Encouraging words when I need help (part 1)
1. Help is always available for me
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matthew 7:7,8).
2. Help in times of stress
(Jesus says) “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened. And I will give you rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28).
3. Help when you think God can’t be found
“If you seek Me, you will find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:12,13).
“God is not far from each of us” (Acts 17:27).
4. Help to show you God loves and cares for you
“For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
When I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
Your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me were written in your book
Before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:13-16).
5. Help when people scare you and you can’t speak
“Do not be afraid of their faces,
For I am with you to deliver you,” says the Lord.
Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth,
and the Lord said to me:
“Behold, I have put My words in your mouth” (Jeremiah 1:8,9).
6. Help not to put my faith and trust in possessions
And he (Jesus) told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
“This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God”
(Luke 12:16-21, words in italics added).
Stories of Hope
> Greg – overcoming suicidal thoughts / the effect of music
> Dave – Escaping from shoplifting
> Michael – ‘One drink away …’ (escaping binge drinking)
7. Help in times of discouragement
“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'” (Jeremiah 29:11).
Jesus said “I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).
8. Help when I need a way out
“And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
9. Help to see the devil is a defeated foe
“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities (i.e. spiritual forces of evil … see Ephesians 6:12), he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Colossians 2:13-15, words in italics added).
10. Help when I need to be bold
“Since we have a great high priest, Jesus the Son of God who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses. Let us the approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:14-16).
Stories of Encouragement
> Pete – escaping the darkness of the ‘New Age’
> Tim – the bitter taste of rejection
> Jezza – overcoming depression and addictions
11. Help when I need to forget my failures
“But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13,14).
12. Help when I need to remember what Jesus did for me
“Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 43:4-6).
13. Help when I need to see a reason why I am suffering
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance” (James 1:2).
“All kinds of trials have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Peter 1:6,7).
Searching for the Answers to Life?
> Sarah – God is out there somehere
> Win – What has happened to our world?
> Beryl – The stolen years
14. Help when I am under pressure
“To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand” (Romans 14:4).
“I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13, N.K.J.V.)
“I was under great pressure, far beyond my ability to endure. But this happened that I might not rely on myself but on God, who raises the dead” (2 Corinthians 1:8,9).
15. Help when I need to see what God is really like
“Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-
who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel:
The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;
he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us”
(Psalm 105:1-12).
16. Help when I need to encourage others
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts me in all our troubles, so that I can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort I myself have received from God” (2 Corinthians 1:3,4).
17. Help to see the ways things are
“The time is short … the days are evil … ” (1 Corinthians 7:29, Ephesians 5:16).
18. Help in times of trouble
“Jesus says: ‘I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world'” (John 16:33).
Encouraging Stories
> Surfer
> Peter Pollock – international cricketer
> Chris Meyer – champion rodeo rider
19. Help to tell others about Jesus
“I heard a loud voice in heaven say: ‘Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They (Christians) overcame him (the devil) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death'” (Revelation 12:10-11, italics added).
20. Help when I think nothing good will come out of a difficult situation
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
21. Help when I get carried away with my own self importance
“Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? Would he not rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty'” (Luke 17:7-10).
22. Help when I need courage in fighting the battle!
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints”
(Ephesians 6:10-18).
23. Help never to give up
“Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light” (Micah 7:8).
Encouraging Words When I Need Help (part 2
References
All verses except 2 Timothy 1:7 and Jeremiah 1:8-9 were taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.” 2 Timothy 1:7 and Jeremiah 1:8-9 were taken “The Holy Bible” (The King James Version © 1983).
