67 Bible Verses for Strength in Hard Times

The Bible is full of verses that can offer us strength in hard times. The verses below help us to find our strength in God.

When we are feeling weak or timid, these scriptures remind us that God is present with us. Despite our fears and insecurities God is near to us, providing us with strength in our time of need.

Meditate on these passages of scripture to encourage your heart when you are feeling down.

These Bible verses have been categorized to help you find the help you need. We find strength by first meditating on the character of God, then by reading God’s promises to give us strength, then by listening to the Bible’s exhortations to be strong in the Lord and finally by praying and asking God to strengthen us.

The Lord is My Strength

1. Exodus 15:2

The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him.

2. Psalm 18:2

The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

3. Isaiah 12:2

Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.

4. Psalm 73:26

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

5. Psalm 27:1

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

6. Habakkuk 3:19 

God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places. 

7. Psalm 46:1

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

8. Psalm 28:7

The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.

9. Psalm 118:14

The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.

10. Psalm 28:8

The Lord is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed.

11. Psalm 68:35

Awesome is God from his sanctuary; the God of Israel—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people. Blessed be God!

12. Psalm 59:9

O my Strength, I will watch for you, for you, O God, are my fortress.

13. Jeremiah 32:17

Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.

14. 2 Samuel 22:33

This God is my strong refuge and has made my way blameless.

15. Proverbs 18:10 

The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.

16. Psalm 44:3

For not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm save them, but your right hand and your arm, and the light of your face, for you delighted in them.

17. Nahum 1:7

The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.

18. Psalm 41:3

The Lord sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness you restore him to full health.

God Who Gives Me Strength

19. Isaiah 40:29

He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.

20. Philippians 4:13

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

21. Isaiah 41:10

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

22. Romans 15:5

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had.

23. Deuteronomy 20:4

For the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.

24. Exodus 15:13

You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.

25. 1 Corinthians 10:13

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

26. Psalm 29:11

May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace!

27. John 16:33

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.

28. 2 Thessalonians 3:3

But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.

29. Psalm 23:4

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

30. 2 Timothy 4:17

But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth.

31. Isaiah 40:28-31

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

32. Ephesians 3:16

That according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

33. Psalm 138:3

On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased.

34. Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

35. Matthew 19:26

But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

36. 1 Chronicles 29:12

Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.

37. 2 Chronicles 16:9

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.

Be Strong in the Lord

38. Joshua 1:9

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

39. Deuteronomy 31:6

Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.

40. Isaiah 40:31

But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

41. Ephesians 6:10

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

42. 1 Chronicles 16:11

Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!

43. 1 Corinthians 16:13

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

44. Psalm 31:24

Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!

45. Galatians 6:9

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

46. John 14:27

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

47. Psalm 27:14

Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

48. 1 Peter 5:7

Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

49. Nehemiah 8:10

Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

50. Daniel 10:19

And he said, “O man greatly loved, fear not, peace be with you; be strong and of good courage.” And as he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, “Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.”

51. Isaiah 30:15

For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”

52. Matthew 17:20

For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

Bible Verses about Strength and Courage

53. Proverbs 31:25

She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.

54. 2 Timothy 1:7

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

55. 2 Samuel 22:40 

For you equipped me with strength for the battle; you made those who rise against me sink under me.

56. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

57. Psalm 18:32-34

The God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless. He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights. He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

58. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

59. 1 Peter 5:10

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

60. Philippians 1:27-28

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.

61. Psalm 118:6

The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?

Prayers in the Bible for Strength

62. 1 Chronicles 29:11

Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.

63. Psalm 59:16

I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.

64. Psalm 22:19

But you, O Lord, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid!

65. Psalm 119:28 

My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word!

66. Isaiah 33:2

O Lord, be gracious to us; we wait for you. Be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble.

67. Psalm 39:7 

And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you.

Prayers for Strength

O Lord, you are my refuge and strength. You are my present help in times of trouble. Be gracious to me and give me strength in my time of need. Help me to feel your presence, and to find strength in the shadow of your wings. Calm my spirit and help me to persevere in faith. Build my character during these times of trial so I might reflect your strength in the world. Amen.

Additional Resources

It's Not Supposed to Be This Way: Finding Unexpected Strength When Disappointments Leave You Shattered by Lysa TerKeurst