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

Have you ever wanted to step out in faith for a work you felt God was calling you to do yet felt that something was holding you back?

It can be frustrating trying to figure out what you’re missing. Over the years Mary and I have discovered a few things that it takes to be an effective worker for God’s kingdom.

Three Important Steps

1. Availability. God tells us in 2 Chronicles 16:9a “For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.” God is watching for people who are willing to be used so He can work through them. Mary and I realize the importance of watching for those opportunities that Jesus brings your way. That doesn’t mean you sign up for every opportunity, but for the ones God has prepared in advance for you to do. Knowing what those are takes …
2. Prayer. Prayer should be the foundation for everything we do, including any new works we are considering. We need to pray that God will reveal whether we should be involved and that we will know how to proceed. I like to pray that God will open the doors I should walk through and close the ones I should not. It also helps to be in good …
3. Physical health.  As much as we can control it, we need to make wise choices concerning our fitness and health so that we aren’t limited when Jesus comes calling. Now that’s not to say He can’t use us if we have a chronic illness. What we’re thinking about here is protecting our physical health to the best of our ability by taking care of ourselves.

Seven-Week Online Bible Study/Fitness Challenge

We are excited to announce a 7-week online Bible study and fitness challenge called Faith & Fit that combines all of these things. Will this solve all your challenges? No, but it will jump-start you on the road to spiritual and physical health to help prepare you for what God has next in your life!

Here is what to expect: Every week we will follow a theme for that week, and you will receive two emails, one on Monday morning and one on Friday morning that contain the following:

• Two Everyday Faith challenges (a short video teaching and scripture reading and study questions) and
• Two Everyday Fit challenges (a physical challenge and a food challenge)

• Extra Faith and Extra Fit options for those who have more time and want to integrate a spiritual discipline and a target fitness video.

How It Works

When you receive Monday’s email, work on those challenges from Monday-Thursday. Early Friday morning you will receive the second email. Work on those challenges on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Every Wednesday evening we will have a live Community Call on Talk Shoe to discuss the previous week’s work.

We’d love to have you join us in this study; as a matter of fact, you can sign up right now.  NOTE!! If you do not have a PayPal account you may still sign up by following these instructions:

1. Choose the option that says Have a PayPal account?

2. Ignore the email and PayPal password fields and hit the login button

3. After you hit the login button a new tab should pop up below that offers the option of paying with a credit or debit card or Bill  Me Later.

In addition to the all the above,  we’ll also include some recipes that Mary and I have created made with healthy ingredients that taste good, because we think that good health should be fun too. Here’s a sneak peek at one of the recipes to have as an occasional treat.
Tropical Sunrise Smoothie

I cup yogurt (Greek or regular), plain
2 oranges, seeds removed
1/2 lemon juiced
1 banana sliced into chunks
2 wedges cantaloupe sliced into chunks
Coconut water as needed (look for this in cartons in the Gatorade aisle)
Ice cubes to your liking

Juice the lemon first and pour it in the blender. Add all the other ingredients and process until smooth. Serves two. (If you are diabetic, this recipe may be too high in sugar for you.)

You’ll also have access to a private Facebook Faith & Fit page to post your workouts, share your successes and challenges, and share your prayer requests and encouragement.

What do you have to lose, except some bad habits? : ) Grab your Mom, sister, friends, or yourself and sign up today. We begin on Monday, September 8. Hope to see you there!

We are so glad you have joined us for Week 6, Lesson 2 Make Three Meals of our journey to greater spiritual and physical health! Listed below is your Faith & Fit work for today. Please click on the links or the play buttons to access each resource! Remember to leave a comment about your experience at the Speak Your Mind section at the bottom of the page. In Christ, we can grow stronger. Let’s do it!

Everyday Faith Teaching Video:

Everyday Faith Bible Study

Please click on the link below to access Week6, Lesson 2.

                        Week 6, Lesson2 Bible Study

Everyday Fit Physical Challenge:

Week 6, Lesson 2

We are focusing on a simple exercise that almost everyone can do: walking. You can choose to walk indoors or outdoors. Weather permitting, my preference is to be outdoors enjoying the fresh air and sunshine (get that Vitamin D!). We will also give you options to supplement with some other types of exercise in Extra Fit for those who would like to.
For those of you who prefer to walk indoors, you can use a treadmill, or I would recommend Leslie Sansone’s Walking DVDs. Her DVDs are available for purchase in stores like Target and Walmart, on her website, for live streaming on Walk TV , and some for free on YouTube and on her site when you sign up (free) for her Walk Social Club.

One fun way to track your walking is to use a pedometer and aim for a certain number of steps per day. The American Heart Association recommends 10,000 steps each day. We will work up to that. Ten thousand steps is approximately 5 miles, but that is based on an average stride being 2.5 feet. Your total may differ from that based on the length of your stride.
Pedometers can be found in just about any sports or discount store and range in price from about $10 to $125 for more elaborate ones with additional features. I use a Fitbit to track my steps each day. It also tracts flights of stairs climbed, calories burned, miles walked, hours slept, and the time. It also allows me to set a silent, vibrating alarm. It syncs with an website, which includes many more features.

Basic Walking Guidelines

Begin your walk with a warm up. This basically means start walking slowly for a few minutes, giving your body time to warm up. Save any stretching for the end of your walk, as you should not stretch cold muscles. If you have body parts that are very tense and need to be stretched before your main walk, do your warm-up first and then stretch them. You should also still follow your walk with a stretch at the end.

The Walking Site has some wonderful stretches for walkers, and here is a link to their stretching page.
As you are walking, walk tall, pull in your stomach and tighten your bottom.
When you have finished your exercise for the day, be sure to let the Faith and Fit group know by posting on our Facebook page. Great job!

Beginner Level Exercise:

For Day 13, we are going to set the goal of walking 2 miles or the rough equivalent of 4000 steps. If you wear a pedometer all day long, this is in addition to the total that is already showing on your pedometer. So, when it is time to log your walk, check your pedometer and note how many steps/miles you have already walked that day. Add 4000 steps or 2 miles to that total and begin walking. When you get to that total you may stop. If you are fairly fit and would rather choose the goal of two miles, then aim for 4000 steps on your pedometer or another 2 miles on the total. How have you done with your walking/exercising? If you have time, please go to our Facebook page and let us know what you have accomplished.

Let’s change things up this week by adding weights to our walk.

You can do this a few different ways:

1. Purchase wrist weights that slip over your hands like bracelets.
2. Purchase small weights that you just hold in your hand.
3. Purchase weight gloves.

You can simply carry these weights while you are walking, or you can engage your muscles more by actually doing some presses or curls. See this one minute video to give you a few ideas for your next walk.

Experienced Level: Today make it your goal to walk for 60 minutes. Walk at a pace you are comfortable with and that your are able to carry on a conversation. By the end of your walk you should be sweaty and tired but not exhausted. As always, check with your doctor before beginning any physical workout to be sure you are up for the challenge!

For an extra challenge try jogging today! If you have never jogged before set your goal for walk a half mile jog for a half mile. If you are an experienced jogger run your usual route and up it by a half mile! you can do it!

Lower Body Focus Day Six with Coach Dan!Let’s do it!

Rainy Day? Too hot? No worries! click on the link below for a great indoor workout with Leslie Sansone!

Five Fast Miles!

Everyday Fit Food Challenge:

Make Three Meals

Today I’d like to share this link to a two-week menu plan from Clean Eating Magazine. It’s one of my favorite food magazines, and you can buy it at the grocery store, book store, or Whole Foods. This menu plan will take you through our last two weeks with its wonderful meals all planned out for you. Take a look — you’re sure to see something you want to try. Keep up the good work, and let us know if you try any of these recipes.

Extra Faith:

Need a little extra spiritual challenge added to your day? Take advantage of the following resources!

Today I’d like to share a link I found for a free e-booklet from Stormie Omartian called The Seven-Day Prayer Warrior Experience. I’ve recently downloaded it myself, so I haven’t read it yet, but I’ve read several of her other prayer books and have loved them. I hope this encourages you in your prayer life and interceding for others!

Extra Fit

Need an extra challenge? Get your abs in shape with Team Beachbody Coach and Founder of Team Let’s Go Fitness at Dan Vukmirovich. Dan’s videos are short, effective and productive! Let’s go!

Remember, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13). Keep up the good work and let us know about your progress on our Facebook page.

We are so glad you have joined us for our seven-week journey to greater spiritual and physical health! Listed below is your Faith & Fit work for the first half of this week. You will receive Lesson 2 work on Friday morning. Please click on the links or the play buttons to access each resource. Remember to leave a comment about your experience in the Speak Your Mind section at the bottom of the page. In Christ, we can grow stronger. Let’s do it!

(Please don’t feel you have to do everything listed in our lessons. We have included lots of information and activities for you. Pick what resonates with you the most and add in other things as you have time. It would be helpful if you set a few goals for yourself during this challenge. If you would like to, you can share them on our Facebook page.)

Everyday Faith Teaching Video:

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Everyday Faith Bible Study:

Please click the link below to access the Week 1, Lesson 1  Bible study!

                      Week 1, Lesson 1 Bible Study

Everyday Fit Physical Challenge:

Week 1, Lesson 1

This week we are going to focus on a simple exercise that almost everyone can do: walking. You can choose to walk indoors or outdoors. Weather permitting, my preference is to be outdoors enjoying the fresh air and sunshine (get that Vitamin D!). We will also give you options to supplement with some other types of exercise in Extra Fit for those who would like to.
If you prefer to walk indoors, you can use a treadmill, or I would recommend Leslie Sansone’s Walking DVDs. Her DVDs are available for purchase in stores like Target and Walmart, on her website,on YouTube, for live streaming on Walk TV , and some for free on her site when you sign up (free) for her Walk Social Club.

One fun way to track your walking is to use a pedometer and aim for a certain number of steps per day. The American Heart Association recommends 10,000 steps each day. We will work up to that. Ten thousand steps is approximately 5 miles, but that is based on an average stride being 2.5 feet. Your total may differ from that based on the length of your stride.

Pedometers can be found in just about any sports or discount store and range in price from about $10 to $125 for more elaborate ones with additional features. I use a Fitbit to track my steps each day. It also tracks flights of stairs climbed, calories burned, miles walked, hours slept, and the time. In addition, it allows me to set a silent, vibrating alarm. It syncs with the Fitbit website, which includes many more features.

Basic Walking Guidelines

Begin your walk with a warm-up. This means to start walking slowly for a few minutes, giving your body time to warm up. Save any stretching for the end of your walk, as you should not stretch cold muscles. If you have body parts that are very tense and need to be stretched before your main walk, do your warm-up first and then stretch them. You should also still follow your walk with a stretch at the end.

The Walking Site has some wonderful stretches for walkers, and here is a link to their stretching page.
As you are walking, walk tall, pull in your stomach, and tighten your bottom.
When you have finished your exercise for the day, be sure to let the Faith and Fit group know by posting on our Facebook page. Great job!

Beginner Level Exercise:

For Lesson 1, we are going to set the goal of walking 1/2 mile or the rough equivalent of 1000 steps. If you wear a pedometer all day long, this is in addition to the total that is already showing on your pedometer. So, when it is time to log your walk, check your pedometer and note how many steps/miles you have already walked that day. Add 1000 steps or 1/2 mile to that total and begin walking. When you get to that total you may stop. If you are fairly fit and would rather choose the goal of one mile, then aim for 2000 steps on your pedometer or another 1 mile on the total. As always, check with your doctor before beginning any physical workout to be sure you are up for the challenge!

Experienced Level: 

This week make it your goal to walk  for 45 minutes or jog for 30 minutes. Walk/jog at a pace you are comfortable with and that you’re able to carry on a conversation. By the end of your walk/jog you should be sweaty and tired but not exhausted. As always, check with your doctor before beginning any physical workout to be sure you are up for the challenge!

Rainy day?–Don’t sweat it! Click on the link for a great indoor work out with Leslie Sansone!

4 Fast Miles!

Everyday Fit Food Challenge:

Simple Sustenance

For this week’s challenge, we would like to focus on keeping our food choices with as few ingredients as possible. Consequently, we would like you to avoid boxed mixes and fast foods that are usually laden with ingredients whose names we don’t recognize and can’t pronounce. What would make for good meals today? Here are a few suggestions.

Breakfast:  Oatmeal (not instant) that we cook on the stove or in the slow cooker. Click on this Pinterest Link for several slow cooker oatmeal recipes. Or how about some scrambled eggs? If you have any fresh chives from your herb garden, sprinkle on top.  They are so easy to grow and add a wonderful oniony flavor.

Lunch: One option would be a lovely salad made with your favorite lettuce and vegetables. Mine would include tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, sunflower seeds, red pepper, and sprouts. Add a bit of chicken for some protein.

Dinner: A simple dinner could be grilled chicken or fish. If grilling isn’t your thing, lightly saute it in about 2 tsps. of olive oil and add your favorite herbs. I like thyme, rosemary, and garlic for chicken and dill, garlic,  and a drizzle of fresh lemon juice for the fish. Add a vegetable such as steamed or lightly sauteed green beans and a red potato.

Recommended Reading

Periodically we will *recommend books that have been helpful in our lives. These are extra resources not a have-to in the program, but feel free to share what you’re learning in the comment section or on the Faith & Fit Facebook page. We’d also love to hear what you’re reading too. Today we’re recommending the book called The Seven Pillars of Health by Don Colbert, M.D.

The Seven Pillars of Health: The Natural Way to Better Health for LifeBy Don Colbert, M.D. / SiloamDr. Don Colbert believes in combining alternative and traditional medical practices for achieving optimal health. His 50-day plan provides information that will not only change your life but also challenge your thinking and motivate you. Learn how to incorporate his “pillars” into your daily life in a way that will energize you and help you feel better and live longer. Try it!

Extra Faith:

For Simple Sustenance, it makes perfect sense to focus on the spiritual discipline of simplicity. Here is a link from a post we did a few years ago that will help us to think about looking at simplicity as a whole life adventure. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below or on our Facebook page.

Simplicity Teaching

Need a little extra spiritual challenge added to your day? Take advantage of the following resources!

Pray Specifically: Walking With Jesus

Extra Fit:

Need an extra challenge? Get your abs in shape with Team Beachbody Coach and Founder of Team Let’s Go Fitness at Dan Vukmirovich. Dan’s videos are short, effective and productive! Let’s go!

As a bonus once a week we are adding Dan’s Body Mind Spirit Challenge! Let’s build physical and spiritual muscle!

Don’t forget to post on our Facebook page any questions, workout information, recipes, prayer requests, and encouragement to others. Please introduce yourself.

Blessings and congratulations on Lesson 1!

*In the spirit of full disclosure, Only By Prayer is an affiliate for CBD, so if you purchase a resource from them through the link on our site, we will receive compensation for them. Rest assured, we only recommend resources we love and actually use ourselves.

Are you ready for Week Two of Faith & Fit? Jane and I are praying that you will make life changes that will lead to greater spiritual and physical health. Listed below is your Faith & Fit work for today. Please click on the links or the play buttons to access each resource! Remember to leave a comment about your experience at the Speak Your Mind section at the bottom of the page. In Christ, we can grow stronger! Let’s do it!

Everyday Faith Teaching Video:

Everyday Faith Scripture Reading:

Please click on the Week 2, Lesson 1 Bible study link below!

                       Week 2, Lesson 1 Bible Study

Everyday Fit Physical Challenge:

Basic Walking Guidelines

Begin your walk with a warm up. This means to start walking slowly for a few minutes, giving your body time to warm up. Save any stretching for the end of your walk, as you should not stretch cold muscles. If you have body parts that are very tense and need to be stretched before your main walk, do your warm-up first and then stretch them. You should also still follow your walk with a stretch at the end.

The Walking Site has some wonderful stretches for walkers, and here is a link to their stretching page.
As you are walking, walk tall, pull in your stomach and tighten your bottom.
When you have finished your exercise for the day, be sure to let the Faith and Fit group know by posting on our Facebook page. Great job!

Beginner Level Exercise:

Today make it your goal to walk for 25 minutes. Walk at a pace that you are comfortable with and that you are still able to carry on a conversation. As always, check with your doctor before beginning any physical workout to be sure you are up for the challenge! For more information please read the following article on how to begin a walking program: Walking Program. Feel free to also substitute any of Leslie Sansone’s indoor walking videos as well. Week 1, Lesson 1  lists a free resource for this (Password: Deuteronomy8).

How are you doing with your walking/jogging? Are you feeling any stronger yet?

Need an indoor exercise routine? Here’s a Leslie Sansone 1-mile walking video!

Experienced Level: Today, make it your goal to walk or ride your bike for 45 minutes. Exercise at a pace you are comfortable with and are able to carry on a conversation. By the end of your walk/ride you should be sweaty and tired but not exhausted. As always, check with your doctor before beginning any physical workout to be sure you are up for the challenge!

 Rainy day? Don’t fret! Click on the link below for a challenging indoor work out with Leslie Sansone!

4 Fast Miles!

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Everyday Fit Food Challenge:

Sans Sugar

Today we are looking at leaving refined sugar out of our diet. Studies are showing that sugar may be the springboard for inflammation and many of the chronic diseases that are plaguing our generation. Sugar is also a sneaky substance and is in many foods that you may not even realize. Become a food label reader. Realize that sugar has many other names. We are not expecting that you give up sugar for the rest of your life. The purpose of this challenge is to develop healthy habits and choices, not deny ourselves every one of our favorite foods. If you reduce the amount of sugar you eat, you will most likely improve your health.

Check out this resource for information on cutting out sugar.

Here’s a healthy sweet treat sans sugar:

Recipe for sugarless oatmeal cookies from Don Colbert

Recommended Reading

Today we are recommending The Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth About Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar – Your Brain’s Silent Killers by Dr. David Perlmutter. Mary heard Dr. Pearlmutter on PBS and told me about him. This book outlines what they believe to be the cause of many of our modern diseases, including Alzheimer’s. Incredible, cutting-edge information. The Grain Brain Cookbook was just released last week. *Here is a CBD link to the cookbook:

The Grain Brain Cookbook: More than 150 Life-changing Gluten-free Recipes to Transform Your Health – eBookBy David Perlmutter, MD / Little, Brown and Company

Extra Faith:

Today’s food challenge is Sans Sugar, but that doesn’t translate so well to spiritual goals, does it? God surely doesn’t want us to give up the sweetness in our personalities. As a matter of fact, God emphasizes that we have a gentle, quiet spirit or, as I’m fond of saying about a beloved friend of mine, “She has a sweet spirit, doesn’t she?”

Well, developing that gentle, quiet spirit can be a challenge to those of us who just aren’t that way naturally. I’ve found an article written by Erin Davis interviewing Nance Leigh DeMoss discussing this very topic: Do I Have a Gentle and Quiet Spirit?

Extra Fit

Need an extra challenge? Get your abs in shape with Team Beachbody Coach and Founder of Team Let’s Go Fitness at Dan Vukmirovich. Dan’s videos are short, effective and productive! Let’s go!

Please enjoy Day 2 of Dan’s Mind Body Spirit Challenge!

Don’t forget to post below or on our Facebook page any questions, workout information, recipes, prayer requests, and encouragement to others. 

Blessings and congratulations on Week 2, Lesson 1!

Great job today! See you soon!