Week 2 Recap: Fitness Bible Study Challenge

Learn What the Bible Says About Fitness and 7 Ways to Incorporate God into Your Fitness 

Do you want to learn more about how to incorporate God into your fitness and what Christian fitness is? 

Today I’m going to share 7 ways to start doing that now!

Many of us are exhausted doing fitness the world’s way and we don’t realize that we have been trying to answer spiritual issues with world-based solutions. As we try to get fit, learn how to create healthy eating habits, and find peace with our body images, we need godly guidance. Maybe it never occurred to you to open your Bible before heading to the gym for your fitness but inviting God into our health and wholeness is the piece of the puzzle that has been missing. 

Today we are recapping the second week of our 21-Day Fitness Bible Study Challenge

This 21-day challenge is a Bible-based guide to give you the foundation of God’s love for you in your fitness. He is with you in your struggles. Turning to Him is often the last place we go, but this devotional will challenge you to seek Him first.

Pray for God to help you drink more water.

Did you know water is mentioned 722 times in the Bible? Water is a gift from God. Our bodies are 60-70% water and therefore it is vital to our health. Water flushes toxins out of the body, transports nutrients into the cells, and is vital to muscle repair and performance. Even slight dehydration causes fatigue. 

Studies show that replacing sodas and sugary coffee drinks with water results in up to 20 pounds of weight loss in one year. Water is God-made and therefore it is our best choice. Challenge yourself to get a water bottle, fill it every day, and drink it. Your body needs it.

Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 NKJV

Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. 3 John 2

Water Tip: Divide your weight in half and drink a minimum of that many ounces per day. Add seven to ten ounces of fluid every ten to twenty minutes during exercise. 

Pray for God to be your strength and support when you work out.

Walking into a gym or workout studio can bring up feelings of comparison, pride or insecurity, so prepare your heart before you work out by placing your identity in Christ and drawing your strength from Him.

Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. Hebrews 10:35 NKJV

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. James 4:10 ESV

In the day when I cried out, You answered me,
And made me bold with strength in my soul. Psalm 138:3 NKJV

“We cannot give our hearts to God and keep our bodies for ourselves.” – Elizabeth Elliott 

Pray for your workouts to become a time of Worship.

Take a scripture to your workouts and meditate on it or listen to a Christian playlist and praise God. Other ideas include telling Him how thankful you are for the breath that fills your lungs or how your heart pumps 100,000 a day without you ever having to think about it. Give God the glory for your health and honor Him with it.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Romans 12:1 NKJV

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NKJV

Prefer videos? Watch the live taping below.

Pray for God to replace the temptations that cause you to be unhealthy with the healthy alternatives He made. 

Ask God to help you replace the foods and drinks that are unhealthy with healthy choices. Trade in the candy bar for dark chocolate and berries or the chips for crunchy nut butter and apple slices. It’s also helpful to take note of the times you have cravings and begin to preemptively beat them by having a healthy snack on hand. 

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. 1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:17 NKJV

Pray that God uses you to inspire health and wholeness in your family.

When your loved ones see you praying before you eat, eating God-made foods, or writing down scriptures to take to your workouts, you will be inspiring them to know Jesus in their fitness. Our children are watching, let’s train them in the way they should go.

Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6 NKJV

 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16 NKJV

Pray for God to break the bondage numbers have over you.

Whether it’s the number on the scale, the size in your clothes, or the number of candles on your cake, we all have a number that the enemy uses to make us feel less than. Don’t let this number become an idol. Your weight or clothing size is not your report card. You are a child of God and Jesus died so that you could live free. Tell God you don’t want it to have power over you anymore and anytime the numbers try to enslave you take your power back in Christ.

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Galatians 5:1 NKJV

“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be enslaved by anything. 1 Corinthians 6:12 NKJV

Pray for God to help you establish a healthy sleep schedule.

In our world sleep is often neglected, but proper sleep is crucial to your overall health. Adequate rest enables you to maintain energy, achieve a healthy weight, and improves your mood. Sleep is important for your emotional, physical, and spiritual health. Not getting enough quality sleep regularly raises the risk of many diseases and disorders. These range from heart disease and stroke to obesity and dementia. Pray for God to help you establish a wake-sleep cycle that helps you thrive in your daily life.

When you lie down, you will not be afraid; Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet. Proverbs 3:24 NKJV

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 NKJV

The Mayo Clinic recommends adults get a minimum of 7 hours of a sleep.  

Pray for God to make your fitness goals more about serving Him and less about what you look like.

Rather than make fitness all about what you look like, make it about how you live and who you live for. God has placed gifts in you and called you to tell people about Him. When you think of fitness motivation begin to consider getting fit to serve, for example, to go on a mission trip, volunteer for a charity, or start the business God has put on your heart. 

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Matthew 28:16-20 NKJV

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21 NKJV

Let’s pray together before you go!

Dear God,

Cause the woman who is listening to this to act! Help her sign up to take this challenge, help her know you, and grow deeper and more secure in her faith. Protect her health. Show her that you care about her health and wholeness and you want her to walk it out with you daily.

Lord, lead me to lead others. Help me serve these women with excellence. Help us all be examples of you in this world. Put the woman who needs to do this with us on our hearts and encourage us to reach out to her today!

God, we are so grateful for your Word, help us know how it applies to our fitness and live by it!

Father, lastly, please help the woman who is thinking I’ll start taking care of myself in January to understand that she needs to take care of herself now. Empower us to live in your Holy Spirit’s power and authority instead of the weakness of appetite. Lord, in you, we can find balance and grace.

We are so grateful for our bodies. Today marks a new day of stewarding them well for your glory,

In Jesus’ name, Amen!

It is not too late to join the 21-Day Fitness Bible Study Challenge, you can download your Scripture Guide >> Here<< and listen to the Week 1 Recap >> Here.<<