Not to Faint
Alan Yerkey
Table of Contents
Not to Faint
As you know, Jesus taught us on many occasions the importance of prayer. It is what we are continually encouraged to do. In what I would like to discuss, however, it is not the encouragement to pray that I would like to explore, but what it means “not to faint.” Both are presented to us in our beginning scripture in Luke’s gospel: “And He spoke a parable unto them, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Luke 18:[1]-8). This simple verse and passage have come to have a deeper meaning to me than ever before.
The word translated as “faint” (en-kakaeo [1722/2556]; ek-kakaeo [1573]), has a more literal meaning as to “give in to evil.” Its root word (kakos) is evil in a moral sense, referring to the absence of the qualities which make up what a person should be (or claims to be). It also has behind it the meaning “to turn coward,” for one to “lose heart,” or “to be discouraged.” In this aspect, it is best meant to give into despondency, as shown through either our feelings or our actions (extreme discouragement, gloominess, and depression). It is in a basic sense to lose hope. In context to the teaching Jesus puts forth of the unjust judge, the eighth verse contains what I believe is both an encouragement and a warning in relation to this use in the question He poses.
That God will answer the prayers of His elect is a fact we are assured of from His own mouth. No one can take it from us. But we must not give up this comfort and encouragement to our own doubt in what may seem to us as unanswered prayer. Our Lord’s words to us in the last part of verse eight is a warning which leads us back to the first verse: “Nevertheless when the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on earth?”
This is where I see that, “not to faint,” or better, “not to give in to evil,” is to encourage and warn us not to lose faith by ceasing to pray. We are to pray always, holding fast to our Lord, regardless of however long it may be before He answers our prayers, or that He answers in a way we may not see or understand. Our faith is to be of reliance on Him in all situations. It is of His interests and service, from a heart reflecting His own love back to Him that He has given toward us.
To give up in prayer is to “give in to evil” by doubting the Lord’s care and His desire for us to come to Him. This is whether it is to doubt if He’s listening, or in thinking that He refuses to hear, or that we “feel” we are undeserving to be heard. It is to “give up” faith which relies on our Lord’s purpose and timing in every aspect of life, especially in time of suffering, persecution, or trial. Even in times of loneliness and sorrow, or in “unanswered” intercession for another, it is not meant for us to faint. This is something that I must admit to have done in the past, and in many aspects: whether for those I wished to see saved, to those whose sickness turned to sleep, or to my own desire in the restoration of lost relationships with family or friends.
There are only five other places where en-kakaeo (ek-kakaeo) is used in the New Testament. They occur as follows: 2 Cor. 4:1,16; Gal. 6:9; Eph. 3:13, and 2 Thess. 3:13. I believe each use is of equal importance in relation to the word’s first occurrence in Luke. They are all built upon by the Holy Spirit to give us a more complete meaning.
We Faint Not: Paul’s Testimony
Second Corinthians 4 is a beautiful encouragement and example to us. The first and 16th verses contain the same “we faint not,” but the whole chapter should be considered in context. (I include only partial quotes.)
“Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not [we do not give into evil], but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the Word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God” (vss. 1,2). Paul and his helpers would not give in to, nor have any part of, dishonesty, nor craftiness, nor deceit, this being evident and certain by the way which they lived “in the sight of God” in truth, as testified of before all men’s conscience.
“For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (vss. 5-6).
“For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you. And having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak” (vss. 11-13).
It was not of their own self, but that of Christ to be manifest in each of them. Through all trouble, through all trials, through all persecution and sufferings—they refused to give up, or to give in (vss. 8-10): their walk being manifest before all whom they came across that they were His, by their every action and word being in honor and glory to Him. It was of Jesus’ personal interests for which they lived and had their affections: this alone allowed for the genuine love and concern they had toward all to whom they ministered. (See also 2 Cor. 6:3-10.)
The “we” of Paul in so many verses (1-13), is truly inclusional of all believers in application as to both how we are to behave and what we are to expect: we are all God’s ministers in Christ. Even if there is not a gift to speak, our walk in itself is every bit a ministry, either heard or rejected by those around us. We have our encouragement: “I believed, therefore have I spoken” (vs. 13); because of like spirit and faith, we are to believe and walk and speak (Psa. 116:1-15).
“Knowing that He which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound [overflow] to the glory of God” (2 Cor. 4:14-15).
We are not to faint; we are not to give in to evil; we are not to give in to despair: we are to do all to the glory of God: “For which cause we faint not, but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction [tribulation], which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (vss. 16-18; 2 Cor. 5, is a continuation of the encouragement of chapter four, but also includes both our confidence and the constraining nature of Christ’s love, leading us in our witness).
Not to Grow Weary
In its next occurrence, our word previously translated as “faint,” ends up as “grow weary”: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And (or: so then) let us not grow weary (ek-kakaeo) in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not (different word: ek-luo, physically weary or despondent in mind; become slack [as a bow]). As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all, especially those of the household of faith” (Gal. 6:7-10).
In the 9th verse, the two Greek words noted come together in assurance of vss. 7-8: an encouragement for us not to lose heart in doing good, regardless of the physical or mental strain (ek-luo), knowing we shall be rewarded for such when our Lord comes to take us home. That “we should not lose heart” is the actual translation given as the direct English equivalent in most Greek Interlinear New Testaments.
Here, ek-kakaeo could be seen as the moral state of the heart, ek-luo, as the physical or mental state of our being. If we walk according to the Spirit, we will reap all the fruits therein, this giving us the strength and ability to continue on in spite of all else that may hinder us.
Love’s Constraint and Strength
This may seem to be a little off the subject, but I am reminded of a favorite Proverb, 19:17. The AKJV translates it as follows: “He that hath pity on the poor lendeth unto the Lord, and that which he hath given will He pay him again.” However, I believe a more equivalent translation to the Hebrew is of the idea: “He that bestows favor upon the oppressed unites himself with the Lord; the Lord Himself will requite him for the favor shown.”
The words translated as “pity” and “given,” actually combine in the idea of favoring someone in the treatment expressed towards them. For one to be united (translated as “lendeth”) with God in service, it would be for the good of the individual that it is in service to. The “poor” in this sense, is not necessarily one lacking of financial means (though it is inclusional of such), but it is greater in sense to those who are down-trodden and oppressed (rich and poor alike—consider Matthew or Levi; undoubtedly rich due to their position as tax-collectors, but hated and oppressed by their own countrymen).
No person alive can of themselves unite with the Lord to the extent of which Christ, as God the Son, is one with the Father. However, for the believer, we are one in Him by His own making. In Him (and by His Spirit) we are united with both Jesus and our Father, to true service to the weary and down-trodden, to the poor and oppressed, sharing and teaching the gospel of God (John 13:34-35; 14:15-21; 17:20-26).
“For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that He died for all, that they which live should not hence forth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Cor. 5:14-15). To “constrain,” is literally meaning to force to such an action which would otherwise be unnatural for us. In the passage to the Corinthians previously discussed, all that Paul had enumerated upon in being troubled, perplexed, persecuted, and cast down, there was the resounding principle in the above verses as to Christ’s love: it alone was the force which carried them through everything. It was to be both His death and life manifest in them in the preaching of the gospel, regardless of the personal cost, and to all who they would come across (2 Cor. 5:16-21).
Suffering: Witness, and Comfort
In the Epistle to the Ephesians is another beautiful example which further illustrates the attitude we should have in our witness: “Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory” (3:13). Despite all which Paul had faced in his preaching among the Ephesians (Acts 19), even later, his becoming imprisoned as the apostle to the nations (3:1), he saw nothing but their good, their glory, in their becoming children of God. It was then for this reason, in encouraging them to “faint not,” he gives a most beautiful prayer for their blessing.
“For this cause [towards this end that they “faint not”] I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthed with might by His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with the fulness of God. Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus, throughout all ages, world without end. Amen” (Eph. 3:14-21).
Thus once again, in to “faint not,” we are given the love example for the benefit of others, by the Apostle’s actions and prayers towards them. His personal sufferings were nothing to be considered in light to the blessing of the gospel upon others. In our last example in Scripture, however, the encouragement is not from Paul’s sufferings, but it is towards our willingness of “well doing.”
Everyday Well Doing
Of the epistles we’ve already explored, the use of ek-kakaeo in our last reference in 2 Thessalonians 3:13 is the exhortation, “do not lose heart in well doing.” It is not the idea previously explored, as “not to faint” in time of trial and persecution, nor is it of the idea of doing good towards others. In the context to how it is presented here, ek-kakaeo is of our everyday walk.
It is here, in Thessalonians, that Paul calls the reader’s attention to how he and his party had been careful not to behave disorderly in any manner. They lived what they taught. Not only is their walk in faith of reference, but that they worked to provide for their own material needs as well. Both aspects of purpose in being an example for those witnessing such to follow after: to quietly work and eat their bread in peace (2 Thess. 3:6-16). This is well doing.
Even if we are not someone who has been given to be on the “frontline” of service, where there is the gift of evangelism in a foreign or hostile atmosphere, nor to be as a laboring brother among the meetings, there is the witness of well doing in both our daily walk and in any service necessary to those most immediately around us. Our places of work, our neighborhoods, our trips shopping, our leisure activities—all are ground where our witness plants a seed by the behavior and attitudes we put forth. It should not be a seed that would cause one to be lazy or apathetic, nor that a non-believer would scorn the way we walk if found as hypocritical, but one which inspires those around us to the truth of the gospel word and the power of the Holy Spirit to guide us in all that we may do.
In all that has been discussed thus far, it is for the greater witness of what it means to be called of Christ for which we are to live. It is for Him who is our life:
Ceasing not to pray –
of our direct reliance upon the Lord;
Trials or persecution, suffering or sorrow –
let us not faint, nor turn coward inside;
Any stumble we may have taken, any fault we May have caused –
let us not give in to evil of any kind;
In our day-to-day life, the struggles of waiting upon our Lord and Savior’s return –
let us not grow weary, let us not lose heart.
Luke 18:1-8 has what must certainly be a link to Proverbs 23:17-18 – the idea being in having us in awe of the Lord all the day long, knowing that our ending in Him will come. If the unjust judge is one to avenge the widow of her enemies, certainly the Truest Judge of all mercies and love will reward those who faithfully await His return, while they yet serve Him in love in testimony of His offer of forgiving grace (Rom. 5:8-11; 2 Cor. 5:14-21; Rev. 19:1-9). Our enemies are defeated; our life is His. Our communion (koinonia, fellowship/communion) with Him is our strength to walk; it is the strength to our faith towards facing all which may come, and it is found in prayer. This is the deepest meaning to me in all the encouragement we are given to pray. It is not simply for some answer to our needs, but it is of fellowship with our Lord and Savior—it is of fellowship with our Father and His son.
Let us “faint not”; but let us kneel at His feet with psalms and prayers of praise, of song (love or sorrow), of thankfulness, of joy, and of need. It is all to be of our witness for Him—for He shall come, and our reward is with Him (1 Thess. 4:16-18).
I hope this is an encouragement to your spirit and soul.