Make War on Sin with Exercise

0:00 I love the title of your upcoming series on feeding the spirit and starving the flesh. And you'd focus on these seven deadly sins, which you may know or not are pride, greed, envy, sinful anger. I put sinful on the front because you can have holy anger. It's just dangerous for sinners.

0:28 Lust. gluttony and sloth. I take it, as Brad said, that my theology of exercise is matching up with this series and that sloth is the one that most closely pairs in terms of pursuing bodily fitness on the other side of sloth. There's also that connection to gluttony.

0:59 And these are two of the more difficult sins to talk about in our day. sloth, gluttony. People in Minnesota said, you're going to the South to talk about gluttony. What are you doing? I say that as a southerner who drank sweet tea every day of my growing up years. Part of my story.

1:27 These are two sins, sloth and gluttony. We'll talk mostly about sloth, but the opposite of it in terms of pursuing a work ethic and diligence and zeal for Jesus that comes out in good works that we do for zeal for him. you can track gluttony in some sense not precisely you can track it in america with an obesity statistic it's now 40 of americans are considered obese you might think that you can't do that with sloth how do you track sloth well one way is you ask people are you lazy or not and you assume they're not going to give you 100% honest answer. But here's the amazing thing. If 40% of American adults are considered obese and you ask 30%, I'm sorry, you ask American adults under 30, if you're lazy, 43% say yes. That must mean the real statistics way over 50%.

2:37 If only 43% are saying yes, but they're saying yes. They know they have a problem. They're admitting to sloth, to laziness. Nobody uses the word laziness positively. So my hope is that as we focus this morning for these few minutes on physical exercise, that you'll see patterns here that are distinctly Christian in their approach to addressing, fighting, defeating sin. There's going to be a centrality of God's word. And if you want God's spirit involved, you need to get God's word involved. We're talking about feeding the spirit. the spirit loves to work in tandem with the word like those jets that come alongside with another jet in war in the middle east wherever they are they fly in tandem the word and spirit fly together and god desires that we would be consciously asking for his help which is called prayer that's a part of fighting and defeating sin prayer and he means that we lean into the company of fellow Christians.

3:49 So like we just did a few minutes ago, gathering in groups here to share, to pray, friends, family that hold us accountable. And then that we cultivate long-term habits, not just flash in the pan. You don't defeat the seven deadly sins with flash in the pan. There needs to be a long arc and trajectory of habit formation. And in that, it's not gonna happen unless there is the pursuit of real joy in Jesus. The pursuit of joy in him is a key to cultivating the long-term habits that by his word and the spirit, in prayer, in community, will help us fight and defeat sin over time. Now, there are bodily dimensions to all sin and all of the seven deadly sins.

4:44 And some are more manifestly bodily than others are. We feel them in our body. And they have various physical causes and associations and implications. And all that to say that the fight against sin and the fight for holiness, as we've talked about, The fight for joy in God that glorifies God is a body and soul fight. The body needs to be involved in the fight for holiness. We are soul and body creatures. God made us like that. The proper state of humanity is soul and body together. The pain of death, in part, is that soul and body are torn asunder temporarily. but a day's coming when soul and body are reunited in heaven and we live out the proper state of humanity forever in glorified human soul and body so the fight against sin is a soul and body battle i wonder if you've noticed this in romans chapter 12 verse 1 where he says surprisingly present your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to god which is your spiritual worship you might just think he would say present your souls to god yes present your souls and present your bodies all of you presented to him in worship do not be conformed to the pattern of this world that loves to tear body and soul apart so you can do what you want to do in your body.

6:38 Don't be like that. Be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Christians, we have a history of this in the church. We Christians have at times neglected the body and had a focus on the soul that minimized the body. And there are some understandable reasons for that. I mean, the way that Christianity exalts the importance of the soul, the promises that are made to us in Christ Jesus are so spectacular. Some Christians should be forgiven for neglecting some aspects of the body. So I've got understanding for that. I'm not here to dump on that. I'm here to try to bring a fuller biblical perspective to the whole body and the whole soul that your body can be an asset and not just a liability in the pursuit of joy and the pursuit of holiness, the holiness that we've talked about here this morning. And I want to make it tangible and concrete. And so we'll focus on the opportunities as they relate to physical exercise. And you can make applications to all sorts of things. I mean, if being holy can apply to physical exercise, can it not apply to everything else? You might assume I'm guilty of this. And I got back into exercise a little over 10 years ago after a long period of being sedentary in pastoral ministry. And I, I knew that I needed help. I needed to get the cholesterol numbers down, the number on the scale down. So I just jumped right in and I jumped right in like a non-Christian. I just jumped in thinking I'm doing this for the body. There was no theology of it. There wasn't spiritual motivation in it explicitly. So many of us do this with physical training, with bodily discipline. We just jump right in. I want to help you make it a distinctly

8:43 Christian pursuit this morning as we talk about exercise. Now, exercise, you may say, what is that? Before we talk about it for too long, what is it? And in my reckoning with exercise, I think of this as a pretty distinctly modern phenomenon. Most humans in the history of the world have not needed exercise. They've just had normally healthy, active human lives. They were on their feet most of the day. They made things with their hands, like Jesus. I don't think Jesus did exercise. He was just a blue-collar worker. He traveled around teaching. Jesus did plenty of normal human bodily activity. But today, we have the grace, the gifts of the labor-saving devices, the help that we get in transportation.

9:38 I got on a plane a couple days ago and came all the way from Minnesota here. And we drove 20 minutes this morning from downtown Anderson. This is an amazing thing. The travel that we have, the labor-saving devices, these are gifts and blessings. And they're making our human lives unusually, ahistorically sedentary. And then you add to that that this is a room full of people in Christian ministry. And for the most part, Christian ministry isn't especially physically active.

10:16 We're not doing construction. Now, it is emotionally taxing. But bodily, we often, in Christian ministry, speaking as a pastor, we often need some modest supplement to our typically very sedentary work. Not so that we can be world-class athletes. so that we can be normal, healthy, energetic, loving, zealous humans. So exercise is, as I would define it, voluntary physical activity undertaken for the sake of health and fitness. Voluntary physical activity undertaken for the sake of health and fitness. Many people in your congregation don't need it. They're working jobs, they get plenty of physical activity they may choose to select into some exercise perhaps as a social cultural thing but they don't need it some of us need it now i don't find it especially motivating in exercise to mainly think of what i'm missing and that i have to make it up so since i'm not working a physically demanding job i'm working this pastoral ministry job where so much of my work is typing on a computer or having meetings or sitting down and having coffee. For me merely to think like, oh, I have a sedentary job and a sedentary lifestyle. And so I need to make up for it's exercise. That doesn't really motivate me a lot. I'm not, it doesn't get me out of bed thinking I'm making up for something I'm not getting. It's typically human. So I need some other motivation.

11:57 And for me, a far more inspiring angle is to realize the opportunity that's afforded by moving my body and exerting energy in the ways that God made the human body to work so that my brain and my heart works like God made it to work. That is critical in Christian ministry. Pastor John Piper, who I work with in Minnesota, has a book called When I Don't Desire God. He says it's his most practical book. And he has a chapter in there called How to Wield the World. The world, not the word. How to Wield the World in the Fight for Joy. And in that chapter, he wrestles with the relationship between physical causes and spiritual effects.

12:53 This is really important for us as pastors and ministers. Physical causes with spiritual effects. How to use the world of physical sensation for spiritual purposes. That's relevant for those of us in this room. And by world, he means the sights and sounds of nature. Human art, music, singing, poetry, literature, even the commonplace of our everyday lives. And one vital aspect of how we wield the world for spiritual effect is how we use and steward our bodies. Here's a quote from John. The proper or improper use of our bodies can have a huge effect on the way we experience spiritual reality.

13:48 Proper eating and exercise and sleeping has a marked effect on the mind and its ability to process natural beauty and biblical truth. That's relevant for ministry. A huge effect on the way we experience spiritual reality. like the worship we joined in together this morning and a marked effect on the mind and our ability to process natural beauty and biblical truth. This is relevant for how you read the Bible and minister to others. So what are these huge and marked effects that would motivate a pastor like me with an otherwise busy life to pursue exercise, not as an escape from Christian ministry, but as a cherished assistant in the work God's called me to do as a husband, as a father, as a pastor, as a neighbor, as a friend.

15:00 What's the place of exercise? I've got one text for you, and I've got four motivations that I wanna share from my life over these last almost 11 years. I'm getting serious about exercise again after a long period of sedentary life. I'm so thankful for the focus we took this morning, Lee. I didn't know where you guys were going or planning. I prepared this, I brought it in, and God had led me to a text that talks about making bodily life holy. That's what we're gonna talk about. So we're gonna look at it in 1 Timothy chapter four. How do we make life in our body? That relates to exercise, it relates to sleep, food, and other things. How do we make life in the body holy? you experience a moment of worship together like we did this morning what do we do when we go from here just shut that off go live normal human life without jesus or might you go from here and live in your body in a holy way that's what we talk about these in these moments so this is first timothy chapter 4 verses one to five. Paul is here writing to his protege Timothy and the Ephesian church is reading this letter over Timothy's shoulder and he's warning Timothy and the Ephesians about a group of false teachers who apparently under demonic influence. This is demonic. This is what Satan did in the garden when he tempted Eve. He questioned God's goodness. And so he's warning them of these false teachers, he says, who forbid marriage and outlaw certain foods.

16:55 So these false teachers are ascetics. You know that word, ascetics? That is persons who pursue severe self-discipline. They have disavowed God-given pleasures in marriage and among certain foods, apparently they can't outlaw all foods because the people who do that tend to die within a few weeks. So they have to make, some foods have to be okay, but because we have this suspicion of physical life, of bodily life, we're going to outlaw some of these foods. And then also we're going to outlaw the marriage bed. That must be unholy too, because of their bad theology.

17:45 So Paul contrasts the truth about God's creation and about consecration with what these false teachers are teaching. That's where we talk about being holy. Being holy made practical is when we consecrate certain moments in our life. And God means for us not just to go about our lives like animals or unbelievers, but to have anchor points where we pause, where we consecrate our moments, consecrate our body life before him, make it holy. And we'll see more of that in a minute. So look at 1 Timothy chapter four, verses one to five. Now, the spirit expressly says that in later times, some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons. This is quintessentially satanic stuff from the garden.

18:42 Through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. for everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving for, here it is, it is made holy by the word of God and prayer. That's where we're going. What does that mean? How does that become practical? So verse three says the false teachers forbid marriage. They require abstinence from certain foods that they have chosen. perhaps at random. Here we go. They're suspicious like Satan of the goodness of God in giving us physical bodily pleasures, or they're suspicious of bodily appetites for sex, for food. And Paul's response to the false teaching is his doctrine of creation and his call to make life holy in moments of consecration.

19:57 So how does the doctrine of creation work here? Creation works like this. God created food. God created marriage. And he means for those who believe and know the truth. That is, Christians. You know why God made food? For Christians. You know why God made marriage? and the joys of the marriage bed for Christians. That's why he made those good gifts, to receive his good gifts with thanksgiving and to enjoy him in his gifts.

20:37 And as creator, he gives generously. And as creatures, we receive and enjoy his good gifts on the terms with which he gives them. and that honors him. He's honored when his creatures enjoy his gifts and don't turn their back on him, take the gift, but enjoy the gift in his presence. Thank him, enjoy some little aspect of his manifold glory and goodness in the taste of the gift. That's creation. How does consecration work then? consecration means that God means for us to enjoy his gifts, number one, according to what he says about his gifts, about food, about marriage. That's that phrase by the word of God. It's made holy by the word of God. That doesn't just mean the book where it's written down. That means what God says about it. Now, where do you find out what he says about it? In the book, okay. But the emphasis is on God himself as creator telling us about the gifts, how to use the gifts.

21:56 That's the first part. The second part then is through our speaking back to him in light of his word. That's called prayer. It's made holy by the word of God. What does God say? And by prayer. That is, we say something to him in response to what he says about his gifts. And the cycles not complete if we don't speak back to him. Amazing. The God who is so communicative, even talkative, he stops, he stoops. He wants to hear from us. He wants to hear from you about your body. He means for you to speak to him about it, ask him things about it. Complete the cycle of consecration by not only knowing what he says about your body, but you speaking back to him, to thank him, to ask him. So we consecrate our meals and we consecrate our marriage to him so that he might use his common kindnesses beyond what good they bring to non-believers.

23:05 he means for these to be set apart in the name of Jesus and to live a set apart holy existence in our bodies and this is one reason why Christians often make the practice of praying for a meal this is where it's fun first Timothy chapter four verses four and five he's giving the gift of food it's a good habit to thank him and try to keep from just getting into practice we just say it bless us the Lord and these gifts are about to receive from the bounty of Christ the Lord amen take that as a reminder to embrace the moment inhabit the moment God thought up food follow the supply chain it's from him this is a gift from him and an opportunity to consecrate your eating.

24:00 So this paradigm for consecrating bodily life through the word and prayer is useful beyond marriage. It's useful beyond the dinner table. It is useful, I think, as a very practical vision for Christian physical exercise, which I'll come back to in the end in a few minutes. But first, I wanna go into these four motivations.

24:21 These have been significant for me. There is part of my own personal story in each one. I wish that 11 years ago, when I was carrying probably 40 more pounds than I am now, and my energy levels were low, and I would fall asleep at night while reading the bedtime stories to my kids. I didn't move with energy. I didn't have energy. I know I was hampered in ministry by it, looking back on it. I wish I could have heard these four motivations as carrots. That's what I hope this morning, that I'm offering some carrots rather than the stick. You know the illustration of a donkey, right? C.S. Lewis called the donkey brother ass, the human body, brother donkey, beautiful, useful, stubborn, infuriating, brother ass.

25:22 and sometimes the bodies move forward by carrots sometimes by the stick you whack the back with the stick and i hope this morning to move forward with these four carrots for why it's worth stewarding our bodies all of these four are under the motivation of the glory of god i don't want that to go without saying that's not just religious language we tack on the end of stuff It is the reason God made the world. It's the calling you give us, whether you eat or whether you drink or all that you do. That includes exercise. Do all for the glory of God. So these are four ways of seeking to glorify God in the use of our bodies. Number one, for your joy. I have learned that I'm generally happier when I have exercised or there's a pattern of exercise in my life. Now, that is not in and of itself spiritual joy.

26:27 However, I would rather be helped in the pursuit of spiritual joy by having some natural joy help rather than a deficit. So as Christians, we're pursuing more than just natural joy. But I don't want to be hindered and held back and hampered by disobedience in my body. God is gracious. I mean, we saw that in Moses striking the rock. There are times where even though we're not following directions, we're not obeying, he still sheds the abundance. But we don't presume on that. We want to obey what he says. We want to steward what he's given. And this is an old lesson for humans. I mean, some of you in the room know the name Hippocrates. They call him Hippocrates, whether it was an individual or school of doctors. They were the first who studied the body, founders of medicine in the Western tradition. People knew this a long time ago. Hippocrates said, this is four centuries before Jesus. He said, eating alone will not keep a man well. He must also take exercise.

27:43 Isn't that interesting? Take exercise. Sounds like a pill. You take it. Most people want to take a pill, not do the obvious thing that so helps humans. Like, I don't know if any in the medical community are here. We know the answer to so many of the modern challenges. The problem is it's exercise, and people don't want to do that. They want to take a pill.

28:10 Hippocrates knew this. and he treated depression with a long walk. You're not feeling good? Why don't you go for a long walk? And if they came back and they said it didn't help right away, then he advised taking another. He said, walking is the best medicine. There's something to learn there. It doesn't answer everything. There is something to learn. God made for these bodies to be moving, the heart rate up, pump the blood, this little tiny head doesn't have any storage. The body is feeding and helping the brain. Your brain and your emotions won't work like they're supposed to without a little bit of heart rate up to get some neurotransmitters to the brain. I'm getting ahead of myself. That's the next point. Charles Spurgeon, older I get, the more of a hero Charles Spurgeon is. And Charles Spurgeon, as a Christian, as someone in ministry discovered this.

29:03 He said, a mouth full of sea air or a stiff walk in the wind's face may not give grace to the soul, but it would yield oxygen to the body, which is next best. Exercise in and of itself is not a special means of God's grace. That's his word, prayer, Christian fellowship. But exercise can be an invaluable assistant so that when we come to his means of grace. We're not held back. We're not foggy, but we can receive his means of grace. So for my joy, for your joy. Number two, for your mind.

29:45 The life of the mind is a deeply Christian concern. It's every Christian, especially for those of us who are in Christian ministry. Our work includes more than the mind, but never less. It's amazing how the mind served our worship this morning. It was awesome that we started by reading Psalm 103 together. And the way Lee led us through those three scenes of holiness. Oh, we did way more than the mind. But it was nothing less than the mind. At no point did Lee say, all right, check your mind out so we can do worship. No. The mind serves worship. The life of the mind is important. This is probably the biggest discovery along the way for me personally.

30:40 I'm not against placebo effect if it's working. And I was into exercise a few years and I was like, man, I feel like I think better. I feel more alert. I think I study the Bible better. I think my sermon outlines are better. I think I might give better counsel over coffee. Like my brain feels like it's working better. Is that just me thinking that? I was like, well, if it is, I sure feel better. I'm happy with it. I tried to go looking and find explanation. I wanted to be helped in this. And I found this book from 2008. It's still relevant. I've checked on it. Still up to date. It hasn't been overturned. From this Harvard psychiatrist named John Rady. It's called Spark. The Science of Exercise in the Brain.

31:33 And he says this. It's so helpful. He says, we all know that exercise makes us feel better. Well, some of us know that. But most of us have no idea why. That's what I'm after, why? We assume it's because we're burning off stress or reducing muscle tension or boosting endorphins and we leave it at that. But the real reason we feel so good when we get our blood pumping is that it makes the brain function at its best. Brothers and sisters, you need that in Christian ministry. And he says, in my view, this benefit of physical activity is far more important and fascinating than what it does for the body. Building muscles and conditioning the heart and lungs are side effects. I often tell my patients that the point of exercise is to build and condition the brain. And I would say, if that alone were the effect of exercise, it'd be worth it in Christian ministry.

32:30 I would do exercise just for that. Number three, for your will. I have found over time that pushing myself in exercise has served to strengthen my resolve, strengthen my will, strengthen confidence, hopefully in a holy sense, eagerness to push myself elsewhere in life, in spiritual disciplines, as a husband, as a father, in difficult conversations, which you need. at work, and even around the house on evenings and weekends.

33:13 In exercise, in embracing the discomfort in the moment, you are teaching your soul something that is so valuable beyond the gym or the walking path in your neighborhood. You're training and conditioning your soul. exercise teaches and reminds my body that exertion produces reward.

33:41 And there's often far greater joy on the other side of greater work. I don't need to take the shortcut every time. Often the shortcut does not produce the greatest benefit. I want the benefit. I'm a hedonist, just like you are. That's what we saw in Psalm 106. And we sang, we don't want to forget your benefits. You know what that is? That is Christian hedonism. We want to keep the benefits in view, God's holy benefits, and have that push us through the difficulties in life. When the obstacles come, when the storm comes, for the joy that is set before us, we look to the reward. That's what Jesus did. A few years ago, I realized, whatever got Jesus to the cross, that's how I wanna live my Christian life.

34:38 What got him there? Hebrews 12, 2 says, for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross. his will was trained, conditioned, that as he sat sweating, like with drops of blood, as if drops of blood sweating in the garden, he embraced the father's will. Not my will, but your will, father, be done. He had trained his human will to embrace his father's will in the moment when it mattered most. and so he went to the cross for the joy set before him. Number four, last one, for love's sake.

35:25 Fitness is a term that we Christians can work with. The question's just fit for what? Fit for Instagram? fit for good works. I love this phrase in the Apostle Paul. This is 2 Timothy 2, verse 21. He repeats it again. Paul doesn't often repeat exact phrases like this. So when we have an exact phrase in two of his letters, I assume this is one of his mottos he goes around saying. 2 Timothy 2, verse 21. Titus 3, verse 1. He says, be ready for every good work. that's for all Christians especially those who are in ministry we want to be ready for good work now that involves more than the body but it doesn't involve less than the body there are very few if any good works that I do that do not involve my body in some way now sometimes there's the minimal good works some pastors do some we send an email it's a good work we're encouraging somebody it even involves the fingers It does involve the motivation though. Can you get over a sedentary stationary position to take the initiative to do the good work? And so often doing good for others, seeing needs and meeting needs in others involves getting up off the couch, moving with energy towards something, not having this barrier in my brain thinking, oh, if I got to do something, I'm trying to minimize all of my physical effort in life. Rather thinking, it's enjoyable to help someone. It's enjoyable to use what modest, imperfect body I have to help somebody else. So a body that's ready to do others good. That's the kind of fitness I want.

37:27 I want to be ready to do other people good. I said I'd come back here at the end to trying to make it practical about what it means to make bodily life holy through the word of God and prayer. What's that look like? the word of God as I said earlier means that we hear what God has to say about marriage about food about the world he made how to use it what he says about our bodies and their use and how we might support and strengthen that with exercise so here's my question what does god have to say about our bodies i want to try something new here i haven't done this before and uh you need to give me a little grace here i am not pretending to speak for god these words i'm going to say here in just a minute there's no pretense this is not scripture is not an errand this is my effort to try to help speak over you what God has to say about your body.

38:52 And I'm sure there's something that's gonna be an error. But I've tried really hard to base this on scripture and I've wrote a book that went through edits, tried hard to summarize these things. And so I hope that you might just receive this, hear this as if from God and let the Holy Spirit in you sanctify what it needs to about what God would say about your body. So what does he say about your body? First, he says, I made your body. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. I formed your inward parts. I knit you together in your mother's womb. I have sustained your life till now. I have appointed injuries and disabilities in your life for your ultimate good and my good purposes in your life.

39:47 I designed you for your ultimate good in Jesus. And in fact, your body's not your own. I made you and I bought you back with my son's blood that you might glorify me in your body, not apart from your body. You don't gotta get outside your body to glorify me. I want you to glorify me in your body.

40:16 I am for your body. I'm not against it. And your body is for me. and then God says, but you need to know this. Sin has seized your body. Your body's fallen. It's under the curse with all creation because of human sin.

40:43 You were born in sin. Your body is not what it would be if there had not been sin. sin. However, marred by sin as your body is, it is still a marvel. Even under the curse, even with its many imperfections and nobody's perfect, it's still a marvel and a gift. and then God says I sent my son to take on full humanity mind and heart and body the eternal word became flesh God the son became human like you taking a human body that he might save all of you not only your soul but your body He means to rescue your body.

41:43 And he rose again in his same human body. And he ascended to heaven glorified in his human body. And he now sits on heaven's throne in glorified humanity with his perfected human body. Fully God, fully man, forever. Jesus knows what it's like to have a human body. And he dignified your body by taking a human body to God himself. And then God keeps going. He says, I sent my spirit to dwell in your body. The spirit who is God himself, dwells in your human body. Your body is a temple, not because you're so impressive, but because you have God himself in you in the Holy Spirit. Yes, you still have indwelling sin, but now in Jesus, you have the indwelling spirit and greater is he who is in you than he who's in the world or sin that's still in you.

42:56 You are able, with the help of the Spirit, to cultivate new desires, to make progress, to obey, to defeat sin, even the seven deadly sins. And so God says to you, I'm calling you to glorify me right now in the body you have. however bad your body seems to you at present i am for you and for your body and i mean for you to use it and what i've called you to do and if it feels more like a hindrance than a help i have patience we can work on this you got the holy spirit he'd love to help bodily training is of some value and godliness is of value in every way because it holds promise for the present life and for also the life to come what if you put your body to use in service of your godliness how might you condition your body in modest reasonable ways for your joy for your mind, for your will to be ready and eager to do good for others.

44:20 And then finally God says, all right, new spring. One last thing. A day is coming when I will give you a spectacular bodily upgrade. Just you wait. I will transform your lowly body of humiliation to be like the glorious resurrected body of my son. Your future is embodied in an upgraded, sin-free, curse-freed body that will only sweeten and not hamper your joy in my son forever. So we make exercise holy by what God tells us in scripture about our bodies and their movement. And then we complete the cycle of consecration with prayer.

45:20 I'm going to finish right here by praying for you some of the ways I pray related to the stewardship of my body. Here's how you might pray. You might just start off. If you haven't prayed about your body, you might just start with, bow with me.

45:44 Father in heaven, help me use this body you've given me to make much of you. That through enjoying who you are in Christ, and by doing good to others, you might look good. You might be seen as holy. I might hallow you in my soul and body. Guide me in a reasonable plan to steward this body and strengthen me to make progress.

46:16 And then before a workout, you might consecrate your body like this. father use these few minutes of discomfort to awaken me to my need for you and to enhance my clarity of thought and my attention and my depth of feeling and my levels of energy and my readiness to do others good in the name of Jesus help me and then during a workout right when you're about to give up, you might pray, Father, help me not to give up too soon. Carry me to the finish. With your spirit in me, give me wisdom to know when to stop and strength to endure normal discomfort. And then afterwards, you might pray, Father, thank you.

47:13 thank you that I made it my heart's beating I'm done you sustain me thank you for the body you've given and I pray that you would use it I ask that you would help me use it the rest of this day and as many days as you give me to live with zeal for Jesus so Father in heaven I pray that as we go from here that the celebration of your holiness would continue. That the awe of a moment of conscious worship before your throne with brothers and sisters would carry into the normal everyday lives that we would make bodily life holy in marriage and over dinner. And as we sleep and as we enjoy a beautiful day, and as we use these bodies in physical activity, Father, would you make our everyday lives holy before you?

48:18 would you grant us grace by your holy spirit to overcome the natural obstacles we face especially when it relates to exercise i pray that your word and your spirit and the company of fellow believers and a patient long arc of habits and the pursuit of joy would help us along in our calling related to our souls and our bodies.