Scripture Encouragement to Not Lose Heart

When you’ve been waiting and praying and longing for something to change, and that change isn’t even on the horizon, it’s hard to hold onto hope. We need scripture encouragement to not lose heart.

Even the strongest of faith get tired of being strong. Even the longsuffering grow weary of suffering for so long.

You’ve prayed all the prayers, surrendered your circumstances over and over to God and trusted that while you’re doing what you can, God is doing His part.

Surely, God will reward your faith in the wait. Everyone else seems to be moving on with their best life while yours feels on hold. And while you’ve done your best to wait patiently—

change still hasn’t come.

This place of threadbare hope is the enemy’s playground. His whispers begin to wedge between the truth you’re clinging to and the circumstances surrounding you. It’s futile to keep hoping, he whispers. What you’re asking is too hard and the ticking clock shows it’s too late. Give it up.

But this is just when we need hope the most. “Hope means hoping when things are hopeless, or it is no virtue at all…As long as matters are really hopeful, hope is mere flattery or platitude; it is only when everything is hopeless that hope begins to be a strength.” (G.K. Chesterton)

You’re not alone if you’re tempted to lose heart. God’s word speaks to it, showing us how to re-anchor when hope is threadbare.

5 Kinds of Scripture Encouragment to Not Lose Heart

1. Know there’s always a “but God.”

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever,” Psalm 73:26 says. “But God” are two of the strongest words in scripture.

But God means that He is sovereign over our circumstances and perfect in His timing. God gets the last word, not our situation. So while it may appear that our prayers have fallen flat, we can trust there is always, always, always a but God.

2. Trust God’s goodness for you.

“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” (Psalm 27:13, NKJV) We don’t know exactly when David penned Psalm 27, but he was clearly in tremendous difficulty. In looming despair, David says one thing pulled him through: trusting not only that God is good, but that he’d see that goodness for him.

Friend, when our strength is giving way, let’s remember God’s goodness. No matter the outcome of our prayers, God’s goodness is for us. No matter how long we wait, God’s goodness is with us. And no matter if change ever comes, God’s goodness bring life right here.

3. Don’t stop praying.

Our tendency to lose heart in long waits doesn’t surprise God. In fact, Jesus shared a parable “to show them that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart.” (Luke 18:1, NASB 1995)

The parable was about a persistent widow who kept seeking justice from a judge who neither feared God nor cared for people. Because of the widow’s persistence, the judge finally acted.  If an unrighteous judge responds to persistent asking, Jesus taught, won’t our righteous Father respond when we cry out?

We can never overpray with God. When change hasn’t come, Jesus himself calls us to keep praying and not lose heart.

4. Remember God is preparing you for eternity.

“So we do not lose heart…For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” (2 Corinthians 4:16, ESV)

While none of us want suffering and we pray it away, God uses it to prepare us for eternity. Paul had gone through intense persecution being “afflicted in every way…persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.” But he knew God never wastes suffering, using it to shape us for an eternity beyond compare.

Let the longsuffering that is waiting do it’s work to chisel out idols of comfort and control. Let the pain of longing draw you to God, knowing eternity with Him far surpasses any pain we experience here.

5. Fix your eyes on Jesus.

One of the reasons we lose heart is because we become hyperfocused on our circumstances and people around us. But we’re not running their race. And we have no idea what God has for us in our lane ahead.

Hebrews tells us to run with endurance fixing our eyes on Jesus. “Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:3, NIV)

How do we not lose heart when we’ve waited long past our own timeline for change? We cling to Jesus. He doesn’t just give us hope. He is Hope.

No matter what you’re wrestling with, struggling against, wading through or waiting for —

“Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!” (Psalm 27:14, ESV)

Bible Verses About Not Losing Heart

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:26, ESV

I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Psalm 27:13, NKJV

Now he was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart. Luke 18:1, NASB 1995

Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. 2 Corinthians 4:1, ESV

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison… 2 Corinthians 4:16, ESV

Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Hebrews 12:3, NIV

And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” Hebrews 12:5-6, NIV

And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Galatians 6:9, NKJV

David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him. 1 Samuel 17:32, NIV

For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. Ephesians 3:1, 13, ESV

He will say to them, ‘Listen to me, all you men of Israel! Do not be afraid as you go out to fight your enemies today! Do not lose heart or panic or tremble before them. Deuteronomy 20:3, NLT

For you will be successful if you carefully obey the decrees and regulations that the LORD gave to Israel through Moses. Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or lose heart. 1 Chronicles 22:13, NLT