A short list is easier to carry than a long one. If the whole Bible feels like too much to hold today, start with ten.
Here are 10 promises of God with Bible verses, quoted from the King James Version. We chose them from ten different books, from the first book of the Bible to the last, so you can see that God kept speaking promises through every age. Some were spoken to one man in the middle of the night. Others were written to a whole church. One was spoken by Jesus to a tired crowd.
For each promise you will find three things: the verse, the person who heard it first, and one small thing to do with it this week. That last part matters. A promise you never take out of the drawer does not do you much good.
Is there an official list of 10 promises, or 7?
No. The Ten Commandments are a real list that God gave Moses, so people sometimes expect the promises to come in a set of ten as well. They do not. Nowhere does Scripture gather God's promises into a numbered group of 10, 7 or 5.
That means every list you see, including this one, is a choice somebody made. That is fine, as long as you know it. Use a list like this as a doorway, not a fence. Many more promises are waiting past it.
The ten promises, from Genesis to Revelation
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God goes with you wherever you go
And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.
Genesis 28:15 (KJV)Who heard it: Jacob, running from his brother Esau, sleeping on the ground with a stone for a pillow. He dreamed of a ladder reaching to heaven, and God spoke from above it. Jacob had nothing with him but a staff, and God promised not to leave him until every word was done.
Carry it this week: Each time you leave the house, say quietly, You are with me here too. Do it in the car, at the store, at work.
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God fights for you
The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.
Exodus 14:14 (KJV)Who heard it: Israel, standing at the edge of the Red Sea with Pharaoh's army coming up behind them. Moses spoke these words to a people who could see no way out. That same night God opened the sea, and they walked through on dry ground.
Carry it this week: Pick one fight you keep trying to win by worrying. Hand it to God out loud, then stop rehearsing the argument in your head.
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God is with you, so be strong
Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
Joshua 1:9 (KJV)Who heard it: Joshua, right after Moses died. He had to lead a nation across the Jordan into a land full of walled cities. God told him three times in one chapter to be strong, and gave the reason: the LORD would go with him.
Carry it this week: Do one thing you have been putting off because it scares you. Before you start, read this verse once.
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God will teach you the way to go
I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.
Psalm 32:8 (KJV)Who heard it: The heading calls Psalm 32 a psalm of David, and it is about the relief of being forgiven. After he confesses, the psalm turns to this promise of teaching and guidance. The order is worth noticing. Forgiveness first, then direction.
Carry it this week: Before a decision, big or small, ask God to show you the way. Then wait a moment before you answer anyone.
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God renews your strength
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31 (KJV)Who heard it: The people of Judah, through the prophet Isaiah. The chapter opens with the word comfort, spoken to people who felt worn out and forgotten. God reminds them that He never gets tired, and then shares His strength with those who wait on Him.
Carry it this week: When you feel spent, take five quiet minutes before you push on. Waiting on the LORD can start that small.
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God answers when you call
Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
Jeremiah 33:3 (KJV)Who heard it: The prophet Jeremiah, while he was locked in the court of the prison in Jerusalem. The city around him was under attack. God invited him to call, and promised to answer with things he did not yet know.
Carry it this week: Write down one thing you have stopped praying about. Start praying about it again, every day this week.
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Jesus gives rest to the weary
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Matthew 11:28 (KJV)Who heard it: In Matthew 11 Jesus had been speaking to the crowds about John the Baptist. Then He opened the invitation to anyone who is worn out and heavy laden. He did not ask them to clean themselves up first. He said come.
Carry it this week: Take one evening off from something that drains you, and spend part of it reading Matthew 11 slowly.
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God supplies what you need
But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:19 (KJV)Who heard it: The church at Philippi. They had sent Paul a gift while he was in chains, and he wrote back to thank them. The promise speaks of need, not every wish, and it rests on riches that never run low.
Carry it this week: Make a list of the needs that are on your mind. Pray over it once a day, and cross off any that get met.
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God forgives when you confess
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9 (KJV)Who heard it: Believers in the early church, in the letter we call 1 John. The writer wanted them to walk in the light, and he knew they would still fail. So he told them what to do when they did.
Carry it this week: At the end of each day, name anything you need to own before God. Then thank Him that He has kept His word to forgive.
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God will wipe away every tear
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Revelation 21:4 (KJV)Who heard it: John, on the island of Patmos, who was shown a vision of a new heaven and a new earth. It is close to the last promise in the whole Bible, and it looks forward to a day with no more grief.
Carry it this week: If you are carrying a loss, read this verse slowly and let yourself hope. If someone near you is grieving, send them a short note that you are thinking of them.
The ten at a glance
| # | Promise | Verse | First heard by | Where it falls in the series |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | God goes with you | Genesis 28:15 | Jacob | Book One |
| 2 | God fights for you | Exodus 14:14 | Israel at the Red Sea | Book One |
| 3 | Be strong, God is with you | Joshua 1:9 | Joshua | Book Two |
| 4 | God will guide you | Psalm 32:8 | A psalm of David, by its heading | Book Three, coming next |
| 5 | New strength | Isaiah 40:31 | Judah | A later book |
| 6 | God answers | Jeremiah 33:3 | Jeremiah in prison | A later book |
| 7 | Rest | Matthew 11:28 | A crowd who followed Jesus | A later book |
| 8 | Your needs met | Philippians 4:19 | The church at Philippi | A later book |
| 9 | Forgiveness | 1 John 1:9 | The early church | A later book |
| 10 | No more tears | Revelation 21:4 | John on Patmos | A later book |
Need a shorter list? Five or seven
Some people search for 7 promises of God, or 5. If ten feels like a lot, here is one way to trim it. These are not better than the others. They are simply the ones people reach for most when a day goes wrong.
Five to start with: God goes with you (Genesis 28:15), God renews your strength (Isaiah 40:31), Jesus gives rest (Matthew 11:28), God supplies your need (Philippians 4:19), and God forgives (1 John 1:9).
Seven for a week: add God fights for you (Exodus 14:14) and God answers when you call (Jeremiah 33:3). That gives you one promise for each day, Sunday through Saturday.
When your short list starts to feel familiar, go back to the full ten, and then past it.
Why we picked these ten
We wanted a list that walks through the whole Bible instead of staying in one corner of it. So the ten come from the Law, the history books, the Psalms, the prophets, the Gospels, the letters and Revelation. Four come from the Old Testament before the prophets, two from the prophets, and four from the New Testament.
We also wanted real people behind them. A promise to Jacob on the run, to a nation trapped at the sea, or to a prophet in prison reads differently from a line on a coffee mug. It shows you that God's promises were spoken into hard moments, by a God who meant them.
And we wanted them to cover what people actually face: fear, a hard task, a decision, weariness, unanswered prayer, money, guilt and grief. If one of those is your week, start with the promise that matches it.
One honest word on the first promise in the list. God spoke Genesis 28:15 to Jacob. It was his. We include it because the same kind of promise is repeated to all believers in Hebrews 13:5, and because it shows what God is like. Our guide to whether God's promises are conditional goes deeper into how to tell which promises reach you directly.
A ten day plan
If you like a plan, take one promise a day for ten days. In the morning, read the verse out loud twice. Write it on a card and keep it in your pocket or on your phone screen. At lunch, read it again. In the evening, look back and ask where you saw that promise at work, or where you needed it and forgot it.
On the eleventh day, choose the one that hit hardest and memorize it. It will be there the next time you need it, even when your Bible is not.
For a fuller way to pray through a promise each morning, see our page on using the promises of God as a devotional. If you would like a fresh verse for every day of the month, try Bible promises for today.
Read them one at a time
Joshua 1:9 is one of the promises in Book Two, which picks up at Numbers and goes through Esther: the wilderness, the conquest, the judges, the kings and the return from exile. Every promise in that stretch gets its own page with the King James verse, who heard it, any condition, what it meant then, what it means for you and a short prayer.