# 8. A Pressing-On Attitude
Victories in life do not come when you suddenly wake up one day. It takes toil, sweat and tears. It takes perseverance which means you continue to hold on to your goal in spite of every doubt, despair, defeat or discouragement.
Paul had this attitude. He did not keep mourning about opposition to his life and ministry. He did not allow discouragement to cloud his mind even though at times he felt the sentence of death in his heart because of the hardships he endured for the sake of the gospel.
His goal was Christ. But he did not consider that he had attained all that God wanted him to attain in his Christian life. He knew it was a continuing race which required him to discipline himself and run with perseverance. Therefore he said, “I press on” (3:14).
When all within you wants to cry out “Quit,” do you find the courage to say, “I press on!” No Christian life is free of troubles. Therefore do not find it surprising that you are surrounded by a lot of difficulties. Remember it is easy to quit but hard to press on. But pressing on is the one attitude that is most needed. Life has to move forward for the goal is Christ who lives in glory.
You might have gone through years of frustration. You might not have yet seen any fruit of your labour in Christ. You might have been misunderstood. You might have come to the point of seeing no hope ahead. Yes, now is the time to boldly say, “I press on.”
Press on in prayer; for Elijah’s servant on top of Mount Carmel saw nothing six times. Yet Elijah kept on praying until the seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea” (I Kings 18:44). The rains came down because the prophet of God pressed on in prayer. The results of your prayers are for God to give; your duty is to press on.
Make this your prayer today, “Lord God Almighty, give me the courage to press on no matter how hopeless my situations seem to be. Amen.”