PrayFit | In Jesus' name we train.

Are You Reaching?

“She thought, ‘If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.’” –Matthew 9:21

Read: Matthew 21

She did what a suffering Job couldn’t. Jacob, David — them, too. Run through the bible and find as many people as possible who hurt physically, and one woman did exactly what each of them would have done in an instant. Having suffered for years with an issue that condemned her as an unwanted and unclean outcast, doctors couldn’t heal her and family disowned her. She was out of choices, so she got up. She mustered strength of heart and elbowed her way through the crowd. She said to herself, “If I can just touch the hem of his garment.” Now, the bible says many people were pressing against Jesus when He asked, “Who touched me?” (Mark 5:30)

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Keeping House

“Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back.”
—Mark 13:35

Read: Mark 13

My wife Wendy and I live in a house of toddlers which means that at any given moment, our little home can look like hurricane-force winds blew through, tossing about everything that isn’t nailed down. Toys are scattered, clothes are strewn over the furniture and…is that string cheese ground into our rug? We try, sometimes to no avail, to keep up with our cyclical mess.

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An Avenue of Affliction

“In the day of prosperity be happy, but in the day of adversity consider God has made the one as well as the other.” —Ecclesiastes 7:13-14

Read: Ecclesiastes 7

On the treadmill to my right, walked a man maybe 80 years old; on the one to my left, a teenager with a disability. The three of us huffed and puffed, each with a window overlooking a busy intersection — sort of a fitness fishbowl, if you will. Each stoplight ushered in a new array of commuters and though every once in a while we’d capture the attention of a driver or two, one vehicle in particular caught mine.

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It Took a Funeral

“The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.” –John 11:25

Read: John 11

If anyone had the right to claim credit for the phrase “Today is the first day of the rest of my life” it was Lazarus. Four days gone. Entombed. Lazarus was dead. Then he wasn’t. If any day felt like the first to him, this was the one. But it took a funeral to make him feel alive.

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With Honors

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” – Ephesians 2:8

Read: Ephesians 2

I’m not the first writer to see heaven in a graduation and I definitely won’t be the last. But sitting in the bleachers this weekend, waiting for the love of my life to stroll across that stage, I just couldn’t help it. As the band played a few sour notes and the crowd fanned their glistening brows, the keynote speaker talked about all the reasons the graduates deserved the stage. The homework, the term papers, the finals. All tough, all taken, all passed. Tired and weary, all that was left to do was receive their prize.

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Finding Shade

“And he withdrew himself into the wilderness and prayed.” –Luke 5:16

The understatement of the year would be to say that we at PrayFit.com have been blessed. Your faithfulness, encouragement and prayers have overwhelmed us. We’ve just completed a major PrayFit endeavor with our new friends, Grammy and Dove Award Winning Point of Grace and Cleveland’s 95.5 The Fish, and we want to publicly give the Lord all the glory. We thank Him for who He is, for what He’s done, for what He’s doing right now, and for what He will do in the weeks and months ahead.

With that promise, we’re going to follow His lead into our own wilderness for a time of prayer, rejuvenation and rest. The next PrayFit entry will be Monday, May 14th. We hope you have an awesome week, maybe catching  a few baseball games, while staying true to your workouts and quiet times. (Okay, Okay, ballgames optional…I guess.)

Blessings to everyone.

Team PrayFit

Discipline Determines Destiny

I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should.” –1 Corinthians 9:27

Read: 1 Corinthians 9

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Charles Stanley with In Touch Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia. He delivered a message entitled, “Discipline Determines Destiny.” Of course, he made it clear that he wasn’t talking about eternal destiny, but that he wanted to discuss our earthly effectiveness; how we handle our money, our time, our relationships and ohhhh yes, while I was at the edge of my seat, he said it…”how we handle our health.”

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Devotion Costs

“Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.” –Luke 10:41-42

Read: Luke 10

When I was 19 years old, my college buddies and I would base the week’s success on how well we did in the squat rack. “Leg Day” was the focal point of our week, around which everything else rotated. Well one day, someone among us — someone bigger and stronger — put leg day on Sunday.

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Daddy, Daddy

“He fell with his face to the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.’” –Matthew 26:39

Read: Matthew 26

Ella’s scream has a way of piercing ears but this morning, it broke my heart. In the arms of her swim instructor, who was imparting what my wife and I know are vital and potentially life-saving skills, a hysterical Ella reached out to me. “Daddy, daddy!” she cried, over and over. All I wanted to do was to take her hand, to let her know it would be okay, to reassure her that I would never let any harm come to her. Instead, I walked out.

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High Gear

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” –Ephesians 2:10

Read: Ephesians 2

On a recent Saturday afternoon, my husband came home beaming with excitement. He had the rare opportunity to view a friend’s personal collection of 50 vintage cars. Ferraris, Porsches, Lamborghinis, Model T’s, some first editions and even one-of-a-kind vehicles — it was a car lover’s dream. He went on and on about this car and that car and the rarity and value of some in the collection and I finally had to ask, “How in the world does he have time to drive them all?” I mean, 50? Really?!

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