected on what truly helps me stay grounded—especially as a working mom—I’ve noticed four faith-based practices that consistently bring emotional balance. They aren’t complicated. They don’t require perfection. But they do require intention.
Let’s talk about them.
1. Prayer: A Foundation for Emotional and Mental Health
Prayer isn’t just something we do—it’s a place we return to.
The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing, and Scripture also reminds us that when we humble ourselves and pray, God hears from heaven, answers our prayers, and brings healing (2 Chronicles 7:14). Prayer is one of the ways we receive emotional and spiritual healing, often before anything else changes around us.
What’s beautiful is that even research supports what Scripture has always taught. In the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Vol. 124 a study on prayer showed that through prayer, symptoms of stress reduce, we are better able to regulate our emotions, and our perspective of difficult situations changes.
Prayer creates space. It slows us down. It allows us to pause, reflect, and realign our hearts with God. Even when we’re waiting on answers, the act of praying itself brings peace. It reminds us that we’re not carrying life alone.
For working moms, prayer doesn’t have to look long or formal. It can be whispered in the car, spoken while folding laundry, or offered in silence when words won’t come. We can even write our prayers down for the moments we just can’t get the words out the way we would like. God meets us right where we are.
Here are a few books that have helped me as a praying mom:
Germaine Copeland, Prayers That Avail Much
Stacy Thacker: Praying for Teen Girls
Stormie Omartian: The Power of Praying for Your Adult Children Book of Prayers
Rob & Joanna Teigan: 101 Prayers for My Son
2. Taking Moments of Pause to Regulate Your Nervous System
The second way to create emotional balance in the new year is learning to pause.
This one can feel uncomfortable—especially for working moms who are used to being on the go, afraid to admit that thing are feeling a little heavy. Our minds often tell us we should always be doing something. There’s always another task, another email, another responsibility calling our name.
But sometimes the most faithful thing we can do is stop.
Taking moments of pause allows our nervous system to regulate. It gives our minds permission to rest. This doesn’t always mean praying or journaling or reading—sometimes it simply means sitting in the quiet.
No talking.
No planning.
No fixing.
Just being still and trusting God.
The Bible tells us, “Be still and know that I am God.” Stillness is an act of surrender. It’s us saying, “God, I trust You to carry what I don’t have the capacity to hold right now.”
As working moms, we need these pauses. They help us reset emotionally so we don’t operate from constant overwhelm. Even a few minutes of intentional stillness can make a difference in how we show up for the rest of our day.
3. Reading the Word and Creating Space for Devotion
Another powerful way to build emotional balance is through reading the Word of God and engaging in devotion.
When we open our Bibles—or even a Bible app like YouVersion—we’re reminded that God’s word speaks directly to real-life situations. Devotions help us zoom out from our circumstances and see things through a spiritual lens, rather than staying stuck in our stress.
The Word shifts our focus from problems to promises.
Instead of burning mental energy replaying worries, we begin meditating on truth. And what we meditate on matters. Scripture tells us that as we think, so we become. When we consistently fill our minds with God’s word, it impacts our hearts, our speech, and ultimately our actions.
Devotion doesn’t have to be long to be meaningful. Even a short passage read with intention can ground you emotionally and spiritually. Over time, these moments shape how we respond to life instead of react to it. (I include a short 5 minute devotion in my free newsletter. Feel free to subscribe here.)
4. Being Intentional About Who You Surround Yourself With
Lastly—and this one is so important—we must be mindful of who we allow access to our lives.
Emotional balance can quickly unravel if everyone has full access to us. Scripture reminds us not to cast our pearls before swine—not only because some people are bad for us, but because what’s precious needs protection.
If we constantly surround ourselves with negativity, gossip, emotional draining, or people who always need but never pour, burnout becomes inevitable—emotionally, spiritually, and mentally.
Boundaries are not unloving. They are necessary.
As working moms, we must steward our energy wisely. That may mean limiting conversations that drain us. It may mean saying no more often. It may mean recognizing that not everyone deserves access to the most tender parts of our hearts.
Guarding your peace is part of caring for your mental health.
Moving Forward with Grace in the New Year
Emotional balance isn’t about doing more—It often starts when we stop tying our worth to how much we accomplish. It’s about doing what matters with intention.
Prayer.
Pause.
The Word.
Healthy boundaries.
These faith-based practices help us stay anchored, even when life feels full. As you continue into this new year, give yourself permission to move slowly, listen closely, and trust God deeply.
You don’t have to earn peace.
You don’t have to strive for balance.
You simply have to return to The One who gives it freely.
And Mama—your mental health matters to God. 💛
I work with Christian moms each week who experience feeling burned out and overwhelmed. They feel as though they should do all the things and still have it all together. But that’s simply not the truth. If you’ve been struggling with holding it all together and your emotions are all over the place, LET’S CHAT.
