14 Bible Verses about Rest

I Am Almost Done.

Let me make one last phone call! I am doing just one more project before I leave! Does any of this sound familiar? Often, many of us find ourselves with so much to do at work, in ministry or at home. We feel like we must do something more or our performance will suffer. The truth however is that we suffer the most when we don't learn to take a rest from our busy days.

Ironically, our performance, relationships and judgements are rather affected by sleep deficiency and our ‘busyness’.

As important as work might be, rest is much more important. God designed rest for human beings in order to allow us greater productivity. How then do we learn and practice rest? The rest that God gives us is not actually a rest from work but a rest in work. This is possible by trusting God to walk with us in everything you do. Trying to do everything by our own strength and leaving God outside the equation is very frustrating. But when we lean on God’s word everything we do bears fruits.

Below there is a list of 14 different bible verses on rest.Take time to meditate on His word today as you shift your schedules to allow rest. (All verses are taken from Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA) version of the bible.)

1. Genesis 2:2-3: “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made: and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. And he blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.”
2. Psalm 45:11: “Be still and see that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, and I will be exalted in the earth.”
3. Exodus 33:14: “And the Lord said: My face shall go before thee, and I will give thee rest.”
4. Exodus 20:8-10: “ Remember that thou keep holy the sabbath day. Six days shalt thou labour, and shalt do all thy works. But on the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work on it, thou nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy beast, nor the stranger that is within thy gates.” 
5. Psalm 4:9: “ In peace in the selfsame I will sleep, and I will rest”
6. Mark 6:31: “And he said to them: Come apart into a desert place, and rest a little. For there were many coming and going: and they had not so much as time to eat.”
7. Proverbs 3:24: “If thou sleep, thou shalt not fear: thou shalt rest, and thy sleep shall be sweet.”
8. Matthew 11:28: “Come to me, all you that labour, and are burdened, and I will refresh you.”
9. Romans 8:38-39: “For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor might, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
10. Isaiah 14:3 “And it shall come to pass in that day, that when God shall give thee rest from thy labour, and from thy vexation, and from the hard bondage, wherewith thou didst serve before,”
11. Romans 15:13: “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing; that you may abound in hope, and in the power of the Holy Ghost.”
12. Mark 2:27: “And he said to them: The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath.”
13. John 16:33: “These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you shall have distress: but have confidence, I have overcome the world.”
14. Philippians 4:6-7: “Be nothing solicitous; but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasseth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

A Prayer Of Rest.

If you are going through exhausting seasons in your life, it is okay for you to take a break. Join in praying along these few lines:

Lord, I thank you and praise you for your word. At this moment I feel the weight of the whole world on my shoulders. But Your word has reminded me to come to you and lay my heavy burdens at your feet and you will give us rest. Lord you care about the big and the little things of my life therefore I do not have to be afraid. You are my safety and my refuge. Help me today to find comfort and rest in You. Amen.