Bible Verses About Strength to Start Your Day

Biblical Strength Versus Physical Strength

While the word strength may remind you more of the gym than the Bible, strength and its derivatives come up hundreds of times throughout the scriptures.

Ancient biblical prophets wrote frequently of God’s strength and His ability to aid and empower those who trust in Him.

It would be difficult to discuss all of the hundreds of Bible verses in which God’s strength—or our ability to draw on it—is mentioned. So here are just a few of the best-known verses that offer us a sort of heavenly pep talk to start even the most daunting days.

Being Yoked to Christ

This verse is a source of encouragement and inspiration.

One of the reasons life can be so overwhelming is that many of us try to “go it alone.” We seek healing and comfort yet often overlook the strength the Lord God offers. We feel like we personally need to be enough. However, none of us actually is enough—but Christ is! While we may excel in many things, we all have weaknesses as well.

This verse reminds us that we don’t need to be capable of doing everything that has to be done.

We don’t need to be the most talented or gifted person in the room.

We just need to yoke ourselves to Christ, because He can do it all—and He has every intention of accomplishing through us all that He needs to do.

In Mathew 11:28–30 it states

How do we yoke ourselves to Jesus Christ? We do so by making and keeping covenants with God. Through the influence of the Holy Spirit, we can receive added strength from Jesus Christ because of our covenants with God.

President Russell M. Nelson taught:

So trust in Him and in His promises. As you come unto Him through baptism, confirmation, and making and keeping covenants with Him, He will strengthen you with the gifts you need to “do all things” today, tomorrow, and beyond. Praise and prayer help keep our heart aligned with His love, removing fear.

God Can Renew Us as We Exercise Faith and Hope in Him

At times, life and its many challenges can leave one feeling burdened.

Isaiah tells us that if we will “wait upon the Lord”—the Hebrew translation can also be interpreted as hoping for His blessings and expecting them—then He will renew our depleted strength so that we can carry our heavy burdens and not be worn down or feel faint and exhausted.

It is a call for courage, not just hope. Elder Robert D. Hales gave a talk titled “Waiting upon the Lord: Thy Will Be Done.” He taught:

The human soul can only endure so much, but God can renew us repeatedly if we demonstrate hope, a willingness to accept His will, and patience with whatever might come our way.

Our part is to have faith in and follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, letting them guide us; to align ourselves with Him by making and keeping covenants; and to endure to end in faith.

Keeping an Eternal Perspective

This psalm tells the story of Asaph, who couldn’t understand what God was doing in his life—and who felt like the wicked were always prospering while the righteous were left to flounder with no obvious help from above.

As a result of his incorrect interpretation of what God was doing, Asaph chose to be bitter toward God and miserable in his personal life. However, he finally realized that his problem was his inclination to see things from a temporal and temporary perspective.

His darkened vision (see 1 Corinthians 13:12) caused him to question God and to miss the hand of the divine in his life. However, once Asaph began to look at his life and his trials from an eternal perspective, God’s power, strength, and protection filled his life, and he no longer felt that his trials were more than he could bear.

Instead, Asaph began to recognize his trials as part of God’s divine plan for his life. So if you feel like your life is falling apart and your heart is distraught as a result, remember that God’s promised blessings will come as you live a faithful and obedient life.

By seeing your challenges through the eternal lens that Asaph discovered, you too can develop an eternal perspective and see the growth that can come as we face our challenges with faith in God.

Elder David A. Bednar explained,

As you start embracing this new perspective, you’ll have the divine strength needed to endure whatever you’re currently going through, because you know what is eternally possible.

Faith over Fear

Fear of the unknown—and even fear of the recurrence of past hardships—can be paralyzing for some people.

God is omnipotent and has all power necessary to do whatever needs to be done. When we choose fear over faith, we actually limit our access to God’s enabling power.

This verse reminds us that it is actually a commandment to not fear but instead to be brave and bold.

Elder Ronald A. Rasband has taught: “Joshua trusted those words and counseled the people,

Consequently, God has promised that those who muster the faith to trust Him rather than give in to fear will always find Him walking by their side.

And knowing that He is there can instill in us the confidence and strength to face anything we might naturally fear.

Finding Joy in God and His Ways

Some might feel at times that God’s laws can feel difficult to keep. However, when we choose to find joy in the Lord and His ways, to genuinely love what God loves, then we are filled with perspective and strength, and the cost of discipleship becomes empowering.

President Russell M. Nelson taught:

God Shields and Strengthens

We all face opposition in our lives—sometimes at work, online, in our relationships, or even within the Church.

However, David sang of how the Lord is really like a shield that can deflect all the nonsense of this noisy world. God has the power and even the desire to protect us from people or things that seem to constantly bombard us.

As you utilize Him as a shield against whatever comes your way, you will find strength in the fact that He can deflect so much that you could potentially face. Life’s challenges aren’t going to go away, but through the strength of the Lord you can work through them more easily.

God Offers an Escape

While this verse doesn’t use the English word for “strength,” that’s exactly what it’s talking about.

Though it can be hard to be a good Christian in such a sin-sick world, God wants to help us become the best version of ourselves. So He gives us the strength to not give in to temptation and our own weaknesses.

However, to receive that divine strength, you must have the desire to overcome whatever is holding you back.

The power is there, but how badly do you really want it?

Do you want to be strong in the face of temptation?

If you truly do, as you turn to God in moments of temptation, He can help you escape the temptation.

Strength Through Embracing Weakness

Amazingly, Christ wants us to understand that our weaknesses are actually opportunities, because through them we can turn to Him to receive His strength rather than relying on our own. For the believer, weaknesses humble us—even bring us to our knees—and that turns us to God.

When we choose to turn toward Him in the midst of our weaknesses, then He chooses to turn our former weakness into newfound strength.

The Book of Mormon clarifies what we are being taught in 2 Corinthians 12:

The Power of Depending on God

We all struggle—some days more than others. But regardless of what your weaknesses, fears, and inadequacies are, the hundreds of biblical passages that talk about strength all essentially testify to the same truths: God has all power, and we have some serious weaknesses, but the Lord is willing and wanting to share His strength with you and with me.

As we turn to Him, trust in Him, yoke ourselves with Him, and remember to keep an eternal perspective, He has promised that He will never abandon us. Bit by bit, He will increase our strength as He slowly removes our weaknesses, and in so doing He will shield us from the full force of our enemies—no matter what form they may take.

So as you face another day, daunting as it may be, remind yourself each morning—and throughout the day—“He’s got this! I don’t, but He does!”

And as you put your trust in Him and obey His commandments, He will give you His strength!