Growing in Perseverance—Part 2

By Maria Fontaine

I recently came across a collection of verses and quotes that I had compiled some months ago that I hope will be a blessing to you and give you that extra umph you need to keep persevering till the victory breaks through.

Perseverance is more than endurance. It is endurance combined with absolute assurance and certainty that what God is telling us is going to happen.—Oswald Chambers

By perseverance the snail reached the Ark.—Charles Spurgeon

Bear in mind, if you are going to amount to anything, that your success does not depend upon the brilliancy and the impetuosity with which you take hold, but upon the everlasting and sanctified bull-doggedness with which you hang on after you have taken hold.—Dr. A. B. Meldrum

The only guarantee for failure is to stop trying.—John C. Maxwell

Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance.—Samuel Johnson

A delayed answer to your prayer doesn’t mean God is unconcerned, but rather He has a larger purpose for His timing. Trust Him!—Rick Warren

Perseverance is an essential element in successful praying, as in every other realm of conflict.—E. M. Bounds

No matter how dark and hopeless a situation might seem, never stop praying.—Billy Graham

The faith that relentlessly seeks to follow God also pleases God.—Francis Frangipane

It is always too soon to quit praying, even when praying is the last thing we seem able to do.—Harold Lindsell

Persistence in prayer doesn’t change God. It shapes us for the answer.—Bill Johnson

Work as if everything depended upon work and pray as if everything depended upon prayer.—William Booth

The way to Heaven is ascending; we must be content to travel uphill, though it be hard and tiresome, and contrary to the natural bias of our flesh.—Jonathan Edwards

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal.—Henry Ford

Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.—Harriet Beecher Stowe

We are always in the forge or on the anvil; by trials God is shaping us for higher things.—Henry Ward Beecher

Perseverance in prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance but rather laying hold of God’s willingness. Our sovereign God has purposed to sometimes require persevering prayer as the means to accomplish His will.—William Thrasher

If you are going through hell, keep going.―Winston S. Churchill

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.―Maya Angelou

I am tired in the Lord’s work, but not tired of it.—George Whitefield

You cannot learn to persevere unless you have had to fight through and past adversity. Pain is turned into purpose, suffering into satisfaction, defeat into determination, sorrow into sympathy, and hopelessness into heavenly victory when each is subjugated beneath perseverance, born of faith.—Author Unknown

* * *

(Maria:) The last things that we read in an article are often what we remember most. So, to end with Bible verses to help stir our determination and perseverance in following Jesus seems fitting.

So do not throw away your confidence; it holds a great reward. You need to persevere, so that after you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.—Hebrews 10:35–36

I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus.—Philippians 3:12–14

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.—Hebrews 12:1–3

We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.—Romans 5:3–5

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.—2 Timothy 4:7–8

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.—Hebrews 10:23

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.—James 1:12

Let us not become weary in doing good, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.—Galatians 6:9

Originally published March 2023. Republished on Anchor June 2026. Read by Lenore Welsh.

Posted in: audio, faith, maria fontaine, perseverance, prayer

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