Bible Verses About Faith: 14 Verses for When Trust Is Hard

Bible verses about faith when you can’t see what’s ahead

Every verse in this guide is quoted from the World English Bible, with a line about where it comes from.

• Hebrews 11:1. “Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen.” The opening line of the Bible’s long list of people who trusted God before they saw the outcome.
• Proverbs 3:5–6. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” A father’s advice to his son. Your understanding still matters. It just isn’t what holds your weight.
• 2 Corinthians 5:7. “for we walk by faith, not by sight.” Paul wrote this while thinking about death and a body wearing out. Faith is how you keep walking.
• Hebrews 11:8. “By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out to the place which he was to receive for an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he went.” Abraham left with a promise and no map.

Bible verses about faith when you have doubts

Doubt doesn’t mean you’ve lost your faith. Some of the Bible’s most honest writers were in the middle of it when they wrote.

• 2 Timothy 2:13. “If we are faithless, he remains faithful; for he can’t deny himself.” Paul quotes what seems to be an early Christian saying. Your grip on God isn’t the only grip that counts.
• Psalm 73:23. “Nevertheless, I am continually with you. You have held my right hand.” Asaph admits his faith nearly slipped when he saw the wicked doing well (Psalm 73:2–3). Looking back, he sees that God had hold of him the whole time.
• Philippians 1:6. “being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Paul, in prison, is sure God finishes what he starts. Your faith is God’s project as well as yours.

Bible verses about faith when it’s being tested

• James 1:2–3. “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” James wrote to scattered believers. He doesn’t call trials pleasant. He says they build something.
• 1 Peter 1:7. “the proof of your faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes, even though it is tested by fire”. Peter wrote to Christians living as outsiders. Gold is worth testing, he says, and your faith is worth more.
• Daniel 3:17–18. “our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up.” Three young men facing a furnace. “But if not” may be the bravest faith in the Bible.
• 2 Timothy 4:7. “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith.” Paul near the end of his life, expecting to die. Keeping the faith took a fight.

Bible verses about faith in daily life

• Ephesians 2:8–9. “for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast.” Paul wants this clear from the start: you don’t earn your way in.
• James 2:17. “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself.” James says trust that changes nothing isn’t real trust. There is more on that below.
• Romans 10:17. “So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Paul says faith grows by listening. That’s one good reason to keep reading.

What does the Bible say about faith?

Faith in the Bible means trust. It has less to do with how sure you feel and more to do with who you’re relying on. The pattern starts with Abraham, who had a promise and no children: “He believed in the LORD, who credited it to him for righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6).

Faith doesn’t always get what it asks for. Hebrews says many of the faithful “died in faith, not having received the promises” (Hebrews 11:13). And faith can be mixed with struggle. In Mark 9, a desperate father tells Jesus that he believes and asks for help with his unbelief, and Jesus helps him.

Does James contradict Paul on faith and works?

Paul says “a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law” (Romans 3:28). James says “by works a man is justified, and not only by faith” (James 2:24). They are answering different questions. Paul is asking how anyone gets right with God, and his answer is by trust, as a gift. James is asking what real trust looks like, and his answer is that it shows. His example is someone who tells a hungry person, “Go in peace” and gives them nothing (James 2:16).

Paul would agree. Right after saying we are saved “not of works”, he says we were “created in Christ Jesus for good works” (Ephesians 2:10). Works don’t earn God’s favor. They are what faith does.

How to grow in faith

Faith grows the way trust grows between people: slowly, by spending time together and seeing what happens.

1. Read a little of the Bible most days. If you’re not sure how, start with our guide to where to start reading the Bible.
2. Pray honestly, and bring your doubts with you.
3. Write down what God has done. Psalm 77 turns when the writer says, “I will remember the LORD’s deeds” (Psalm 77:11).
4. Do the next right thing you’ve been putting off. Trust grows when you act on it.
5. Stay close to other believers. Hebrews tells Christians to keep meeting and keep encouraging each other (Hebrews 10:24–25).

When a verse seems to promise more than you’ve experienced, our guide to reading a verse in context can help. For the days faith feels thin, read our Bible verses about hope.

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