If... Words of Encouragement

If you need comfort, pray Psalm 119:76, 77:
'May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise Let your compassion come to me.'

If you need guidance, pray Psalm 27:11:
Teach me your way, O Lord; lead me in a straight path.'

If you need help, pray Psalm 39:12,13:
'Hear my prayer, O Lord, listen to my cry for help; be not deaf to my weeping.'

If you need forgiveness, pray Psalm 51:1:
'Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.'

Thoughtful girlIf you feel things are not working out for you, read Romans 8:28

'We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.'

If you need support, pray Psalm 102:1, 2:
'Hear my prayer, O Lord; let my cry for help come to you. Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress.'

If you feel in need of protection, pray Psalm 17:8:
'Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.'

If you feel anxious, read 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.'

If you feel in despair, read Psalm 42:5:
'Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God.'

If you feel in need of courage, pray Psalm 41:10:
'O Lord, have mercy on me; raise me up.'

If you are sorrowing, read Psalm 23:1-3:
'The Lord is my shepherd, I shall lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.'

If you feel worn down by worries, read Psalm 55:22:
Tired man with computer'Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.'

If you are bereaved, read Isaiah 25:8:
'He will swallow up death for ever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces.'

If you want to know what God expects of a Christian soldier, read Ephesians 6:10, 11:
'Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.'

If you feel short-tempered, read James 1:19:
'Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.'

If you feel vengeful, read Romans 12:20:
'If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.'

If you feel angry towards a friend, read Romans 12:9:
'Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honour one another above yourselves.'

If your faith needs strengthening, pray Mark 9:24:
'I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!'

If you feel reluctant to help others in need, read Romans 12:13:
'Share with God's people who are in need. Practise hospitality.'

If others wind you up, read Romans 12:17, 18:
'Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.'

If you feel close to defeat, read 2 Corinthians 4:8, 9:
'We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.'

Girl with teddy bearIf you are scared to speak out for what is right, read Acts 4:29:
'Now, Lord enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.'

If you are feeling vulnerable, read Psalm 103:8,13, 14:
'The Lord is compassionate and gracious... As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.'

If you have worries about future security, read Matthew 6:25-27:
'Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?'

If you feel discontented, read 1 Timothy 6:6:
'Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.'

If you are tempted to make becoming wealthy a priority, read 1 Timothy 6:9, 10:
'People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.'

If you feel weak, read Philippians 4:13: 'I can do everything through him who gives me strength.'

If you feel inadequate, read 2 Corinthians 12:9: 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'

If you see no point in going on, and wonder if this life is all there is, read 2 Corinthians 4:16-18:
'We do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.'

If you want a code to live by,

read 1 Corinthians 13:

'If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

'Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

'Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

'And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.'