Bible Verses About

Posts Tagged ‘prayer’

“How long, O Lord?  Will you forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and everyday have sorrow in my heart?” Psalm 13:1-2

This is a Bible verse that I’ve often prayed in my own life, especially in times where it seems like all my efforts and work are coming to nothing.  Verses like this one are the only things that really have the power to keep me from depression and despair when things end up falling apart all around me.  When things fall apart and I lose all motivation to continue and keep working hard, this verse is what I cry out to the Lord asking Him how long until He moves and changes my circumstances.  If I didn’t have verses like this one to rely on and cry out to God, I don’t think I’d be able to keep myself from slipping away into depression, discouragement, and despair.

I know a lot of people who haven’t been able to stop themselves from slipping into depression and despair.  It really makes me sad that they don’t have verses like this to use as anchors for their souls, to be able to cry out to God in pure frustration and to have that glimmer of hope that God is faithful and won’t leave you in that place forever.  If you’re suffering from depression and despair, I hope you take encouragement from this Bible verse and know that God won’t leave you in this place forever, that if you cry out to Him and trust that He’ll deliver you, then it’s only a matter of time before God changes your circumstances and brings comfort and change to your life.

“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God.” Psalm 42:5

This is a really interesting Bible verse.  Sometimes I feel like this, where I’m just downcast and I don’t know why.  Life just seems discouraging and I feel defeated.  When I feel depressed or discouraged, this Bible verse really helps me.  I can ask my self the question, why so downcast, and make myself give an answer.  Often, I feel discouraged about something small or inconsequential.  Asking myself the question and forcing myself to think about the bigger picture of life and the fact that God is the one directing my path really helps to refocus my heart and mind and get my emotions back on track.

This Bible verse is also good for times of real discouragement and despair.  The reason why I like it is because David is commanding his soul to change its attitude and put its hope in God alone.  Often, I find myself wandering away from hoping in God and instead placing a lot of my hopes in things that probably won’t make me happy or satisfied.  It’s during those times that I often get the most discouraged.  That’s why it’s a great thing to actually tell your soul, “Stop.  I’m not going to hope in things that are hollow.  I’m going to hope in God.”  I’m not a name it, claim it person, but sometimes it’s just powerful to tell yourself the way it’s going to be and confidently tell yourself that things are going to change.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to him.” James 1:5

This is an often quoted Bible verse about wisdom.  I’ve often thought about this passage and have done my fair share of asking for wisdom.  It’s so cool that a promise like this exists in the Bible.  There aren’t any other character traits that I know of that the Lord has said to expressly ask for and it will be given.  It doesn’t say anywhere else in the Bible, ask for patience and it will be given to you, or ask for perseverance and it will be given to you.  It’s really quite amazing that God wants to give wisdom to all who ask, because the Bible says that wisdom is the supreme virtue.  If you read the last post on wisdom, you saw that Solomon said that nothing you desire can compare with wisdom.

I love how accessible God makes wisdom.  All we have to do is ask.  This is really relieving to me, because wisdom often seems like a virtue that’s out of reach.  When I consider my life and how I often live, wisdom seems like something that’s far off.  But that’s why I take such comfort in the verse from James.  If I ever get down on myself that I’m not a very wise person, all I have to do is ask God and He will give it to me.  All He requires is that I eagerly desire it and that I believe that He’ll give it to me and not doubt.