Whatever the devil throws at you, don’t lose heart. We lose heart when we look at things seen; when we fail to focus on the unseen things of glory and the new creation. Be objective in times of pressure and face the fact that the Lord of the heavenly armies reigns. 

Hannah went yearly to offer sacrifices to the Lord God of hosts (1 Samuel 1:3). She never lost heart during the demonic provocation from Peninah. She never lost heart at the corrupt religious system of the Eli priesthood. She never lost heart when the old, backslidden priest thought her drunk, a daugh­ter of the devil (1 Samuel 1:14-16). 

In days of degeneracy, discernment fades from the ministry which heaps sin under the carpet. “Play with sin and sin will win” is especially true for ministers, elders, indeed anyone in a Kingdom office of responsibility. Yet God found in Hannah an inner graciousness that her very name implies; a purity that could stand against frequent attack. Are you in a situation of intense trial from another believer? 

Will you endure hardship in a vile thing for the sake of the name of Jesus that the Spirit of glory may rest upon you?

2 Corinthians 4 is the great ministry chapter where we see maturity coming from the work of the Cross. We have ministry AS we receive mercy, is the amaz­ing precept. It’s not our IQ or head knowledge or business acumen or fame in the world that credits us with spiritual capability. 
Paul said he didn’t lose heart because he based his life and ministry on the covenant mercy of God. Therefore his life was a manifestation of the truth. He never watered down the word of God with reason. He never came to any conclusion by virtue of reason alone. He never lost heart because he knew by experience that “all things were for his sake by grace” (2 Corinthians 4:15,16). In other words, Jesus never claimed exemption on anything that Paul went through. God was in all, through all, and behind all. We get disappointed and in despair because we often cannot locate God in our body circumstance. 2 Corinthians 4:8,9  tells us:

“We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed, we are perplexed, but not
in despair; persecuted but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.”

This is where the rubber hits the road. These apostolic conflicts reveal the trea­sure of the new creation within as we react to problems with the excellency of God’s power. That word “excellency”(verse 7) means to overreach the target, to overstretch beyond the imagination. When we live in the excellency of the power of God we find it impossible to lose heart. Don’t live in the body circumstance; walk and live in the Spirit who intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

The preparation of prayer stops the losing heart mentality. Nehemiah didn’t lose heart when the enemies of God came because he knew vital time interceding before he inspected the broken walls of Jerusalem. Jesus said the parable of the persistent widow so that men always ought to pray and not lose heart (Luke 18:1-8). The early church were deeply exercised in prayer for Peter and released angels into action (Acts 12:1-5). The children of Israel were beaten on the legs and feet until ligaments were broken by their Egyptian taskmasters (Exodus 5:16). This pro­duced groaning to God - a divine protest ministry of prayer - which God answered by mighty signs of judgement, releasing His chosen with great prosperi­ty and joy. 

Wherever you turn in the word of God, God’s people don’t lose heart when they pray through to God, beyond the circumstances. DON’T LOSE HEART IN THE PAIN before the GAIN. The enemy knows his time is short, and that GOD is DOING A QUICK WORK TODAY (Romans 9:28). 
This is why prayer is paramount. 
This week two couples, all four Christian, are going to divorce court. The root problem: they never prayed deeply for the right mate ….. they lost heart because the preparation of daily prayer had never built the true foundation for mar­ital success. 
The most intimate thing a husband and wife can do is pray together in the Holy Spirit, flow together in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and receive revelation and answers. When two spirits join together, the soul area, then the body area will join the way God wants. Thousands of Christian marriages are on the rocks today because there is no deep satisfying devotion with the Lord Jesus.

Check up on King David, in 1 and 2 Samuel. Three crises: Ziklag, Bathsheba, Absalom. See how he recovered himself by encouraging himself in the Lord, by real repentance, and humility. 2 Samuel 15 comes to every believer who is deter­mined to press on to full stature in Christ. 
There is an Absalom in the wings, ready to take over and steal the people from their pastor. He is charming, elo­quent but soulish. He seduces your friends in the conspiracy. How you react is what you really are. Will you, like David, yield and refuse to lose heart by giving yourself up to the faithful witness? We live in desperate days where there will be more opportunity to lose heart in the 1990’s than any other decade since the church began. Will you look at the things unseen? Will grace make your afflic­tion light as a feather? Will we be fully persuaded that those things working AGAINST us are in face working FOR US, a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory? (2 Corinthians 4:17,18). 

The spirit of faith won in the prayer closet brings us up to God’s level of purpose, where we don’t lose heart. Remember in a crisis that the enemy wants to accuse God’s word to your heart by causing you to look at circumstances rather than unseen promises. After bankruptcy, ill-health, or a divorce, the devil wants you to rewrite your theology of victory. 
I lost a wife and a small church within three weeks in April 1981. It all happened so quickly and was the plan of the enemy to ruin my life and ministry. 2 Corinthians was the epistle that delivered me. After eighteen months of prayer, my refusing to allow the circumstances to dictate, I entered the most successful phase of ministry I’ve experienced. The mercy of God is a powerful motivator to bring forth ministry. In the days of loss, I didn’t go to everyone asking for the comfort of their prayers, but battled it out alone in prayer. Encouraging myself in the Lord I knew what it was to endure the cross for the joy that is set before us. 
This experience has been used by God to help others going through perplexity.

There are times of deep rejection in a believer’s life when the demons wait to cause you to backslide through losing heart. Unbelief in fellow-believers can cause this malady that leads to self-pity, sloth and defeat. See the word of God. Jesus Himself encountered unbelief in Mark 6:1-6. How did He react? He multi­plied His ministry in Mark 6:7-13. Then the enemy came again with a losing heart situation as John the Baptist was beheaded (Mark 6:14-29). Check out the rest of this chapter; supernatural life flowed out with a new intensity. That’s how we are to be. Never lose heart, for we have this promise:

“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).

Let’s pray together:

“Heavenly Father forgive me for looking at the temporary, seen things of this world. Cleanse me in the precious blood of Jesus that I may know refreshing times again. I yield to the revelation of the Holy Spirit in my life. I believe, Father that I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Give me the spirit of prayer and faith to be like a Hannah, to be like Paul, so I refuse to lose heart. Amen.”