Why Good Christian Women Still Stress About Money

Have you ever prayed for peace about money and still felt anxious?

Maybe you've wondered what that says about your faith. Maybe you've even felt guilty because you know what Scripture says about worry but knowing that hasn't made the knot in your stomach disappear.

I want you to hear this: financial stress isn't a character flaw. And it doesn't automatically mean you don't trust God. Stress is a signal. It's your body telling you that something feels uncertain, unsafe, or outside of your control. Sometimes, before we can change the way we handle money, we must understand why money feels unsafe in the first place.

I have this metal sign hanging in my closet where I see it while I'm getting ready every morning. It says, “Pray More, Worry Less.”

I bought that sign because, honestly, I knew I needed the daily reminder. In my last house, it hung right next to my bedroom door so I would see it every single morning.

My mom has often said that I came out of the womb stressed out. Gee, thanks Mom.

But for a long time, stress and anxiety really did feel like they were just part of who I was.

I would overthink problems and situations as if somehow, if I worried about them enough, I could control the outcome. Of course, all that worrying didn't give me more control. It just made me more anxious.

And at the same time, I loved Jesus. I had faith in Him.

But then I became an adult responsible for myself, my child, our home and all the bills that came with it—and money gave my anxiety a whole new place to live.

When I was first starting out, I would get overwhelmed looking at the bills. I remember opening my banking app with fear in my chest and a lump in my throat before making a purchase...

even when I knew there was enough money in the account.

That's the part I want you to hear.

The numbers could tell me I was okay, but my body was telling me I wasn't safe.

And for a long time, I thought that meant something was wrong with me—or maybe that I just needed to have more faith.

Eventually, I began to understand something that changed the way I looked at money, stress, and even myself:

My anxiety wasn't my identity. It was a signal.

And maybe you've experienced this too. You know the bill can be paid, but you still feel the tension. You know there's money in savings, but spending it makes you uncomfortable. You pray about your finances and genuinely trust God—but your body still reacts.

That’s because when something around money activates fear, scarcity, uncertainty, shame, or loss of control, the body can react before we've consciously decided what we believe about the situation. Anxiety is your body’s alarm system letting you know you should pay attention, but your body's alarm system and your belief in God are not the same thing.

You can deeply trust God and still have learned responses around money that need healing, education, practice, and new experiences.

I want you to think about what did money mean in your house growing up?

Was there enough?

Did adults fight about it? Maybe they didn’t even talk about it.

Did you hear “we can't afford that” constantly?

Was having money selfish or bad?

Did you watch someone lose everything?

Those experiences and conversations taught you something about money long before you ever opened your first checking account. They helped shape how you think and handle your own money today. Becoming financially unshakeable isn't simply about learning how to budget. Sometimes it's about identifying the beliefs underneath the behavior and replacing them with truth.

Understanding where those beliefs came from doesn't mean we're stuck with them. We can learn to recognize what's driving our financial behavior, challenge what isn't true, and begin replacing those old beliefs with truth. We also are not perfect so stressing about life and money will not help improve on the imperfection. If perfection were something we could achieve on our own, we wouldn't need Jesus. The Christian story isn't about becoming good enough that we no longer need grace. It's about recognizing that we never outgrow our need for it.

God created us, knows us completely, and isn't surprised when we struggle with anxiety. That’s why the Bible has multiple verses that remind us to pray more and worry less like my sign. One of those verses is Philippians 4:6 “Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.”

That little ‘Pray More, Worry Less’ sign still hangs in my closet. And sometimes I do still need the reminder. But today, they mean something more and different to me. Prayer isn't something I use to shame myself for worrying. It's where I bring my worry. It's where I ask God for wisdom. And then I can take the next faithful step with what He's entrusted to me.

With your money you might still make a purchase you regret or miss something in your budget. You might make an investment that doesn’t go as you hoped. Regret might still creep in about not starting to save sooner, but being a faithful steward isn’t about never making mistakes. Faithful stewardship isn't about never making mistakes. It's about continuing to learn how to handle what God has placed in your hands—and building the confidence to make wise decisions with it.

If you are ready to start learning how to change the way you think about and handle money, I created the Money Makeover Challenge exactly for that. Over three days, I'm going to help you look at your money differently—so you can start moving out of stress and uncertainty and toward clarity, confidence, and intentional stewardship. You don't need to get your finances perfect before you join me. That's the whole point. We're going to start right where you are.