How To Find Joy In A Spiritually Dry Season

Do you know how to find joy when your heart feels like a desert and God seems distant?

I was sitting on the bus a few weeks ago, watching the familiar streets blur past. My devotional lay closed on my lap. Prayer felt like shouting into a void.

Even my favourite worship songs sounded flat through my headphones.

Maybe you know this place too. That season where faith feels more like going through the motions than dancing with Jesus. Where joy seems reserved for other people’s Instagram stories.

I’ve walked through more dry seasons than I’d like to count.

Each one taught me something precious about finding joy even when my spiritual well felt empty. Today, I want to share ten ways I’ve discovered to invite joy back in. Not the forced, fake-it-till-you-make-it kind. The real, rooted, Jesus-centred kind that grows slowly and surely.

Create a “Small Wonders” List in Your Notes App

How to find joy in the Lord often starts with noticing His fingerprints in ordinary moments.

I started keeping a running list in my phone called “Small Wonders.” Every time something made me pause—even for a second—I’d add it. The way morning light hit my kitchen window. A student’s breakthrough moment in class. The bus driver who always says good morning.

At first, I felt silly. How could noting my morning coffee count as spiritual practice? But slowly, this simple habit trained my eyes to see God’s goodness scattered throughout regular days.

Scripture reminds us that His mercies are new every morning. Sometimes we just need help recognising them.

Pray Someone Else’s Prayers

When your own words feel stuck, borrow beautiful ones from saints who’ve walked this path before.

I discovered The Book of Common Prayer during one particularly difficult season. Reading prayers crafted centuries ago reminded me that struggling to find joy in life isn’t new. Believers throughout history have cried out to God from dry places.

The Celtic Daily Prayer book became my companion on bus journeys. Their morning prayers felt like gentle hands lifting my heart when I couldn’t manage it myself.

There’s something powerful about joining your voice to the ancient chorus of faith. You’re never praying alone.

Write Letters to Your Future Self

This practice changed everything for me during a season when having joy felt impossible.

I started writing short notes to myself—not journaling about today, but letters to future me. “Dear Sarah in three months,” I’d begin. Then I’d share what I was learning, what I hoped for, what God was teaching me even in the darkness.

Months later, reading those letters reminded me that God was working even when I couldn’t see it. They became treasures, proof that the Holy Spirit never stops moving in our stories.

Try it. Write to yourself six months from now. Share your heart honestly. Seal it away and let it surprise you later.

Adopt a “Prayer Walking” Route

Movement can unlock what sitting still cannot.

I chose a simple route from my house to the local park. Same path, same time each day. Instead of listening to music, I used that walk to pray for the houses I passed. The families inside. The stories unfolding behind each door.

How to bring joy into your life sometimes means getting outside yourself. Praying for others shifted my focus from my own spiritual dryness to God’s heart for His people.

Walking also helped my body remember what my mind had forgotten. God created us as physical beings. Sometimes joy needs to move through our feet before it reaches our hearts.

Create a “Thank You, God” Photo Album

Visual reminders speak when words fail.

I started taking photos specifically to thank God. Not Instagram-worthy shots, but real-life captures of His faithfulness. The cosy corner where I read Scripture. My marking pile that reminds me of my calling. The bus stop where I’ve had countless conversations with Him.

Looking through this album during hard days reminds me that how to experience joy is often about remembering what’s already true.

God has been good. God is good. God will be good.

The photos help me believe it when feelings suggest otherwise.

“Joy doesn’t live in perfect circumstances. It lives in surrender. In gratitude. In tiny acts of trust that whisper, ‘God, You’re still good even when I can’t feel it.'”

Practice the “Mary Response”

When the angel Gabriel brought earth-shattering news to Mary, she responded with surrender: “Let it be unto me according to your word.”

During dry seasons, I practice my own “Mary response.” When disappointment comes, when prayers seem unanswered, when joy feels absent, I whisper, “Let it be, Lord.”

Not resignation. Surrender. There’s a difference.

This practice taught me that finding joy isn’t about getting what I want. It’s about trusting that God’s story is bigger and better than my small understanding.

Mary’s yes changed everything. Maybe yours will too.

“God inhabits the ordinary as much as the extraordinary. We just need eyes to see.”

Become a Student of One Bible Character

Instead of trying to read through entire books, I spent three months studying one person: Hannah.

Hannah knew about waiting. About prayers that seemed to go unanswered. About finding joy in life when life felt stuck.

I read every mention of her story. I researched the culture she lived in. I meditated on her songs of praise. Slowly, Hannah became a mentor across millennia.

How to find joy in life again often comes through connecting with someone who’s walked your path before. Choose one Biblical character who resonates with your current season. Let them teach you.

Create Sacred Rhythms Around Daily Tasks

Washing up became prayer time. Marking became worship.

I assigned different prayers to different daily tasks. While preparing lessons, I’d pray for my students. While washing dishes, I’d thank God for provision. While waiting for the bus, I’d practise gratitude.

These small rhythms transformed mundane moments into meetings with Jesus. Finding your joy doesn’t require adding more to your schedule. It means seeing the sacred in what’s already there.

God inhabits the ordinary as much as the extraordinary. We just need eyes to see.

“Prayer doesn’t have to be lengthy to be powerful. Sometimes the shortest prayers carry the deepest trust.”

Write Short Prayers on Sticky Notes

During one particularly dry season, a wise friend reminded me that even mustard-seed prayers matter.

I started writing tiny prayers on sticky notes. “Help” on my computer monitor. “Peace” on my bathroom mirror. “Joy” tucked inside my Bible.

These small reminders became anchors throughout chaotic days. When searching for joy felt overwhelming, these little prayers whispered truth over my moments.

Prayer doesn’t have to be lengthy to be powerful. Sometimes the shortest prayers carry the deepest trust.

Schedule Joy Like You Schedule Meetings

This sounds unspiritual, but it changed everything.

I literally put “Joy appointments” in my calendar. Fifteen minutes on Wednesday evenings to do something that delighted me. Reading poetry. Making tea slowly. Calling a friend who makes me laugh.

How to feel joy again sometimes requires intentional choices, not just spiritual disciplines. God gave us capacity for delight. Stewarding that capacity honours Him.

I stopped waiting for joy to find me. Instead, I created space for it to grow.

Where Joy Lives

Here’s what I’ve learned through seasons of spiritual dryness: Learning how to get joy back in your life isn’t about fixing what’s broken. It’s about tending the small seeds of God’s goodness already planted around you.

Joy doesn’t live in perfect circumstances. It lives in surrender. In gratitude. In tiny acts of trust that whisper, “God, You’re still good even when I can’t feel it.”

How to have joy is learning to find Christ in the midst of real life. Not despite its messiness, but through it.

The Holy Spirit is always moving, even in desert seasons. These ten practices helped me recognise His gentle presence when everything felt dry.

You’re not alone in this place, dear friend. God sees you. He’s proud of your faithfulness even when it feels feeble. Your small steps toward Him matter more than you know.

Joy and life are intertwined because Jesus is both. He’s in your ordinary Tuesday. He’s on your bus journey. He’s in your quiet moments and your overwhelmed ones.

Trust Him with your dry season. Let these practices be gentle invitations, not another burden to carry.

What’s one small step you could take today toward finding joy in life again? Your heart matters to God. Your joy matters to Him too.

He’s writing a beautiful story, even in the chapters that feel colourless. Trust the Author. Joy is coming.