Prayer and Muscles

(9th post on exercise thread)

As I write this post I am sitting in my hotel room in Yokohama Japan.  I just left a meeting after the Sunday service.  The meeting was for young people who have just graduated and are starting out in their careers.  It also included young men and women who are still in university and are about to graduate.

A young woman posed a question about the pressure that young workers experience on the job.  They are required to come early, stay late and do their bosses bidding including going out and having drinks with them.  She asked how does a Christian cope with such pressure.

The good thing about open forums in Japan is everything needs to be translated which gives you some time to think about your answer.  As I was thinking of an answer I was reminded of this blog on prayer and exercise.  And here was my response to her question.

Pressure in life will never disappear.  They will always be there.  We need to learn how to handle them.  Just like exercising with weights the key is to learn to lift the weights for a few seconds and then set them down.  If we don’t set the weights down its pressure will hurt and injure us. 

On the other hand if we don’t learn to lift them we will never grow our spiritual muscles.  When pressure comes do not avoid them or live in denial about them.  Rather pick them up.  Then as you pray cast your cares to God and He will not only sustain you but make your spiritual muscles grow.

Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.   Psalms 55:22

See Also:   Discipleship and African Elephants