Wisdom for Winning in LifeSample

Marathon Prayer

I was in the middle of a long training run when an unexpected snowstorm created a whiteout. The wind blew fiercely and the snow lashed my face.

Still a mile from home and with my body temperature plummeting, I ducked into a grocery store and called my wife. My run was definitely over.

Marathon training requires flexible faithfulness. Flexible, because sixteen weeks of training rarely goes as expected. Faithfulness meaning, as author Eugene Peterson wrote, “a long obedience in the same direction.”

Sometimes I don’t want to run. And it’s not always fun to eat the right foods and ignore the wrong ones. When you cross the finish line, however, it’s so worth it!

Prayer is like running a marathon.

In the book of Colossians, Paul wrote that we’re to be devoted to prayer. The ESV says to “continue steadfastly in prayer.” The word devote comes from a Greek word that means to be faithful.

Prayer, like marathon running, requires flexible faithfulness. Flexible, because there are days when we sleep through the alarm and pray in the car. Faithfulness, because there are days when we don’t feel like praying.

God desires our prayers and is always there for us when we need Him. And when we pray, even when we don’t feel like it, we’ll find that spending time with God is so worth it.

Daniel Ryan Day

When has prayer changed your outlook on life?

God, help me to walk and talk with You in all I do.