Biblical and Spiritual Words of Encouragement
A reference does more work than a full passage in a message — it gives them something to go and read when they are ready. Send it only to someone whose faith you are sure of.
- The rule of thumb
- One reference, one sentence of your own. A wall of scripture reads as a leaflet rather than a letter.
- Who to send it to
- Someone whose faith you know. Sent to someone who does not share it, it lands as a correction.
- Which translation
- Quotes below are the King James Version, which is in the public domain. Use whichever translation they actually read.
- The strongest pairing
- Reference plus a specific offer: the verse for the night, the lift on Thursday for the daytime.
Short, for a card or a text
- 1
Praying for you today — properly, by name, not in passing.
- 2
Holding you up this week. Joshua 1:9 is on my mind for you.
- 3
Thinking of you and praying. No reply needed.
- 4
You are being prayed for by more people than you know.
For fear and dread
Joshua 1:9 and Isaiah 41:10 are the two most sent, and for good reason.
- 5
Joshua 1:9 — "be strong and of a good courage". Sending it because I know what tomorrow is.
- 6
Isaiah 41:10, for the middle of the night, when it is worst.
- 7
Psalm 23 does not promise there is no valley. It promises company through it. That is what I am wishing you.
For exhaustion
- 8
Matthew 11:28 — rest is offered, not earned. Take some.
- 9
Isaiah 40:31, for a week when your own strength has run out.
- 10
Even Elijah was told to sleep and eat before anything else was asked of him. Do that first.
For grief
Send the reference, not a lecture. Grief does not want to be taught.
- 11
Psalm 34:18 — near to the broken-hearted. Nothing more from me today.
- 12
There is no verse that fixes this and I am not going to pretend otherwise. But you are held, and so is he.
- 13
Praying for you and for the days that are going to be worse than today.
For waiting, when nothing is moving
- 14
Psalm 27:14 — wait on the Lord. The hardest instruction in the book and the one you are living.
- 15
Lamentations 3:22-23 — mercies new every morning. Some mornings that is the only new thing.
- 16
Habakkuk 2:3 is for you this month. It comes. It is just slow.
For a woman carrying more than her share
The most searched version of this request. Keep it about her, not about her role.
- 17
Isaiah 40:29 — strength to the weary. You have been the strong one for a long time and you are allowed to be tired.
- 18
Psalm 46:5 — she shall not be moved. I have watched that be true of you for years.
- 19
You do not have to be the one holding everyone up this week. Let somebody hold you.
For someone whose faith is shaky right now
A common and delicate case. Do not use scripture as an argument.
- 20
You do not have to feel it for it to be true. I will hold the believing for a while.
- 21
Doubt is in the Psalms too. You are in good company and you are not out of bounds.
- 22
I am praying for you and I am not going to ask you to pray.
Blessings to close with
- 23
Numbers 6:24-26 — the blessing, over you and your house.
- 24
Grace and peace to you this week, and rest tonight.
- 25
May you be kept, and may you know that you are.
Spiritual, without a specific faith
For someone who is not religious but is not nothing either.
- 26
Holding you in the light this week.
- 27
Sending you every good thing I know how to send.
- 28
Thinking of you, and wishing you peace in the middle of it.
For someone waiting on news
The hardest week to write into, because nothing has happened yet and nothing can be said about the outcome.
- 29
Praying for you through the waiting, which is its own kind of hard.
- 30
Psalm 62:5 — for the week where nothing can be done but wait.
- 31
No news yet, and I am praying anyway. Every day until there is.
For a household in turmoil
- 32
Praying for peace in your house this week. Not solutions — peace.
- 33
Joshua 24:15, and I know you meant it when you said it.
- 34
Holding your whole family up this week, all of you by name.
For someone who has stopped going
Delicate. A message that reads as a summons will end the conversation.
- 35
No agenda and no questions. You were missed, that is all.
- 36
The door does not have a time limit on it. Neither do I.
- 37
Thinking of you. Not asking anything of you.
Questions people actually ask
What are good Bible verses for encouragement?
Joshua 1:9 and Isaiah 41:10 for fear, Matthew 11:28 and Isaiah 40:31 for exhaustion, Psalm 34:18 for grief, Psalm 27:14 for waiting. Send the reference with one sentence of your own rather than the passage on its own.
What is a biblical word of encouragement for a woman?
Isaiah 40:29 and Psalm 46:5 are the two most sent, and both work best paired with a sentence acknowledging that she has been the strong one for a while and is allowed to stop.
Should you send Bible verses to someone who is not religious?
No. Sent to someone outside the faith it reads as a correction rather than a comfort. Say you are thinking of them in your own words instead.
Which Bible translation should you quote?
Whichever they read. The verses quoted on this page are King James, which is out of copyright, but a message meets someone better in the words they already know.