18 Bible verses about motivation for starting again when the will is not there
Written by Maria Luisa Navarro Schmitt · Reviewed by Raphael Navarro Schmitt ·
Short answer
The Bible says little about motivation and a great deal about carrying on without it. Galatians 6:9 asks us not to fall short in doing good, because the harvest comes in due time, and Philippians 2:13 says the choosing itself is given. These verses are for starting again, not for getting excited.
Motivation, in the sense the word carries today, does not exist in the Bible. No text in it promises that the willingness will show up before the work does. What it has instead is an almost stubborn insistence on doing, continuing, not giving up, getting back on your feet.
That is good news for anyone who opened this page in the middle of a stalled project. If willingness were the entry requirement, almost nothing in Scripture would have been built: Nehemiah rebuilt a wall under opposition, Paul wrote letters from a cell, and the ant in the proverb works with nobody supervising.
The list starts where the willingness comes from, moves through the verses about work and method, and ends with the ones about falling and getting up — which is what tends to run out after the third attempt.
All 18 verses, one by one
For it is God who works in you, both so as to choose, and so as to act, in accord with his good will.
It comes first because it reorganises everything after it: what God works in you is both the choosing and the acting. Anyone waiting to feel like starting is waiting for the wrong thing to happen on its own.
Read the chapterAnd so, let us not be deficient in doing good. For in due time, we shall reap without fail.
The condition sits at the front rather than the end — do not be deficient in doing good — and the promise is timed rather than fast: the reaping comes "in due time". That gap is exactly why the middle of anything is so tiring.
Read the chapter23Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as for the Lord, and not for men.
24For you know that you will receive from the Lord the repayment of an inheritance. Serve Christ the Lord.
The paragraph this belongs to is addressed to household servants, people whose work carried no recognition at all. Changing who the work is for is what changes everything: from the heart, as for the Lord, and not for whoever is assessing you.
Read the chapterWhatever your hand is able to do, do it earnestly. For neither work, nor reason, nor wisdom, nor knowledge will exist in death, toward which you are hurrying.
The argument is death, which is not inspiring and is far more effective: do it now, because afterwards there is no doing. Ecclesiastes motivates by urgency, never by enthusiasm.
Read the chapterAnd so, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and unmovable, abounding always in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not useless in the Lord.
It lands straight after a whole chapter on the resurrection, and the "and so" ties the two together. The labour is not useless because there is an afterwards — that is the argument, and not the claim that every effort shows a visible result.
Read the chapterThe lazy one is willing and then not willing. But the soul of he who labors shall be made fat.
The contrast is not between wanting and not wanting: the lazy one in this proverb is willing, and then stops being willing. It is between wanting and working, which is precisely where most plans die.
Read the chapter6Go to the ant, you lazy one, and consider her ways, and so learn wisdom.
7For though she has no ruler, nor instructor, nor leader,
8she provides meals for herself in the summer, and she gathers at the harvest what she may eat.
The detail that carries the point: the ant has no ruler, no instructor, no leader. The proverb praises someone who works with nobody checking, which is the practical definition of discipline.
Read the chapter13Brothers, I do not consider that I have already attained this. Instead, I do one thing: forgetting those things that are behind, and extending myself toward those things that are ahead,
14I pursue the destination, the prize of the heavenly calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Paul says he does one thing and then names two: forgetting what is behind, extending himself toward what is ahead. It is a single movement seen from both ends, and the first half is usually what is missing in anyone who cannot start again.
Read the chapter1Furthermore, since we also have so great a cloud of witnesses over us, let us set aside every burden and sin which may surround us, and advance, through patience, to the struggle offered to us.
2Let us gaze upon Jesus, as the Author and the completion of our faith, who, having joy laid out before him, endured the cross, disregarding the shame, and who now sits at the right hand of the throne of God.
The image is a contest, and the first instruction is to put weight down — "every burden and sin", so including weight that is not sin at all, only load. Before hunting for more energy, it is worth checking what can be dropped.
Read the chapterBut as for you, be strengthened, and do not let your hands be weakened. For there will be a reward for your work.”
Said to a king in the middle of an unpopular reform, and the warning about hands going weak is a physical image. Discouragement shows up in the body first, and that is where it has to be met.
Read the chapterFor the just one will fall seven times, and he shall rise again. But the impious will fall into evil.
The just one in this proverb is not the person who does not fall: he is the person who falls seven times. The definition of uprightness here includes the fall, which changes what doing well is supposed to look like.
Read the chapterOpen your works to the Lord, and your intentions will be set in order.
Opening your works to the Lord comes before the intentions are set in order, not after. For anyone who freezes trying to reach total clarity before acting, the order in this proverb is an uncomfortable invitation.
Read the chapterThe heart of man disposes his way. But it is for Lord to direct his steps.
The proverb does not disqualify planning — it keeps both halves: the heart disposes the way, the Lord directs the steps. It is the antidote to the paralysis of waiting for a sign before choosing any direction at all.
Read the chapterSubstance obtained in haste will be diminished. But what is collected by hand, little by little, shall be multiplied.
The opposition here is not working against not working; it is haste against pace. What arrives fast is diminished, and what is collected by hand, little by little, multiplies. A lot of what looks like lack of motivation is the aftermath of trying everything at once and burning out in three days.
Read the chapterTherefore, I sent messengers to them, saying: “I am doing a great work, and I cannot descend, lest perhaps it may be neglected when I go out and descend to you.”
The most useful sentence in the Bible for anyone who gets pulled off course. Nehemiah does not argue with the invitation: he says he is doing a great work and cannot come down. Worth copying out whole for the next time somebody tugs at your sleeve.
Read the chapter24Do you not know that, of those who run in a race, all of them, certainly, are runners, but only one achieves the prize. Similarly, you must run, so that you may achieve.
25And one who competes in a contest abstains from all things. And they do this, of course, so that they may achieve a corruptible crown. But we do this, so that we may achieve what is incorruptible.
Paul borrows the vocabulary of the athlete and arrives at someone who "abstains from all things". The focus is not the excited start; it is the regime that comes before it, the part nobody sees.
Read the chapter18You need not call to mind the past, nor consider the things of antiquity.
19Behold, I am accomplishing new things. And presently, they will spring forth. With certainty, you will know them. I will make a way in the desert, and rivers in an impassible place.
Written for a people whose best history was behind them, so the order not to call the past to mind is aimed at anyone living on nostalgia. And this edition states the recognition instead of asking about it — you will know them — which removes the excuse of missing the new thing. It still has to spring up first.
Read the chapterSo be doers of the Word, and not listeners only, deceiving yourselves.
It closes the list because it is the risk this very page carries: leaving with the feeling of having done something. James calls that deceiving yourself, and the only way out he offers is practice.
Read the chapter
Frequently asked questions
What does the Bible say about motivation?
The Bible deals less with feeling like it and more with acting without it. Philippians 2:13 says God works both the choosing and the acting, Galatians 6:9 asks for constancy until the harvest, and Colossians 3:23 changes who the work is for. None of them depends on enthusiasm.
Which verse should I read when I want to give up?
Galatians 6:9 is the most direct, because it names the falling short before asking for persistence. If giving up came after a mistake, Proverbs 24:16 serves better: it describes the just as someone who falls seven times and rises again, not as someone who never falls.
How do I keep discipline according to the Bible?
Proverbs 6:6-8 praises the ant for working with no ruler and no instructor, and 1 Corinthians 9:25 describes an athlete who abstains from everything. Biblical discipline is tied to constancy and pace rather than intensity — Proverbs 13:11 sets what is gained in haste against what is collected little by little.
Is a lack of motivation just laziness?
Not always. The Bible speaks about laziness, but also about exhaustion, grief and discouragement, which are different things and need different answers. If the flatness has lasted weeks and reaches everything, including what you used to enjoy, it is worth talking to a health professional.
A prayer to take with you
Lord, today I do not feel like it, and I want to begin anyway. Put in me the willingness I cannot manufacture, and give me the next step in a size I can carry. Let what I do today be done for you, even if nobody sees it. Amen.