Prayer & Exercise

Prayer & Exercise

“As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them (Luke 24:15).”

Prayer is a spiritual exercise, and walking is a physical exercise. Prayer exercises the soul and brings it in alignment with your spirit. Walking exercises the body burns calories and relieves stress and tension. It is one of a universally popular exercise because it does not require a gym membership or a personal trainer. Most physicians highly recommend walking for people of all ages, genders, and sizes.

My goal is to walk 20,000 steps every day. I decided to do it daily because when I set specific days of the week, such as Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, something seems to occur on those days to cause me not to reach my goal. One day in meditation, Spirit whispered to me, “whoever you are, you are it every day.” I AM a healthy person, and a healthy person exercises every day. Therefore, I changed my exercise goal from 3 days a week to exercising every day. With that daily intention of exercise, I reach my goal 5-6 days a week. My Apple watch assists me in keeping track of my progress.

Instead of spending an hour walking and an hour praying, I normally combine the spiritual exercise of prayer with the natural exercise of walking. I walk and quote scriptures, denials, and affirmations. I walk and give God thanksgiving, praise, and worship. I walk and plan stewardship of time, talents, and treasure. I walk and share my testimony with others that I see along the way. I walk, and I have periods of silence and sounds. I begin my walk with the stillness of stretching and before I do the movement of walking. I walk and engage in meditation, mindfulness, and breathing.

There are 8 Self-Care Strategies which form the acronym D.I.R.E.C.T.O.R. The fourth strategy is Exercise which is represented by the first “E.” Using the Prayer Tool of Stillness and Movement as symbolized by the wrench stretch, walk or engage in some other form of exercise.