Quitting Is Not An Option

If you’ve prayed about a situation, condition or problem of some kind for a long time without any results, you may be tempted to quit and give up. You may be a believer, but you’re also human and have to deal with your own shortcomings, inconsistencies and so forth.

But here’s the thing, God already knows all this and made provisions for His people. God’s Word will produce results… even if it takes longer than you think it should. Take a closer look at the following verses –

Hebrews 6:11-15 AKJV
(11)  And we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope to the end:
(12)  That you be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
(13)  For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself,
(14)  Saying, Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.
(15)  And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

Galatians 6:9 AKJV
(9)  And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

Luke 18:1 NIV
(1)  Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.

Mark 11:24 AKJV
(24)  Therefore I say to you, What things soever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them.

In short, there is no giving up. Another way to put it would be – you can’t give up on walking in victory and still be in God’s Will. That’s why Jesus told His disciples always pray and not to give up in Luke 18:1. Always is different than some of the time or even 99% of the time.

Some people think that God basically commissions the devil to help teach people things. But that’s actually the job of the Holy Spirit. He was sent to teach us and lead us into all the truth. No, good is good and evil is evil. They not two sides of the same coin. They have nothing at all in common.

Darkness doesn’t bleed over into the light. The boundaries between the two aren’t blurred in the least. Understanding this is important because we’re talking about who is for you and who is against you. In the spiritual world, there aren’t a “Gray Hats.” There is a zero percent mixture of light and darkness working side by side.

So don’t stop looking for the victory until every manifestation of evil in your life is overcome. In other words, don’t settle for defeat. Don’t give up and think that for some reason that’s beyond your understanding – you can’t have the victory. I’ll be the first to tell you, you’re not going to understand everything in this lifetime. Even if you had access to all the information you wanted, most of it would probably be beyond your understanding.

If something isn’t working, stay with it and don’t wonder why you don’t see results yet.

Dig in and have persistent faith that refuses to quit. Consider the following story from Matthew 17.

Matthew 17:15-20 AKJV
(15)  Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatic, and sore vexed: for often he falls into the fire, and oft into the water.
(16)  And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not cure him.
(17)  Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him here to me.
(18)  And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.
(19)  Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
(20)  And Jesus said to them, Because of your unbelief: for truly I say to you, If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you.

Use the faith you have. All you have to do is make the choice to believe. It really can be that simple. You choose to believe what God says in the Bible, even if your emotions seem to be taking sides against that choice. Faith is a fight (1 Tim 6:12). It’s a fight against, fear, unbelief and what your physical eyes can see. When the opposite seems to be true, you have a choice to believe God or doubt Him.

Romans 10:11 AKJV
(11)  For the scripture said, Whoever believes on him shall not be ashamed.

If you believe the Lord is a miracle worker deep down within your heart, you will not be ashamed.

If you believe you have the victory when everyone else tells you you’ve failed, again – you will not be ashamed for placing unwavering faith in God.

Like you, I’ve done things in my own strength and failed. I’ve made my own plans, dug my own holes and did many of the things everyone else said to do if I wanted to succeed. When all those things failed… I still had God’s promises and guess what? They didn’t fail.

If you really want to learn how faith and prayer works, don’t put all your faith in what someone else said. Go to the Bible for yourself and learn these things for yourself. One day, what you learn will save your life or someone else’s.

Romans 10:8-10 AKJV
(8)  But what said it? The word is near you, even in your mouth, and in your heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
(9)  That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved.
(10)  For with the heart man believes to righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made to salvation.

Sometimes, faith for the victory in a particular set of circumstances takes time to grow roots.

The roots grow within your heart or inner-man.

Mark 4:5-6 AKJV
(5)  And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth:
(6)  But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.

When you talk about the problem and dwell upon its details… the roots of faith (as it pertains to that particular problem) withers away. You’re basically working against yourself whether you know it or not.

Matthew 9:28-29 AKJV
(28)  And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus said to them, Believe you that I am able to do this? They said to him, Yes, Lord.
(29)  Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it to you.

James 1:5-8 AKJV
(5)  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that gives to all men liberally, and upbraides not; and it shall be given him.
(6)  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
(7)  For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
(8)  A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

When you’re filled with cares, faith gets choked and strangled. Faith opens doors. Worry closes them.

Mark 4:18-19 AKJV
(18)  And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,
(19)  And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

Do you see how that works?

Giving up should never be an option. If it is, you may eventually take it. With God’s help, thought, you can stand and you can win. There was a time in my own life when I worried about a lot of little things. The more I thought about it, the more things I saw that could go wrong. I didn’t talk about these things very much, but I did think about them a lot. And let me tell you, these thoughts started multiplying. I know how Job felt when he thought disaster could be waiting around the next turn.

When you start thinking this way, you start living your life playing defense all the time. Do you understand what I mean? You start playing not to lose instead of playing to win. You lose your confidence in God and in your connection with Him through Jesus.

Maybe you’re concerned about members of your family and the problems they’re facing? If you really want to help them, why not pray and believe God for a positive end result for them? If you’ve already done that and haven’t seen results, don’t give up the fight. Fight to good fight of faith for them. Keep at it for as long as you’re on this earth if necessary.

Luke 18:2-8 AKJV
(2)  Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:
(3)  And there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, Avenge me of my adversary.
(4)  And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
(5)  Yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.
(6)  And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge said.
(7)  And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night to him, though he bear long with them?
(8)  I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man comes, shall he find faith on the earth?