Proclaimer Blog
Not losing heart
enkakeo means to lose heart or be discouraged. It’s an important Bible word and appears 4 times in the New Testament. The verses are worth considering:
- Luke 18.1. Jesus tells the parable of the persistent widow precisely so that the disciples should pray and not lose heart. This is a tricky parable, but we’re helped because Jesus tells us the application before we start! In order to not lose heart we need a constantly refreshed vision of the sovereignty of God who hears and answers prayer.
- 2 Cor 4.1, 16. These verses are about not losing heart in the apostolic ministry that first Paul, and now we, pursue. In order not to lose heart we need a constantly refreshed vision of the nature of Christian ministry and God’s sovereignly ordained means for revealing his Son.
- Eph 3.13 is about Paul’s suffering, a cause which might affect the Ephesian brothers and sisters. Our own suffering, or even the suffering of others is enough to knock us back, but we need a constantly refreshed vision of Christ as Lord (v11) even in the darkest days.
- 2 Thess 3.13. We must not lose heart in doing good, or, to put it another way, not grow weary of doing good. If our faith is only ever in our heads and does not flow from heart to action it is no faith at all. It is dead, in fact. We need a constantly refreshed vision of gospel living that believes the gospel and applies it to all of life.
Are you losing heart? Right now. We need faith in the God who is sovereign, confidence in the method and message, a clear knowledge that Jesus is Lord and a desire to live out the gospel in every area of life.
Make that your prayer. As I will mine.
These are my abbreviated notes from a short devotional talk by David Jackman.