The Lord Shall Keep You
121 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. 2 My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. 3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. 4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. 6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. 8 The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. Psalm 121 (KJV)
The Morning Exhortation
Strength doesn’t come from a can, Popeye. Do you think the muscle fairy is just going to leave you 18-inch guns under your pillow? Such lying vanities are cartoon fairy tales when told to children and advertising hype when marketed to adults. There are no shortcuts. Muscle is a full-grown pit bull and you gotta wrassle’em if you want that bone. The “why” is far more important than obtaining any goals however. If you do it to please self, it is sin. If you do it as part of your reasonable service to please the Lord, it is righteousness. Bodybuilding, physical exercise, and diet are not good or bad in themselves, but it is the intent of the heart in doing them that makes it so. Turn from seeking to please self in order to fight the good fight of the faith. Rejoice with unceasing prayer. Prayer is spiritual exercise for faith and practice of the presence of God. Either prayer will end sinning or sinning will end prayer. From everlasting to everlasting, the Lord God Almighty is! So continue to pray to Him, and prayer will win the day.
Question
How can we pray unceasingly?
Answer
To pray unceasingly is to cultivate a continuous awareness of God that comes with the deliberate practice of focusing our attention on God (Scripture). This requires eliminating worldly distractions when possible, as about 90% of the time the mind simply wanders about focusing on whatever wind that passes by (Scripture). The motive for exercise and diet is of paramount importance for building muscle, so too is the motive for focusing attention and directing our thoughts upward toward God essential for praying unceasingly (Scripture).
The Prayer Appointed for This Week from the Book of Common Prayer
Almighty God, who has given your only Son to be unto us both a sacrifice for sin and an example by his godly life: For the sake of your Son, I most thankfully receive your forgiveness of all my offenses; and grant me the grace to serve you in newness of life to the glory of your Name; through the same your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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