Monday Blues for Pastors: Why You Feel Low After You Preach

Pastors often feel low on Monday because Sunday took more out of them than they noticed. You spent hours concentrating and being watched. The crash afterward is the bill for that. It is not a verdict on your sermon or your calling, and the most useful thing you can do with Monday is refuse to treat it like one.

The rule is simple: no verdicts on Monday.

Why does Monday feel so heavy after you preach?

Monday feels heavy because preaching asks a lot of you, and you did it yesterday. Your body and mind are catching up.

Think about what Sunday actually asked of you. You got up early. You carried a message you had been living with all week. You stood in front of people you love and told them what you believe God was saying. You watched faces while you did it. Then you shook hands, listened to a hard story in the lobby, answered a question about the thermostat, and maybe did it all again for a second service.

You may have felt fine through all of it. Many pastors do. Being needed tends to keep you going. The tiredness shows up when the need stops, which is usually Sunday afternoon or Monday morning.

On top of the physical cost there is an emotional one. Preaching is exposure. You said something true and costly out loud. Nobody hands you a score after the benediction. So on Monday your mind goes looking for one. It replays the moment you lost your place, the illustration that landed flat, the family that left early, the email you got Sunday night.

Why is Monday a bad day to judge your ministry?

Monday is a bad day to judge your ministry because you are doing the judging with the tired version of yourself. Tired judgment is harsh judgment.

You would not let an exhausted elder decide the church budget at eleven at night. You would tell them to sleep on it. But on Monday you let the exhausted version of yourself decide whether the sermon worked, whether the church is growing, and whether you should be doing this at all.

The trouble is that Monday thoughts feel like clarity. They arrive with conviction. "That sermon was a waste." "Nobody is changing." "Someone else would do this better." They feel like the truth you were too busy to see on Sunday. Usually they are tiredness dressed up as insight.

So here is the rule. On Monday, make no verdicts. Not about the sermon, the church, your calling, or the elder who sent the email. You can notice those things. You can write them down. You do not get to decide anything about them until later in the week.

What does Scripture show about the low after a high?

Scripture gives at least one clear picture of a servant of God crashing after a public high, and of how God responded. After the confrontation on Mount Carmel, Elijah ran for his life, and this is where he ended up:

He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” (1 Kings 19:4, BSB)

Elijah's situation was not a normal Monday. He was running from a queen who wanted him dead. But look at the shape of what he says. "I am no better than my fathers." That is a verdict. He has judged himself, and he has done it in the wilderness, alone, at the end of his strength. Later, at Horeb, he will say much the same about his work: “I am the only one left” (1 Kings 19:10, BSB).

Then look at what God does first.

Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” (1 Kings 19:5, BSB)

God does not argue with the verdict right away. Through the angel, he lets Elijah sleep and feeds him. Then it happens a second time: “Get up and eat, or the journey will be too much for you” (1 Kings 19:7, BSB). The conversation about Elijah's ministry comes later, on the mountain, after rest and food.

Sleep came before the conversation about whether Elijah's work had failed. That is a reasonable order for your week too.

What should a pastor do on Monday instead?

On Monday, do the things that help you recover and leave the decisions for later.

• Sleep if you can. If Monday is your day off, guard the morning.
• Move your body. A walk does more for a tired mind than another hour of replaying the sermon.
• Do small, finishable tasks if you have to work. Answer emails that need a yes or no. File receipts. Nothing that requires you to weigh the state of the church.
• Write down what is bothering you, then close the notebook. The worry about the family that left early is real. Write it down so you do not have to keep holding it, and come back to it Wednesday.
• Spend time with people who do not need anything from you. Your spouse, your kids, a friend who does not attend your church.

If someone asks for a decision on Monday, it is fine to say, "Let me get back to you Wednesday." Most things that feel urgent on Monday morning are still there, and smaller, by midweek.

When should you review the sermon?

Review the sermon midweek, when you have rested and some distance has opened up. By Wednesday or Thursday you can listen to the recording, or reread the manuscript, with something closer to the eyes of a friend.

Ask better questions than Monday would. Did I say the main thing clearly? Where did I lose the room, and why? What would I keep if I preached this text again? What do I want to try next week? "Was it any good?" is a Monday question, and it rarely gets an honest answer.

If your church sends a recap or group questions early in the week, draft them before Sunday or hand the first draft to someone else, so Monday stays light. Seeing the sermon keep working in people's week is its own answer to the Monday question. More on that in why your sermon dies at noon on Sunday.

When is the Monday low more than a Monday low?

A Monday low that lifts by midweek is common. A heaviness that does not lift, or that starts showing up every day, is different.

If you notice that Wednesday feels the same as Monday, that you are dreading Sunday more weeks than not, or that you have stopped enjoying things you used to enjoy, take it seriously. Talk to someone you trust. If it is safe to, tell an elder or a fellow pastor. Consider seeing a doctor or a counselor. None of that is a failure of faith. Elijah needed bread and sleep, and then he needed God to meet him and give him a companion. You may need help too.

If you are having thoughts of ending your life, call or text 988 (the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the US) today, or go to the nearest emergency room.

No verdicts on Monday. Ask the question again on Thursday, when you are rested enough to answer it fairly.