I am not a fitness enthusiast. I may hop on a treadmill every now and then or go for a walk around the neighborhood, but you won’t catch me hitting the gym several days a week. That’s just not my environment. However, there are plenty of people who thrive with that type of fitness experience. Exercise to them is like coffee to others. What I admire about those gym-goers is their dedication. They don’t just pop in the gym a few days at the beginning of a new year in order to fulfill that ‘New Year, New You’ new year's resolution. But it’s a part of their lifestyle. Neglect is not an option. If they start to slack off, it shows.
Although I’m not personally a gym-goer, the habits are inspiring for me in my spiritual walk. I understand that if I begin to slack off then my muscles begin to lose strength. I don’t look or feel as toned and fit as I did when I was on the ball. What that shows me is the importance of consistency and dedication. If I exercise a few days in January, but do nothing the other eleven months out of the year, then how beneficial were those January workouts for my overall health? Not very, right? But when I incorporate that exercise as a part of my lifestyle, then there is a difference. I may even start to make better choices in other areas regarding my health, like what I eat and so forth. Again, because it’s a lifestyle. Not a one and done deal. The same concept applies to my spiritual fitness. If I don’t read bible passages the way I once did, then it starts to show with my unfamiliarity with the scriptures. If I’m not spending time in God’s presence the way I once did, then it shows in that feeling of distance and a disconnect with him. This is why having a prayer life should be a part of our lifestyle, not just a thing we’re supposed to do.
When it comes to prayer, two of my favorite words always come to mind, once I already mentioned. Consistent and Persistent. I don’t just pray once and move on. Like I mentioned with the fitness example, if I do it one time or a few days a year, what is the overall value? If it’s a part of my lifestyle, then it’s a part of my experience daily. I love to think about it in the same terms of our beloved and essential water cycle. In it’s simplest form, the process involves evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.
The reason that it’s a cycle is because each piece of the process is constantly in motion. As water is evaporated, it rises and is stored, shifting into the process of condensation. When it’s time for its release, the portion of the process known as precipitation, it comes down again. Over and over. What stands out is that if there is a break in the process, then the entire cycle is disrupted. This is how we should consider our prayers. Constantly, my prayers, petitions, supplications, requests, etc. they are rising. It all begins with my conversations with Jesus. During that condensation phase, God is doing his thing. And this is often the hard part for us because, similar to the natural process, it doesn’t really look like anything is happening. Those clouds look like they’re just frozen sometimes, right?
That’s the place we sometimes find ourselves in following our fervent prayers. It looks like nothing is happening. Yet, what’s coming is precipitation. The release. It is certain that what went up must come down. But there is an appointed time for it. That’s what we’re waiting for. So while we wait, we have to continue to exercise and remain spiritually fit. It’s so easy to get stuck on that “nothing’s happening” phase and begin to slack off out of worry or frustration. What we need to do is to keep our focus on the expectation of precipitation.
Stay Sunny!
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