Prayer for Strength
Strength in the Christian sense is not the absence of weakness. It is what God gives to those who admit they have run out. The prayers below are for the days when you cannot see a way forward: illness, loss, exhaustion, fear, the long weight of a burden that will not lift. They come from the Catholic and Maronite traditions, with the full texts, and they begin where real strength begins, with the honest admission that you cannot do this alone.
Saint Paul learned the secret and wrote it down: "When I am weak, then I am strong." The tradition has prayed his insight for two thousand years. What follows is that prayer, in many forms.
A Prayer for Strength in Hard Times
A prayer for the moment when your own resources are gone and you need to keep going anyway.
Lord, I have come to the end of my own strength. I cannot carry this alone, and I will not pretend that I can. Be my strength where I have none. Hold me up when I cannot stand, and carry me when I cannot walk. Give me enough for this hour, and when this hour passes, enough for the next. I trust that your power is made perfect in my weakness. Amen.
Notice what the prayer does not ask for. It does not ask that the burden be removed, though you may ask that elsewhere. It asks for enough strength for this hour. The tradition teaches that God gives strength for the present, not in advance, and that this is a mercy: we are carried one day at a time.
Prayer to the Holy Spirit for Fortitude
Fortitude, the strength to endure and to act rightly under pressure, is one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. This ancient prayer asks for the Spirit who gives it.
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth. O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit instructed the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in his consolation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Psalm 46 — God Is Our Strength
The great Psalm of strength, prayed in war, plague, and personal ruin for three thousand years. It is the Psalm behind the hymn "A Mighty Fortress."
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God.
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
"Be still, and know that I am God."
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
The Psalm's turning point is the command in its last verses: "Be still, and know that I am God." Strength, in this Psalm, is not frantic effort. It is the stillness that comes from knowing who holds the world.
A Prayer Through the Intercession of Saint Rafqa
Saint Rafqa is the Maronite patron of those who suffer. She asked God to share in the pain of Christ, and for the last decades of her life she bore blindness and paralysis with a calm that astonished everyone who met her. No saint understands the prayer for strength in suffering better.
Saint Rafqa, who carried years of pain without losing your peace, pray for me now. You did not ask for the suffering to end; you asked for the strength to bear it with love. Ask that same strength for me. When I cannot see the reason and cannot feel the comfort, keep me faithful as you were faithful, and hold me close to the God who did not abandon you. Amen.
A Prayer Through the Intercession of Saint Charbel
The hermit of Annaya is invoked for strength in trial as well as for healing. His whole life was a long endurance in silence, and pilgrims still bring their hardest struggles to his tomb.
Saint Charbel, man of silence and strength, you endured decades of hardship in the hermitage without complaint, sustained only by God. Intercede for me in this difficulty. Ask the Lord to give me the endurance you were given, the peace that held you steady, and the trust that never left you. Help me to carry what I have been given, and to carry it toward God. Amen.
Many bring this prayer together with the prayer for healing or the nine-day novena, praying for strength of body and of soul at once.
Scripture for Strength
When your own words fail, Scripture gives you words that have carried the weak for millennia. Pray one verse slowly, and let it repeat in you through the day.
Isaiah 40:29-31
"He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."
Philippians 4:13
"I can do all things through him who strengthens me."
2 Corinthians 12:9
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
Psalm 18:1-2
"I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge."
Joshua 1:9
"Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."
Deuteronomy 31:6
"Be strong and courageous. Do not fear, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you."
Matthew 11:28
"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
When You Have Nothing Left
There are days when even a full prayer is too much. The tradition has an answer for those days too. The Desert Fathers, and the Maronite hermits after them, taught the prayer of a single line, repeated until it prays itself: "Lord, help me." "Jesus, mercy." "Into your hands."
This is not a lesser prayer. It is the prayer of the cross, where Jesus himself was reduced to a few words: "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When you have nothing left, the smallest prayer is enough, because the strength was never yours to begin with. For more on this way of praying, see the prayer for anxiety and its tradition of the Jesus Prayer.
A Note on Prayer and Help
Prayer is real strength, but it is not the only help God gives. The Church has always honored doctors, counselors, and the support of friends and family as instruments of God's care. If a burden is crushing you, reaching out for help is not a failure of faith. It is often the exact answer to the prayer for strength.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good prayer for strength in hard times?
A simple, honest prayer is best: "Lord, I have nothing left. Be my strength." The Church also gives us Psalm 46, the prayer to the Holy Spirit, and Saint Paul's words, "I can do all things through him who strengthens me." Strength in prayer often begins by admitting weakness.
What Psalm gives strength?
Psalm 46 is the great Psalm of strength: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." Psalm 18 ("I love you, O Lord, my strength"), Psalm 27, and Psalm 138 are also prayed when courage runs low.
What saint do you pray to for strength?
In the Maronite tradition, Saint Rafqa is the patron of endurance in suffering, and Saint Charbel is invoked for strength in trial. In the wider Catholic tradition, Saint Jude is prayed to in desperate situations, and the Holy Spirit is asked for the gift of fortitude.
What does the Bible say about God giving strength?
Scripture promises that God strengthens the weak. Isaiah 40:31 says, "Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles." In 2 Corinthians 12:9, the Lord says, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
How do you pray when you feel weak?
Start by telling God the truth: that you are weak and cannot go on alone. The tradition treats this honesty as the beginning of strength. Pray a short line you can repeat, ask the Holy Spirit for fortitude, and let a saint who suffered well carry your prayer with you.
See also: Prayer for Anxiety. Prayer for Grief. Prayer for Healing. Catholic Morning Prayers. Saint Rafqa. Saint Charbel.