Daily Prayer Workouts
The Progression of Prayer – Part 4
The Sport of Prayer – Part 3.4
The best athletes (in any sport) work out and go through regimens for conditioning. It’s work that’s done off the field that makes an exceptional athlete exceptional. The same is true in the sport of prayer. It’s the work you put in off the field of play that makes the difference. So often, a pray-er (person who prays) wants to win on gameday but has not mastered their own personal time in prayer workouts. To go to the next-level in prayer, it starts off the field with your own personal workouts. What are you doing daily? What do your daily prayer workouts look like?
It’s said that Jesus, Himself, was found praying. Those who observed said He prayed more earnestly. [1] Do you know what that means? The word, by itself, means more intently or with more intent. It also means firmly fixed, fully engaged, determined, with intentionality. In other words, Jesus got serious in His prayer. He prayed with such intensity that he perspired. His sweat is said to have become like drops of blood. He was putting in the work. His prayer was a workout. His prayer workout was so intriguing that it caught the attention of His disciples. He (Jesus) took His exercise regimen to the next level. Picture Jesus praying in a manner that resembles Shaun T’s Insanity Workout. Pamela and I are fans of this intense workout because it produces uncommon results. Imagine prayer having workouts this intense. What do your workouts look like? The disciples saw Jesus take His prayer to an insane (uncommon) level. What if Jesus said to you what Shaun T says to his students, “Dig Deeper?” Dig deeper in prayer. Let’s go to the next level.
I want to continue along this line of thinking of putting in the work. It’s said of the greatest athletes that they have work habits off the court that the average player can’t keep up with. In order to be the best, one must put in more work than the average and one’s competition. In order to be the best (go to the next level) in prayer, one is going to have to put in more work than the average person. So what does it look like to put in the work? What can one expect to see in a next level prayer workout?
What a pray-er, an athlete in the sport of prayer, must do to put the work in.
This is what a pray-er, an athlete in the sport of prayer, must do to put the work in. I will name a few exercises one might find, but it doesn’t stop nor start with these. We must:
- Read our Bible.
While this sounds simple, let me say this. Most people that go to church don’t read their Bible. We won’t even get into the stats; it’s not necessary for this point, but most (51% or more) don’t read their Bible even though most say they do. But for this activity, I’m not talking about an occasional workout in the Bible. I’m talking about taking your reading of the Bible activities to the next level. Insane Bible Reading. You will have to have a regular, earnest workout in God’s word. You will have to put the time in. You see, without this activity, you’ll never understand nor know what it is to truly pray and get next-level prayer results. Dig Deeper – This is next level prayer! - Talk to God.
The objective of prayer is to talk to God. If you approach prayer in any other way, what do you expect anyway? Oftentimes the average person forgets that he or she is talking to God. In fact, it’s for this reason you should read your Bible. A person needs to know who God is in order to have a better conversation with Him. How’s your conversation with God going these days? Are you the only one talking? Are you listening to what He has to say? And if you’re listening, what are you doing with what He’s giving you? It’s time for us to have an insane conversation with God. Dig Deeper – This is next-level prayer! - Love like no one else.
I say “love” because it’s the one God-attribute that can sum up all the other attributes of God. In fact, without “love” everything else we do is pointless. [2] I’ve found that love produces 16 specific expressions. I like to think of these as prayer exercises. These exercises should be a guide into what we should ask of God. Allow me to expound very quickly. Remember, we’re talking about your personal workouts in prayer.
Exercise 1 – Love is Patient: Look for the areas and places where I need to have more patience. Pray about that.
Exercise 2 – Love is Kind: Identify those who you’ve not been kind to. Pray about that.
Exercise 3 – Love does not envy; it doesn’t want what it doesn’t have: Point out the things in your life that you’re not satisfied with, so that you can adjust your desire for the things I already have.
Exercise 4 – Love it does not boast: Evaluate what has you self-absorbed so that you channel that energy to being others focused.
Exercise 5 – Love says you’re the center of my world. Lord, I spend too much time focused on what I’m doing, not enough on helping those around me.
Exercise 6 – Love is Always Polite. Lord, I know I’ve been rude to others, but show me more ways to be polite.
Exercise 7 – Love Gets Overwritten. When I think of ways to love myself, help me turn those actions toward someone else.
Exercise 8 – Love That’s Slow To Anger. Father, today I’m going to monitor how quickly I’m angered.
Exercise 9 – Love Doesn’t Keep Score. Lord, help me take an eraser to the score I’ve been keeping against…
Exercise 10 – Love is Not What Comes Natural. Father, I realize that there’s nothing natural when it comes to loving ,will You help me to share this uncommon attribute only found in You.
Exercise 11 – Love Replaces Lies With the Truth. As human-beings, we’re easily distracted with untruths; help me to uncover these areas and replace my thinking with truth-Your word.
Exercise 12 – Love Always Keeps Others Safe. Lord, keeping others safe doesn’t just mean physically; help me when I have to protect those I love even from their own bad habits.
Exercise 13 – Love Trusts When Others Do Not. Father, help me be the one who trusts when no one else will.
Exercise 14 – Love Searches for The Best. Lord, teach me how to look beyond the surface to the best in…
Exercise 15 – Love That Doesn’t Know How to Quit. Father, my quitting days are over, help me to persevere through…
Exercise 16 – Love Doesn’t Fail. Lord, I’m determined not to be a failure; help me to be a success in… - Think of worthwhile things.
In order to get yourself spiritually fit for prayer, you’ll need to renew your thinking. You ‘ll need to change from your normal thinking to higher thinking. You see when you interact with Him, your thoughts get elevated. [3] What you ask for is directly impacted by what you’ve been thinking. We want to get better in our thinking so that we invite God into it with the right motives. [4] - Take action others won’t take.
If you didn’t know this, faith without any action isn’t faith at all. In fact, when you have faith putting it into action you cancel out the faith. [5] This means what you hope for, dream of, wish to occur will not become so. [6] The exercise of prayer requires action. When you pray, the majority of the time, God gives you an action to take. What action haven’t you taken? It’s this action that’s waiting to be completed that’s holding back the next set of instructions for you reaching your dream.
Exercise improves what we couldn’t do the day before.
As it goes with any exercise, the more you continue the more improvement you achieve. You might not have been able to touch your toes yesterday, but keep on stretching. That request may not have come to pass yet, but…keep on praying. Jesus said that prayer works like a widow who went before an unjust judge day after day asking for justice. She didn’t stop because he wouldn’t render a just decision. She returned day after day. [7] That’s a perfect example of the exercise of prayer. Each day you’re getting better and closer to your decision being rendered.
Practically, you exercise so that you improve. You may not be eloquent today. Your sentences may not even flow well. You may even stumble and blunder over yourself, but practice makes it better. What are you doing to improve your game in the sport of prayer? Dig deeper – this is next level prayer!
I hope this is overwhelming for you. If it is then I’ve done my job. I don’t want you to leave this page until your thoughts of prayer have elevated beyond your current exercise in prayer. When you go to a new level, then your results go to the next level. That means your life will go to a new level. Your family goes to a new level. Your relationships will go to a new level. Take this message and apply just a little more to your exercise routines for prayer. When you do, then you know you’re about to get some new results. In the words of Shaun T, dig deeper. This is next level prayer!
Question: what can you add or how can you improve upon what you currently do in your personal exercise of prayer?
Reference #1: Luke 22:44 NKJV, Bible.com, accessed March 15, 2022, https://www.bible.com/bible/114/LUK.22.44.NKJV
Reference #2: 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 NLT, Bible.com, accessed March 15, 2022, https://www.bible.com/bible/116/1CO.13.1-3.NLT
Reference #3: Isaiah 55:8-9 ESV, Bible.com, accessed March 15, 2022, https://www.bible.com/bible/59/ISA.55.8-9.ESV
Reference #4: James 4:3 NLT, Bible.com, accessed March 15, 2022, https://www.bible.com/bible/116/JAS.4.3.NLT
Reference #5: James 2:26 NKJV, Bible.com, accessed March 15, 2022, https://www.bible.com/bible/114/JAS.2.26.NKJV
Reference #6: Hebrews 11:1 NKJV, Bible.com, accessed March 15, 2022, https://www.bible.com/bible/114/HEB.11.1.NKJV
Reference #7: Luke 18:1-8 NLT, Bible.com, accessed March 15, 2022, https://www.bible.com/bible/116/LUK.18.1-8.NLT
All Scripture references used by permission, see our Scripture copyrights.
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