Bible verses for encouragement

God is with you

1. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

   Joshua 1:9

   Said to Joshua as he took over from Moses: courage rests on the fact that God goes wherever he goes.

2. And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.

   Deuteronomy 31:8

   Moses tells Joshua that the LORD goes before him and will not fail or forsake him.

3. Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

   Isaiah 41:10

   Three promises in one verse: God will strengthen, help and uphold.

4. For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.

   Isaiah 41:13

   God pictures himself holding his people's right hand as he says, Fear not.

5. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

   Isaiah 43:2

   God does not promise to keep his people out of waters and fire, but to be with them in them.

6. The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.

   Zephaniah 3:17

   God is in the midst of his people and rejoices over them with singing.

When you are weary or discouraged

1. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

   Isaiah 40:29-31

   Even the young grow tired, but those who wait on the LORD renew their strength.

2. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

   Psalm 42:11

   The psalmist talks back to his own downcast soul and tells it to hope in God.

3. The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

   Psalm 34:18

   The LORD is near to the broken-hearted, not distant from them.

4. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

   Matthew 11:28-30

   Jesus invites the heavy laden to come to him and find rest for their souls.

5. Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

   Psalm 27:14

   Waiting on the LORD is paired with a promise that he will strengthen the heart.

6. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

   2 Corinthians 4:16-18

   Paul calls present trouble light and brief compared with the eternal weight of glory to come.

7. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

   Galatians 6:9

   A reason not to quit doing good: the harvest comes in due season.

God is still at work

1. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

   Romans 8:28

   All things work together for good for those who love God, even the hard things.

2. Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

   Philippians 1:6

   God finishes what he starts; the good work he began will be completed.

3. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

   Jeremiah 29:11

   Written to exiles in Babylon, it promises God's thoughts of peace toward them and an expected end.

4. It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

   Lamentations 3:22-23

   Written amid the ruins of Jerusalem, it says God's mercies are new every morning.

5. For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

   Romans 15:4

   Scripture itself was written so that we might have hope through patience and comfort.

6. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

   John 16:33

   Jesus does not promise an easy life, but tells his disciples to be of good cheer because he has overcome the world.

Encouraging one another

The Bible expects believers to strengthen each other.

1. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

   1 Thessalonians 5:11

   Paul tells the church to comfort and build up one another, and notes they already do.

2. And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

   Hebrews 10:24-25

   Meeting together is one of the ways believers stir each other up to love and good works.

3. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

   Hebrews 3:13

   Exhorting one another is to be a daily habit, while it is still called today.

4. Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad.

   Proverbs 12:25

   A heavy heart bows a person down, but a good word makes it glad.

5. Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

   2 Corinthians 1:3-4

   God comforts us so that we can pass the same comfort on to others in trouble.

6. Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.

   Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

   Two are better than one, because when one falls the other can lift him up.

7. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.

   2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

   Paul prays that God would comfort hearts and establish them in every good word and work.