If you’re going through a period of trial or feeling sapped of strength and wondering if God is there for you, the Bible has good news: the Lord is with you especially when you feel weak and small.
With a few exceptions, the Bible is clear and consistent on this point: we are not to rely on our own strength, but on God’s. Nowhere does the Bible say “the Lord helps those who help themselves.” Instead, it says, “when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:10), and “it is not by strength that one prevails” (1 Sam. 2:9), and “the Lord is my strength and my power” (Ex. 15:2).
In other words, human strength is weakness, and true strength comes from the Lord alone — so place your faith in him.
Here are over 30 Bible verses on strength for when you need encouragement. (We have provided them in a variety of different Bible translations; click on each verse reference to open it in your own favorite version.)
The Lord Is Strong
The Lord is my strength and my power;
he has become my salvation.
This is my God, whom I will praise,
the God of my ancestors, whom I will acclaim.
— Exodus 15:2 (CEB)
God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect.
— 2 Samuel 22:33 (KJV)
Seek the Lord and His strength;
Seek His face continually.
— 1 Chronicles 16:11 (NASB)
I love you, Lord, my strength.
— Psalm 18:1 (NIV)
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.
— Psalm 28:7 (ESV)
God is our shelter and strength,
always ready to help in times of trouble.
— Psalm 46:1 (GNT)
The name of the Lord is a strong tower;
The righteous run to it and are safe.
— Proverbs 18:10 (NKJV)
So You Don’t Have to Be
He will guard the feet of his faithful servants,
but the wicked will be silenced in the place of darkness.
It is not by strength that one prevails.
— 1 Samuel 2:9 (NIV)
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart,
my portion forever.
— Psalm 73:26 (CSB)
The Lord is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation.
— Psalm 118:14 (NKJV)
This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts.
— Zechariah 4:6 (NRSVUE)
For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
— 1 Corinthians 1:25 (NABRE)
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.
— 2 Corinthians 12:10 (ESV)
But He Will Make You Strong
Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.
— Deuteronomy 31:6 (NKJV)
The wise are mightier than the strong,
and those with knowledge grow stronger and stronger.
— Proverbs 24:5 (NLT)
A woman of strength who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. … She girds herself with strength and makes her arms strong.
— Proverbs 31:10,17 (NRSVUE)
But those who trust in the Lord for help will find their strength renewed. They will rise on wings like eagles; they will run and not get weary; they will walk and not grow weak.
— Isaiah 40:31 (GNT)
Do not fear: I am with you; do not be anxious: I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.
— Isaiah 41:10 (NABRE)
He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
— 1 Corinthians 1:8 (NET)
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.
— 1 Corinthians 16:13 (NIV)
I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love.
— Ephesians 3:16-18 (CSB)
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
— Ephesians 6:10-11 (NASB)
I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
— Philippians 4:13 (ESV)
May he encourage your hearts and give you strength in every good thing you do or say.
— 2 Thessalonians 2:17 (CEB)
So You Can Strengthen Others
This is what the Lord says:
“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom
or the strong boast of their strength
or the rich boast of their riches,
but let the one who boasts boast about this:
that they have the understanding to know me,
that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,”
declares the Lord.
— Jeremiah 9:23-24 (NIV)
We who are strong in the faith ought to help the weak to carry their burdens. We should not please ourselves.
— Romans 15:1 (GNT)
I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service,
— 1 Timothy 1:12 (ESV)
Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
— 1 Peter 4:11 (NRSVUE)
Above All…
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
— Deuteronomy 6:5 (NIV) (cf. Mark 12:30, Luke 10:27)
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