When we face difficulties, the best thing to do is to place our focus on the Lord, the source of hope and healing. Instead of allowing our thoughts to be filled with worry, fear and anxiety, spend time in God’s word. Stand on the truths found in these 10 Bible Verses for hope and healing. Write them down. Place them around your house so you can be reminded of God’s promises for healing.
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“What made you finally come in?” my doctor asked with eyes of compassion before glancing down at my chart.
“It had gone on long enough and I couldn’t take the pain anymore. I had tried everything I knew to do and it wasn’t enough,” I replied, wondering if I was going to get a browbeating for waiting so long before seeking medical attention.
Even as I said it, I thought about how often I’m like that with God: trying to do things on my own before ultimately turning to Him for help when nothing I do makes the situation any better.
There is a reason God warns us not to depend on our own understanding—He knows better than we do.
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take”
(Proverbs 3:5-6).
“I’m sure you have a suspicion of what we might be dealing with here,” he suggested, with one knowing eyebrow raised.
“I do, but in this situation, I’ll let you be the doctor and I’ll be the patient for a change.”
He sent me for tests and then for more tests. Even then the results were inconclusive and left us with multiple differential diagnoses—none of which were good.
“I want to send you for another consult, STAT. I know you’ll be tempted to worry about this over the weekend, but I don’t want you to go there,” he cautioned.
Pain is a funny thing. It can take a normally strong person and drain every ounce of strength from you, leaving you weak and vulnerable.
Pain can make you question everything you know to be true, and doubt what you would previously swear by.
Pain can make you withdraw from your social network and from God, or reach out in need of help.
I was grateful that he took my condition and my pain seriously, and that he cautioned me not to let my thoughts run amuck on the playground of worry, fear, and anxiety because that is exactly where the enemy wanted me to go.
I knew what the differential diagnoses were, and I didn’t like them.
But a friend wisely reminded me “Doctors diagnose and help treat us. Surgeons operate. GOD heals!”
That was where my focus needed to be—on our source of hope and healing. Because as long as God is on His throne, hope prevails!
I had a choice to make: I could let my thoughts go down the rabbit trail with worry, fear, and anxiety, or I could spend time in the word, focused on Bible Verses for hope and healing, stand on the truths in those scriptures, and determine to trust God with whatever we faced.
A Prayer for Trusting God to Heal
“Lord, I know this doesn’t take you by surprise. And I know that you are bigger than any diagnosis that looms. You are Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals. You have not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and sound mind, so I choose right now to use my sound mind to trust you to heal whatever it is we are dealing with. I thank you for this current trial because I know you use the trials in our life to strengthen our faith. Use this even now, Lord, for my good and for your glory. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”
After asking a few close friends to agree with me in prayer, I spent the next several hours in the word, standing on the promises of God, declaring Bible Verses for hope and healing out loud and claiming them for myself.
10 Bible Verses for Hope and Healing
If you or someone you love is in need of healing, I encourage you to declare these promises of God out loud and claim them for yourself as well. God’s word is alive and active, and it will not return void until it has accomplished what it was sent out to accomplish.
1. Jeremiah 17:14
“Heal me, LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise” (Jeremiah 17:14 NIV).
2. James 5:14-15
“Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven” (James 5:14-15).
3. Jeremiah 30:17
“But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,’ declares the LORD” (Jeremiah 30:17).
4. Jeremiah 33:6
“Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security” (Jeremiah 33:6).
5. 3 John 1:2
“Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit” (3 John 1:2).
6. Exodus 23:25
“Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you” (Exodus 23:25).
7. Isaiah 53:5
“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).
8. Isaiah 41:10
“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).
9. Isaiah 40:29
“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak” (Isaiah 40:29).
10. Psalm 30:2
“LORD my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me” (Psalm 30:2)
A Prayer for Healing
May I pray for you?
Father God,
I pray for the one reading these words right now. I don’t know what they are facing, but you do. Whether they are in need of physical healing, emotional healing, relationship healing, financial healing, or something else, Lord we trust you to be their healer. You are Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals. You are the Great Physician, our redeemer and restorer. Restore everything to perfect order, Lord. Work all things together for their good and for your glory. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Are there other verses you cling to when you are in need of healing? I’d love to hear them in the comments below!
Because of Him, #HopePrevails!
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I have found from personal experience that there is some pain involved in healing, whether physical, mental, or even emotionally and spiritual. Some things you just have to work through, let Him walk you through or carry you if He has to because He will. Pain from the enemy, you can speak His word over and it will go in Jesus name. And he is so deceptive, that he will even convince you that you are not getting well, not worthy, or are worse off than you are or don’t need help, the father of lies. God bless.
I love the reminder your friend gave you about how people can use the gifts they have like operating and treating our sickness, but God is the One who heals. Such a powerful truth! Visiting from #MomentsofHope. 🙂
And the hope God offers “does not disappoint” so it’s a safe place for our hearts! Blessings to you! Thanks for truth-words here!
Jer 29:11. For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord. Plans to prosper and not to harm. Plans to give you a hope and a future. I clung to this verse when we had our little one out of foster care. I prayed this over her knowing God’s plan for her was so much better. Thankfully he blessed us to be her mom and dad! #dancewithjesus
We all need this sooner or later. Thank you for sharing your story and these verses. Your prayers help give examples of how to handle my future medical moments. Praying now for your medical need.
Gretchen, I’m glad sharing from my experience can encourage others. May I pray for you?
Father, I lift up Gretchen to you. You know her medical needs and they do not take you by surprise. You are the God who heals, and we entrust her into your care. Guard her heart and mind in you. Surround her with your peace that passes all understanding! In Jesus’s name, Amen.
So helpful. Thank you.
I’m so glad you found them helpful!
Oh my, this blessed me so much!! I wanted to read it because I know of several who are experiencing pain and I love having all the verses on healing together so I can pray them over people and situations. Thank you even more for your testimony of your visit with the doctor and what he said. That was an encouragement for you I could tell as he pointed you to the Lord instead of allowing you to go into worry, fear and anxiety. Now look at you writing a book on anxiety and helping others not go down that slippery slope. God is so good and only He knows what is ahead. You shared your learned lessons really well for I have read your new book, Breaking Anxiety’s Grip and it is powerful. Born out of walking the journey yourself. I love and appreciate you, Dr. Michelle!!
Thank you for this uplifting prayer and message. I am recovering from a very difficult surgery and have turned to our Lord from the beginning. Many blessings to you!
My dear Michelle, it is wonderful to read your testimony of trusting our Father and His faithfulness to us who sincerely trust Him with ALL our hearts. I turned to my Lord in utter dispare as I had tried every way the carnal mind thinks to save my marriage. He saved me, because I believed all I had been taught as a child in Sunday school. Nothing I tried had worked. I was on the brink of believing death would end my pain, a lie from the father of lies. I knew that this was wrong, so in His unfailing love and mercy, He lead me through the Power Of His Holy Spirit, and His angels sent to guard me from my destructive thoughts, and when I threw my hands in the air and simply said, ‘I don’t know what to do!’ He took me home in His perfect peace to a war zone of challenges to simply stay trusting Him and His faithfulness to give me His peace as I praised Him for all the blessings He had given me, and worshiped Him for Who He is, Almighty, everlasting Father, Prince Of Peace, Mighty Counsellor, Faithful Friend. I am but His vessel to use as He wills for His purpose. He is our only Hope, no matter what we go through, knowing we are going through it, not staying in it. May He bless and keep you in His perfect peace, no matter what.
Dear Michelle
Thank you for sharing your story and for the wonderful prayers.
I find myself so full of worry that I can’t choose the right words to pray so I am using yours.
I am worried about my daughters health and pray for healing.
This is so good and so helpful. I haven’t had continuous pain which I know you have experienced at times but I have had pain and it does open the door to the enemy distracting us from trusting God and standing on all His promises. The prayers and the 10 scriptures are so needed by so many people that I encounter each day. I just visited with a young woman yesterday that desires the Lord’s healing for anxiety and I’m not sure of other needs but I was able to refer her to you and your books. I pray she will take advantage of your resources. Thanks Michelle so much for faithfully sharing how the Lord is teaching and helping you to heal.