“When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD” (Jonah 2:7).

Faint: to be weary, become weak, be consumed, be feeble! Such are the characteristics of those who faint. Certainly God has something far better for the Christian than fainting.

Please note the negative side to fainting: Don’t faint in the matter of prayer. “And He spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Luke 18:1). In other words, be persistent. Don’t faint when being rebuked by the Lord. “My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him” (Hebrews 12:5). Our heavenly Father’s rebukes are good for us who are the sons of God. Don’t faint when serving. “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9). The commendation to the church at Ephesus was, “For my name’s sake hast labored, and hast not fainted” (Revelation 2:3).

Next, note the positive side to fainting: Remember God’s goodness and mercy. “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living” (Psalm 27:13). “Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not” (II Corinthians 4:1). Remember God’s strength. “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). Remember that God never faints. “Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? . . . He giveth power to the faint” (Isaiah 40:28,29). NPS