Each Bible verse about giving up below is quoted from the King James Version, followed by a short note for the moment when you feel like quitting.
But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.
1 Kings 19:4 (KJV)
Elijah had just seen fire fall from heaven, yet he collapsed under a broom tree and asked to die. This Bible verse about giving up shows that even a faithful prophet can hit empty, and that honest exhaustion is something you may bring to God.
And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.
1 Kings 19:5 (KJV)
God did not answer Elijah’s despair with a lecture. He sent a touch and a meal. As this Bible verse about giving up shows, when you want to quit, the first spiritual step may be very physical: eat, drink, sleep, and let God care for the body that is carrying the weight.
And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
1 Kings 19:12 (KJV)
In this Bible verse about giving up, after wind, earthquake and fire, God spoke in a quiet whisper. People who feel like giving up often wait for a dramatic rescue, but this verse suggests God may meet you gently, in a small, steady voice that is easy to miss when you are overwhelmed.
And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
Galatians 6:9 (KJV)
Paul admits that weariness is real, then points to a harvest that arrives in its season, not on our schedule. This Bible verse about giving up is a gentle encouragement to keep sowing small acts of faithfulness even when you cannot yet see any growth.
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31 (KJV)
The promise of this Bible verse about giving up ends with walking, not flying. On days when soaring is impossible, God still gives enough renewed strength for the next ordinary step, and often that step is all that quitting-weary people need.
My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
Psalms 73:26 (KJV)
In this Bible verse about giving up, the psalmist admits that both body and heart can fail, and in the same breath names what remains: God himself. When your own reserves are gone, this verse invites you to lean on a strength that does not run out.
We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
2 Corinthians 4:8-9 (KJV)
In this Bible verse about giving up, Paul lists real pressure and then adds a limit to each one. You may be cast down, but you are not destroyed. It is an honest description of survival, and a reminder that being pushed low is not the same as being finished.
For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
2 Corinthians 4:16 (KJV)
Renewal in this Bible verse about giving up happens daily, not all at once. If you cannot face the whole year, this verse lets you ask only for today’s portion of strength, which God promises to supply again tomorrow.
It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23 (KJV)
These words, a gentle Bible verse about giving up, rise out of a book of grief. Even in ruins, the writer finds mercy that restarts each dawn. For anyone wanting to quit, a new morning is itself a small proof that God has not given up on you.
When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.
Jonah 2:7 (KJV)
Jonah ran, sank and fainted in spirit, and only then remembered God. This Bible verse about giving up is a comfort for anyone who has pulled away: prayer from the lowest place still reaches heaven, and returning does not require a polished speech.
And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
Jonah 3:1 (KJV)
Four words in this Bible verse about giving up carry the whole hope of a fresh start: the second time. Jonah had failed the first assignment, yet God spoke again. If you feel disqualified from trying once more, this verse says the invitation can come again.
But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
Luke 22:32 (KJV)
In this Bible verse about giving up, Jesus said this to Peter before Peter denied him. Notice that failure is expected, yet it is not the last word, because Christ prays for Peter’s faith and already plans his return and usefulness to others.
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Matthew 11:28 (KJV)
In this Bible verse about giving up, Jesus does not tell tired people to try harder. He invites them to come, and he promises rest. If quitting feels tempting because you are carrying too much, this verse points you to a person who offers to share the load.
The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
Psalms 34:18 (KJV)
This Bible verse about giving up describes God as near, not distant, to the brokenhearted. When despair makes you feel alone, this verse corrects the feeling: closeness to God is often greatest at the very moment you think you have run out of faith.
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
Psalms 42:11 (KJV)
In this Bible verse about giving up, the psalmist argues with his own soul, asking why it is so low, then tells it to hope. You are allowed to talk to yourself this way, naming the heaviness honestly and then directing your heart toward God.
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.
2 Corinthians 12:9 (KJV)
In this Bible verse about giving up, Paul pleaded for relief and received grace instead. The verse reframes weakness as the place where God’s strength shows most clearly, so feeling unable to continue may be the very spot where his help begins.
For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Hebrews 12:3 (KJV)
When your mind is ready to faint, look at Jesus, who endured far more opposition than we will. This Bible verse about giving up is not a scolding but a direction: fix your attention on his endurance and borrow courage from it.
Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
Psalms 55:22 (KJV)
The verb in this Bible verse about giving up is cast, a decisive throw, not a careful hand-off. Name the burden in prayer, release it, and trust that the God who receives it will also hold you up while it is gone.
Nobody types a search for a Bible verse about giving up on a cheerful day, and this page is written for the harder ones. The words usually arrive late at night, after a failed attempt, a harsh diagnosis, a broken relationship, a debt that will not shrink or a calling that seems to lead nowhere. Something inside has grown tired of hoping, and the search is a small act of reaching out, even if it feels like a last resort.
That reaching matters. Scripture does not treat the wish to quit as a shameful secret to hide. It records faithful people saying out loud that they were done, and it records God answering them with patience. If you are reading this page, you are already doing something other than giving up, because you are still looking for help, and that is worth honoring.
The first response of any Bible verse about giving up is not a slogan. It is honesty. Psalms is full of prayers that say I am sinking, I am faint, my strength has failed, and these prayers sit in the same book as songs of praise. God included them so that weary readers would know they may speak plainly instead of pretending to be fine.
So before you hunt for a Bible verse about giving up that will fix everything, try telling God exactly how you feel. Say that you are tired, that you are afraid, that you do not see the point. Honest prayer is not weak faith. It is faith that still believes someone is listening, which is the very thing despair tries to talk you out of.
The clearest Bible verse about giving up is in 1 Kings 19. Elijah had just won a dramatic victory on Mount Carmel, then heard that Queen Jezebel wanted him dead. He ran a day’s journey into the wilderness, sat beneath a broom tree, which older translations call a juniper, and asked God to take his life. A mighty prophet had hit the floor.
What stands out is how ordinary Elijah’s collapse was. He was frightened, alone, sleep-deprived and hungry, and he concluded that his whole life had failed. Many readers recognize that pattern. A burst of effort is followed by a crash, and in the crash everything looks hopeless. The story tells us that such a crash does not disqualify anyone from God’s care.
Look at the order of events in this Bible verse about giving up. God did not first correct Elijah’s theology or scold him for despair. An angel touched him and said, Arise and eat, and there was bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water. Elijah ate, lay down again, and was touched a second time with the same gentle instruction. God met a worn-out body before he addressed a worn-out heart.
This is a practical gift for anyone who feels like quitting. Ask when you last ate a real meal, slept a full night, or spent an hour outdoors. Spiritual weariness and physical weariness are tangled together, and caring for the body is not unspiritual. It follows the pattern God himself used with Elijah, and it often lowers the volume of despair enough for other help to be heard.
In the same Bible verse about giving up, after rest, God sent Elijah to a mountain and let him watch a great wind, an earthquake and a fire. God was not in any of them. Then came a still small voice, and Elijah covered his face and listened. The God who could have shouted chose to whisper, as though he knew that a tired man needs gentleness more than a show of power.
When you are close to giving up, you may be waiting for a loud sign, a sudden breakthrough or a clear answer. This passage invites you to listen for something quieter: a verse that returns to your mind, a friend’s phone call, a small settled peace. God’s help often arrives softly. Slowing down enough to hear it may be the most useful thing you can do today.
In the Bible verse about giving up, twice Elijah told God that he alone was left. God did not argue with his feelings but gave him new work, a companion in Elisha, and the quiet information that seven thousand people in Israel had not bowed to Baal. The loneliness that felt like fact turned out to be a feeling shaped by exhaustion and fear.
If your own story sounds like I am the only one still trying, this part of the account deserves attention. Isolation convinces people that quitting is the only option. Reaching out to one trusted friend, a pastor or a small group can break that spell. You may find that others are tired too, and that your faithfulness has been noticed far more than you realized.
Jonah gives a different Bible verse about giving up: he gave up on obeying God. Told to preach in Nineveh, he boarded a ship in the opposite direction, then slept through a storm, then sank into the deep. In the belly of the fish, as he says in Jonah 2:7, his soul fainted within him and he remembered the LORD.
What follows is the line that many people need most: the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time. God did not discard a runaway servant. He renewed the commission. If you quit something you were called to, whether a ministry, a marriage commitment, a recovery plan or a dream, this account says the door of a second beginning may be open wider than you fear.
It helps to be honest about the different kinds of quitting that a Bible verse about giving up addresses. Sometimes we stop because of real exhaustion, as Elijah did. Sometimes we stop because we want to avoid something hard that God has asked of us, as Jonah did. The feelings can look alike, but the remedies differ. Rest and care answer the first, while repentance and a fresh yes answer the second.
Ask yourself a few gentle questions. Am I depleted, or am I avoiding? Is this a season to pause, or a season to obey? You do not need to answer perfectly. Bring both possibilities to God in prayer and ask him to show you which is true. He was patient enough with Jonah to keep asking questions, and he will be patient with you.
Peter is the third figure who helps us read any Bible verse about giving up. On the night of the arrest he swore loyalty, then denied Jesus three times, and the Gospel of Luke says he went out and wept bitterly. If anyone had reason to think his discipleship was over, it was Peter.
Yet before the failure, Jesus had told him in Luke 22:32 that he had prayed for Peter’s faith and expected him to return. After the resurrection, Jesus met Peter at a lakeside fire and asked him three times if he loved him, giving him the chance to answer what he had denied. Failure became the soil for a new commission, which is the shape of grace for every person who has fallen short.
Many people turn to a Bible verse about giving up not because the task is hard but because they feel they have already blown it. They missed too many days, broke too many promises, and now beginning again feels pointless. Lamentations 3 speaks straight to that feeling: the LORD’S mercies are new every morning, and his compassions do not fail.
New every morning means yesterday’s mistakes are not stacked on top of today. You do not have to catch up on a backlog of guilt before you take a step. You simply start from where you are, with grace supplied for this day. Read the verse aloud tomorrow morning, then take one small action, however modest, and call that a fresh beginning.
Paul, in another Bible verse about giving up, knew what exhaustion felt like. In 2 Corinthians he lists beatings, shipwrecks, sleepless nights and constant anxiety for the churches. Yet he writes that we faint not, because the inward person is renewed day by day even as the outward person wears down. He does not deny the wearing down; he simply insists that something is also being built.
This is a useful frame for a long season of struggle. Progress may be invisible, like roots growing under soil. A single Bible verse about giving up cannot remove your difficulty, but it can remind you that daily renewal is happening beneath the surface. If you want more passages on this theme, our collection of Bible verses about perseverance shows how steady endurance is built one day at a time.
In a Bible verse about giving up from Paul, when Paul asked God three times to remove a thorn in his flesh, the answer was not removal but presence: my grace is sufficient for thee. Paul concluded that he could even boast in his weaknesses, because Christ’s power rested on him there. The surprise is that the place where we feel least capable is exactly where God’s strength becomes most visible.
If you feel like quitting because you are not strong enough, not gifted enough or not resilient enough, take comfort. God did not choose Paul, Elijah or Peter because of unbroken strength. He works through the humble and the tired. You can read more about this in our page on Bible verses about strength, and let it reframe what strength actually means.
Faith and practical wisdom go together when you apply a Bible verse about giving up. If you are on the edge of giving up, begin with something small and concrete. Eat a proper meal, drink water, and go to bed early. Then write down the single next step you could take, not the whole mountain, just one task that takes ten minutes. Elijah’s story shows that rest and food come before large decisions.
Next, tell one person. Share with a trusted friend, a family member or a pastor that you are struggling. Pray a short prayer such as Lord, I am tired, please help me take one more step. Avoid making permanent decisions at the lowest point of the day. A good rule is to wait until you have rested before deciding whether to quit anything that matters. Our page on Bible verses about encouragement can give you words to carry through the day.
A Bible verse about giving up can be prayed back to God when your own words fail. Take Psalms 73:26 and say, Lord, my flesh and my heart fail, but you are the strength of my heart. Take Isaiah 40:31 and say, I will wait on you and ask for renewed strength for this day. Praying the text gives your mind a track to run on when it would otherwise spiral.
You can also use a short repeating line, sometimes called a breath prayer. Breathe in with the words Lord Jesus, and breathe out with have mercy on me. It may feel too simple, but simplicity is the point when you are overwhelmed. God does not require eloquence. He asked Elijah only to rest and listen, and he will receive the quietest, most tired prayer you can offer.
Some seasons are heavier than others, and hope can feel like a word for other people. The psalmist knew this and wrote Psalms 42:11, speaking to his own soul with the question why are you cast down. He does not pretend the heaviness is absent. He simply refuses to let it have the final say, telling his heart to hope in God and promising that he will yet praise him.
You can borrow that stance even if the hope is thin. Hope in Scripture is less a mood than a decision to keep facing God. If your emotions are low, lean on the verses rather than on your feelings, and see our pages on Bible verses about hope and Bible verses about not giving up for more passages you can hold onto in a dark week.
There is a point where Scripture and prayer should be joined by professional care. If you feel hopeless for weeks, if you cannot sleep or eat, or if you have thoughts of harming yourself or ending your life, please speak to a doctor, a counselor or a mental health professional, and reach out to a trusted person today. Elijah asked to die, and God answered with care, food, rest and a listening presence, including help from other people.
If you are in immediate danger, contact your local emergency number or a crisis line in your country right away, such as 988 in the United States. Seeking help is not a lack of faith. God often works through doctors, therapists and friends, and a Bible verse about giving up is meant to walk alongside that help, never to replace it. You are worth the care that is available to you.
Hebrews 12:3, a Bible verse about giving up, tells weary readers to consider Jesus, who endured opposition from sinners, so that they will not be wearied and faint in their minds. The invitation is to look at a person rather than a principle. Jesus knew rejection, betrayal, loneliness and sorrow, and he went through them without abandoning his mission or his love.
That means your struggle is not foreign to him. He understands weakness from the inside, and he intercedes for his people. When you feel that no one gets it, bring your exhaustion to someone who does. Our page on Bible verses for perseverance gathers further passages about running with endurance the race set before us.
A key distinction when reading a Bible verse about giving up can protect you from confusion: rest is not the same as giving up. Jesus withdrew to quiet places to pray, and he invited the weary to come to him for rest. Taking a Sabbath, setting a boundary or asking for help is a way of continuing wisely, not of abandoning your calling.
Quitting says it is over, while resting says I will return when strengthened. If you need a pause, take one on purpose, with a plan to return and with prayer for direction. Matthew 11:28 does not promise to remove all responsibilities, but it offers rest for the soul that makes carrying them possible. Seek it first, and many decisions look different afterward.
A Bible verse about giving up reminds us that sometimes the urge to quit comes not from our own failure but from other people. A friend disappears, a boss undervalues the work, a family member refuses to change, or a church community disappoints. Paul knew this kind of hurt, writing near the end of his life that at his first defense no one stood with him, yet the Lord stood by him and strengthened him. Being let down is painful, but it is not proof that God has left.
If this is your season, give yourself permission to grieve what you hoped for, and then ask what is still in your hands. You cannot control whether others change, but you can control whether you keep praying, forgive where you can, and keep doing right. A Bible verse about giving up is often most helpful here when it reminds you that your reward and your companion are both the Lord, not the approval of people.
A Bible verse about giving up shows that we tend to imagine that the opposite of giving up is a heroic breakthrough. Scripture usually describes something humbler. Galatians 6:9 speaks of not growing weary in doing good, which is a picture of ordinary tasks done again tomorrow. Farmers plant, water and wait, and a harvest comes in due season. The faithful person is mostly the one who returns the next day.
This takes pressure off. You do not have to feel victorious to continue; you only have to take the step in front of you. Make the bed, send the email, make the call, open the Bible for five minutes. These tiny acts of faithfulness are not trivial in God’s eyes. They are the way most people actually keep going, and they quietly rebuild the confidence that despair has stolen.
You may be reading this Bible verse about giving up for a friend or family member. The best help is often simple presence. Elijah did not need a debate; he needed bread, rest and a listener. Sit with the person, bring a meal, ask how they are sleeping, and let them say difficult things without hurrying to fix them. Pray with them if they welcome it, and gently share a verse such as Psalms 34:18.
If the person speaks of ending their life, take it seriously. Stay with them, remove immediate dangers if you safely can, and help them contact emergency services or a crisis line. Encourage professional care alongside prayer. Your steady kindness is a living version of what a Bible verse about giving up describes, a God who draws near to the brokenhearted through the hands and voices of ordinary people.
The goal of a Bible verse about giving up is not to give you a perfect mood but to give you the next step. Choose one verse from this page, write it on a card, and keep it where you will see it during the hardest hour of your day. Read it once in the morning, once at midday and once before bed.
Then take the small step that is in front of you, trusting that the God who fed Elijah, spoke twice to Jonah and restored Peter will meet you there. Philippians 1:6 says he who began a good work in you will complete it. If you want a companion page for harder seasons, visit Bible verses about not giving up in hard times and keep going, one day at a time.
Finally, remember that you do not have to finish the whole journey tonight. Tonight you only need to rest, to pray honestly, and to let God hold what you cannot. Morning will come with its own mercies, and tomorrow’s strength will be given tomorrow. That promise has carried weary believers for thousands of years, and it is offered to you now.
If this Bible verse about giving up spoke to you, these related collections can take you further: Bible verses about not giving up, Bible verses about not giving up in hard times, Bible verses about perseverance, Bible verses about strength, Bible verses about hope, Bible verses about encouragement, Bible verses about comfort, Bible verses about depression, Bible verses about God’s grace, Bible verses for perseverance.
To study these verses in more depth, try Bible Gateway, Bible Hub, Bible Study Tools, Blue Letter Bible.
Galatians 6:9 is a common Bible verse about giving up: let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. Isaiah 40:31 and 2 Corinthians 4:16 are also helpful when you feel too tired to keep going.
Yes, and each Bible verse about giving up shows it. Elijah asked God to take his life under a broom tree in 1 Kings 19, Jonah ran from his assignment, and Peter wept after denying Jesus. Each was met with care, a second word or restoration rather than rejection.
A Bible verse about giving up says to be honest with God, rest, and lean on his strength. Matthew 11:28 invites the weary to come for rest, and 2 Corinthians 12:9 promises that grace is sufficient and strength is made perfect in weakness.
No. Every Bible verse about giving up admits that feeling exhausted or discouraged is part of being human, and the Bible records saints who felt it. The wish to quit is not a sin to hide, but a signal to rest, pray, and ask for support from other people.
Please talk to a doctor, counselor or mental health professional, and tell someone you trust. If you are thinking of harming yourself, contact emergency services or a crisis line right away. Prayer and professional care can work together.
Remember that this Bible verse about giving up, Lamentations 3:22-23, says mercies are new every morning, and Jonah received a second word from God. Confess honestly, accept grace, then take one small, concrete step today rather than trying to fix everything at once.
