For bodily exercise profiteth  little, but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come – 1st Timothy 4:8.

In our society, much emphasis is placed on physical fitness, but the Apostle Paul declared that spiritual health is even more important than physical health. One can be physically healthy, but spiritually dead. God’s desire for us is to be physically and spiritually healthy, but in order for us to obtain this, we must exercise. Our faith needs exercise just as much as our body and mind need to be exercised in order to obtain good health. It takes practice to maintain a good exercise regiment.

Most people who exercise, they do it daily and as they continue in their exercise regiment, they begin to be strengthened in different parts of their bodies, the muscles become stronger. Exercising brings health to the mind, thinking is clearer, the individual can stand, walk and run a longer distance without tiring.

Spiritually, when we exercise our faith by reading the Bible daily, it will empower us to be prepared when trials and tribulations enter our life. Daily reading gives us information about the God we serve and is retained in our memory. It helps us to understand God’s written Word and how to apply it to our daily living. Prayer is exercising our faith in God by making our petitions and supplications to Him. One who never prays or prays at random doesn’t have spiritual muscles. Fasting is an exercise that enables us to dominate our flesh rather than our flesh dominating us. In order to be prepared for battle, we must be spiritually equipped and this comes by prayer, fasting, reading and studying the Word of God. Prayer makes us sensitive to the Spirit of God, it fine tunes our hearing, and enables us to hear what the Father is saying.

Exercising prayer, fasting, reading and studying the Bible equips us to assist others in their spiritual walk when they become weak. It puts us in the position to fight for those who don’t have the strength to fight. Spiritual weakness can cause one to lose many battles because they haven’t exercised in prayer and fasting. Exercising and reading the Word assist us to use the Word against the adversary. As we speak God’s Word, He’s listening and will perform what He hears because His Word will not return to Him void. Physical exercise is good, but if you’re spiritually fit, you will not be defeated in anything you set your heart to do.