86 Uplifting Bible Verses For Discouragement

By Sunshyne | June 3, 2024 |

There is no way around feeling discouraged in life at some point or another. Discouragement stems from living in a fallen world (more on that in a moment). God’s Word makes this truth quite clear, but the Word of God also makes the character and promises of God evident as well. In this article, we will cover some of the top Bible verses for discouragement- perfect for when you find yourself experiencing hard times. Let’s go…

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Discouragement and the Christian Life

We are never promised a life of ease in the Bible. In fact, Jesus says we will most definitely experiences rough places in this life.

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.

There are endless reasons that we may feel discouraged. It’s helpful to normalize the reality of discouragement. There is no way to avoid it despite your best efforts! Some of the broader reasons or causes of disouragement are listed below with Scriptures.

Spiritual Warfare

Ephesians 6:12- For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Paul tells us that we are constantly faced with opposition simply because we belong to the Most High God. The enemy opposes God, His plans and His people. This opposition can easily lead to discouragement.

Trials and Tribulations

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.

As identified earlier, this world brings trials and tribulations. It’s impossible to live in a fallen world and not face discouragement.

Personal Failures and Weaknesses

Romans 7:15 – For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.

We all fall short and face failures and weaknesses in our lives. This is no surprise since God’s Word explicitly says we “fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). While you might experience discouragement due to failure or weakness, allow God’s grace to wash over you. His grace is suffiecient for you!

Read: 55 Important Bible Verses for Fear of Failure

Unanswered Prayers

Psalm 13:1-2 – How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

Have you ever experienced a prolonged time of discouragement? A period of time that seemed to last an eternity as you waited for the work of the Lord? Me, too, friend. Seemingly unanswered prayers can lead to discouragement.

Comparison and Envy

Galatians 6:4 – But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor.

Maybe your discouragement is connected with comparing yourself, your calling or your life with others. Comparison is said to be the killer of joy. When we fall into the temptation to compare or envy the calling of others, it leads to discouragement.

Read: How to Stop Struggling With Comparison

Sometimes discouragement can be internal (our own choices) or it can be external (fallen world). In either case, the solution is the same. Fixing our eyes on our Heavenly Father, His character and His promises can relieve a discouraged heart.

Bible Verses for Discouragment and the Peace of God

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.

Philippians 4:6-7 – Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Isaiah 26:3 – You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

Psalm 46:10 – Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!

Colossians 3:15 – And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

Matthew 11:28-30 – Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Psalm 29:11 – May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace!

2 Thessalonians 3:16 – Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.

Romans 15:13 – May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Isaiah 54:10 – For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

Bible Verses for Discouragement and the God of All Comfort

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 – Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Psalm 34:18 – The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

Psalm 147:3 – He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

Isaiah 49:13 – Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.

Matthew 5:4 – Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Isaiah 66:13 – As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

John 14:16 – And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever.

Romans 15:5 – May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus.

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.

Isaiah 51:12 – I, I am he who comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass.

Bible Verses for Discouragement and the Love of Christ

John 15:13 – Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

Romans 8:37-39 – No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Ephesians 3:17-19 – So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Galatians 2:20 – I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

1 John 4:9-10 – In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Romans 5:8 – But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Ephesians 5:2 – And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 – For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

1 John 3:16 – By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

Bible Verses For Discouragement and God’s Help

Psalm 121:1-2 – I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Psalm 46:1 – God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Hebrews 13:6 – So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’

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.

Psalm 54:4 – Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life.

Psalm 118:7 – The Lord is on my side as my helper; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.

Isaiah 41:13 – For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, ‘Fear not, I am the one who helps you.’

Psalm 33:20 – Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.

Psalm 40:17 – As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God!

Bible Verses For Discouragement and God’s Presence

Psalm 139:7-10 – Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.

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.

Matthew 28:20 – Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

Psalm 16:11 – You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

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.

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.

Zephaniah 3:17 – The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

Exodus 33:14 – And he said, ‘My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’

Bible Verses for Discouragement and Prayer

1 John 5:14-15 – And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

Jeremiah 29:12 – Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.

Matthew 7:7 – Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 – Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

John 15:7 – If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

Ephesians 6:18 – Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.

Psalm 145:18 – The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.

Hebrews 4:16 – Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Bible Verses For Discouragement and God’s Promises

2 Corinthians 1:20 – For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.

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.

Romans 8:28 – And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Psalm 37:4 – Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Matthew 11:28-29 – Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Proverbs 3:5-6 – Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Philippians 4:19 – And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Bible Verses For Discouragement and the Testing of Your Faith

Knowing that there is purpose in pain and discouragement gives me hope! Check out these Bible verses about the good that comes from hard times.

James 1:2-4 – Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Romans 5:3-5 – Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

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.

2 Corinthians 4:17 – For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.

1 Peter 1:6-7 – In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:18 – For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Hebrews 12:11 – For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

2 Corinthians 1:5 – For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.

Practical Ways to Overcome Times of Discouragement

1. Seek God’s Presence Through Prayer and Meditation

Psalm 16:8 – I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

2. Find Strength in God’s Word

Psalm 119:105 – Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

3. Lean on God’s Promises

Romans 15:4 – For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

4. Practice Gratitude

1 Thessalonians 5:18 – Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

5. Fellowship with Other Believers

Hebrews 10:25 – Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

6. Serve Others

Galatians 6:9-10 – And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

7. Trust in God’s Timing

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.

8. Cast Your Cares on Him

1 Peter 5:7 – Cast all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

9. Focus on Eternal Perspective

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.

10. Remember God’s Faithfulness in the Past

Psalm 34:17-18 – When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

Wrapping Up Bible Verses For Discouragement

Difficult times are inevitable in this weary world. Clinging to the Truth of God in the Biblical passages above is a great way to find encouragement. What Bible verses would you add to the list to encourage one another? Leave them in the comments!

Posted in Discipleship & Spiritual Growth