The Spark of Realization
Inspiration for my articles doesn’t always strike in a moment. Sometimes, it develops over time, just as I’m interacting with the world and the people around me. The moment I posted last week’s piece on spiritual fitness, I knew I was going to be writing follow-up pieces.
I can’t tell you exactly when it happened, but at some point during the past week, I realized there was something missing from that first piece—an important part of spiritual fitness that I’d forgotten to mention, and it’s arguably the most important one: prayer.
While I did mention prayer in that article, I don’t feel I treated it equally. I certainly didn’t work it in as part of any of the components of the spiritual routine. So, what better place in the spiritual routine to start with than prayer?
What Prayer Really Is
Prayer is you talking to God. The Bible mentions prayer throughout. Like it says in Philippians 4:6-7 (ESV): “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Or 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (ESV): “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
These verses show prayer as a lifeline—replacing anxiety with peace and turning everyday moments into ongoing conversation with our Coach.
God: The Ultimate Coach
From a spiritual fitness perspective, prayer is our way of talking to God as the ultimate spiritual coach. God is not your friend or buddy; God is the one who makes the rules, gives you the plan to follow, and expects you to follow it to get the best results.
Don’t think I’m reducing God to just a coach—I’m not. What I am doing is comparing Him to a human coach when it comes to spiritual fitness versus physical fitness. Human coaches are experts. They’re gifted at using their knowledge to teach us the right way to do things and correct us when we’re doing it wrong.
You go to a fitness coach when you need help getting in shape, and what do they do? They assess your situation and come up with a plan. Then, they teach you to follow the plan and expect you to do the work.
God, in a sense, is the ultimate coach. Except He already knows your problems, knows how to fix them, and gave you the plan—shocker, it’s the Bible. That’s the plan we’re to follow.
The Feedback Loop in Action
But good coaches do more than just give you what you need to succeed; they create a feedback loop to connect with you. Maybe you have a question about your gym routine or need some motivation on a given day to go work out. Or maybe they notice you’re not getting the proper results and need to step in to correct some bad form or point out a bad behavior you’ve let slip in.
God has this feedback loop too. When you talk to God, you are praying. Prayer isn’t anything fancy. As a matter of fact, God really isn’t into fancy prayer. He just wants you to talk to Him from the heart. It’s not about asking for stuff, although you can certainly do that. It’s about communicating with the God who made everything—what’s really going on with you.
God answers prayer in a number of ways. It can be with a Bible verse you read, something someone says to you, or just a thought put in your head that you know wasn’t your own. I’ll cover these in more detail in a later article. The point being that, as part of your spiritual fitness, you need to talk to God.
Making It Part of My Routine
I fit this into my spiritual routine a couple of different ways. It’s not perfect, and I sometimes miss days, but I make every effort to pray:
- When I first wake up, as part of that daily morning component.
- When I go to bed at night. It’s like an end-of-the-day relaxation component.
When I pray, I try to write it down in my journal. This is something new I’m trying, and I haven’t fully honed the technique yet, but it helps me solidify the thoughts better. It also gives me a record of what I’ve said to God so when He does answer my prayers, I can go back and see specifically what it was I asked for.
Beyond Requests: True Communion
Also, it’s important to remember that prayer is not just making requests to God. It’s about communicating with the Creator of everything. You can tell Him how you feel; you can just tell Him you’re thinking about Him. He loves it when we are grateful and appreciative of Him. We all love to be loved, right? So does God.
Call to Action: What’s one conversation starter with your Coach today? Try it and see how He responds—maybe journal it and watch for His feedback loop in your life.
—Daniel