There are things in life we know to be good and yet we don’t always follow through on those good things: sleep, exercise, prayer. It’s easy in our minds to say these three activities are important, but are our actions verifying those beliefs? Are we being hypocritical?
Think about sleep. We should all get 7-8 hours of sleep each night. Do you do this nightly? Look what has been researched regarding sleep.
“Although some people claim to feel rested on just a few hours of sleep a night, research shows that people who sleep so little over many nights don’t perform as well on complex mental tasks as do people who get closer to seven hours of sleep a night. Studies among adults also show that getting less or much more than seven hours of sleep a night is associated with a higher mortality rate.”¹
It appears you don’t think and perform as well with less sleep.
Now, let’s look at exercise. It is said we should exercise three times a week for optimal health. Do you do that? Let’s look at the research on exercise.
“But there’s an interesting split between exercising two days per week and three days per week, and it has to do with the frequency you stimulate the system. So with three days per week — you get significant gains early on, and you’re going to want to progress beyond that three, ideally. Two days per week, you don’t get much change — you just don’t do it frequently enough to have some of the other positive health outcomes that come along with it.
“In terms of resistance training — [you should do it] two to five days per week, it depends on the level you’re at, in terms of how advanced you are and how you train your body. Early on we can get pretty good gains in kids and older adults with two days per week, but we still want to progress them pretty quickly to three or four days per week.”²
It’s okay to start out with a couple of times a week, but you need to build that amount up as time goes by to get a lasting result.
Finally, let’s look at prayer. So much of the Godly life in the Bible revolved around people crying out and praying to God. Are we following in their footsteps? What does the Bible say about how often to pray? 7-8 hours nightly? 2-3 times a week?
“…and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” Acts 6:4 NIV
“At all times, pray by the power of the Spirit. Pray all kinds of prayers. Be watchful, so that you can pray. Always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” Ephesians 6:18 NIRV
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Philippians 4:6 NASB
Looks like we are to give our attention to prayer, pray by the Holy Spirit, and pray about all our requests to God. This means we are to continually pray about everything and in all things! There are no time limits.
What do these three things have in common? It’s necessary to do them faithfully for the recommended amount of time for you to be mentally fit, physically fit, and spiritually fit!
How faithful are you?
Take a look at your week. How much time is devoted to sleep? exercise? prayer? You know they’re important, but are you living your life as though they are truly important?
I’m talking to myself here, too, and it hurts. It’s time to get serious about what we know to be good. We must pray by the Holy Spirit for empowerment to accomplish these goals.
Where do you need to improve this week? It’s time for your training to start!
© 2015 Susan M. Sims
Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net / Stuart Miles
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