7 Bible Verses That Make You Feel Strong

Here are seven Bible verses that I hope can help you feel stronger, especially when you are feeling weak.

Philippians 4:12-13 “I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

The Apostle Paul had to learn contentment since it doesn’t come naturally to any of us and as such, he wrote in Second Corinthians 13:9 that “we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for,” showing Paul’s great love for all the churches. He knows that we are all weak and so he reminds them that we can do all things through Him but only if He strengthens us, which He has promised to do. When you are weak, hungry, tired, and feel defeated, is the very moment that God can show His strength through you. His strength is perfectly displayed in our total weakness.

Psalm 28:7-8 “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. The Lord is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed.”

The psalmist and the Apostle Paul almost write as if they knew one another because they both point to God as their source of strength. For them and for us, He is the shield against the enemy; He is the helper because we trust in Him; He is the strength of His people, and most of all, He is our refuge in a time of trouble. Jesus said to abide or dwell in Him because none of us can do anything of ourselves (John 15:4) but if the Lord is your Shepherd, you shall not want for anything more (Psalm 23:1).

Ephesians 6:10-11 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.”

Paul is not telling the Christians at Ephesus to just “be strong” in their own strength but to do so “in the Lord and in the strength of his might.” Part of the protection that God makes available to all Christians is the “whole armor of God” and that’s need to “be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” Paul is not talking about a shield with no sword or a helmet without the breastplate. It takes the “whole armor” the whole time in the Christian’s walk because he or she battle the world, the flesh, and the Devil and his demons, so we’ll need “the strength of his might” and the whole of all available armor.

Joshua 1:5, 9 “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. 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.”

After the death of Moses, the only leader ancient Israel ever knew, God Himself encouraged Joshua by telling him that no one will “be able to stand before” him for the rest of his life because God is with him every step of the way. In these two verses, God is reassuring Joshua that he and Israel have nothing to fear because wherever they go, God goes with them and He is never going to forsake them.

Psalm 71:9, 16 “Do not cast me off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength is spent. I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.”

When our strength is all but gone as we enter into old age, we can only “go in the strength of the Lord God” because we don’t have much of our own. The psalmist, perhaps in the last few years of his life, has some anxiety about dying and being forsaken in his old age. We have a nursing home ministry and several of the residents there feel that God’s forsaken them because they’re old, but the truth is, and I remind them of it, God will never forsake them and will never leave them (Heb 13:5) and hearing that often brings them joy.

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.”

Here is a key to feeling strong or regaining your strength; wait! That’s it. Next! No wait, there’s more. My point is if we wait upon the Lord, it gives us an opportunity to rest like Elijah did under the broom tree (1st Kings 19:5) and to refresh and rejuvenate ourselves (1st Kings 19:6). When Elijah did that, “he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God” (1st Kings 19:8).

Zechariah 4:6 “Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.”

This might be the best verse of all to help us feel strong when God gives us a task or mission to do that seems too much for us. It is not ever by our might or by our strength but by His “Spirit, says the Lords of hosts.” That ought to take some of the weight off of our shoulders. This is “the word of the Lord,” not my word to you, so we have every reason to boast in what God can do. The key to this verse is that we must declare it is not by our power or might but by God’s might alone. In this way, He rightfully receives the glory.

Conclusion

It is incumbent upon the believer for “each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up” (Rom 15:2) for even Christ “was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God” (2nd Cor 13:4). What an encourager Paul was in writing to the Corinthians, “We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute” (1st Cor 4:10). When you need to be strengthened, remember what Paul wrote; “I can do all this through him who gives me strength” (Phil 4:13), if it is in the will of God.

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.