Scripture: 1 Corinthians 9:25–27 (NLT)

All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.

God is very meticulous when you consider how He designed your body to function. You may have felt at some point in your life, maybe as a child, that you were breathing on your own. But if you take a deep breath in, you will eventually have to exhale for the breathing process to be smooth. This, my friend, means there has to be a rhythmic flow for air to move in and through your lungs. I call it consistency.

It is literally the small things we never notice. Consider your eyes. They were not designed to stay open, so blinking has a consistent flow as well. God doesn’t make mistakes in how He designed our bodies to function.

So why do we exclude our spirit from the equation?

Consider the absence of prayer as dehydration and the absence of His Word as malnutrition. I do not know where you are in your walk. You may be a babe in Christ, or you may be on the verge of becoming a mature believer if you aren’t already. But if you live long enough, you will realize that shallow prayers, or inconsistent communication with God, are not sufficient to maintain a healthy and growing relationship.

You will also learn that prayer is not one-sided. We typically believe that prayer is only one-sided: we tell God what we want Him to know, excluding the hard conversations, and He listens and then gives us according to what we pray for. But as you mature in the faith, you will learn that prayer also involves listening.

We never give God a chance to give us instructions on how to handle a situation or the escape plan to avoid falling into temptation. Sometimes we need to just be quiet and listen. Train your ear to hear His voice, even if you have to slow down and get rid of the noise around you.

If I can be honest, my prayer life developed through so many heartaches. I had no choice but to turn to God, so my prayer life was strong, and I thought that was enough. It was not until God showed me that I needed to be well-rounded.

I was bragging about how I had the rivers of living water flowing through me, meaning I was far from dehydration, but I was still lacking the vitamins and nutrients needed to sustain myself. Prayer can be the encouragement you need in the moment to build your confidence in any situation, but the Word teaches you how to live with endurance.

How can you pray if you do not know how to pray? You need to have a balance with reading His Word. It is through the Word of God that the Holy Spirit can guide you into all truth. He teaches us how to pray by helping us pray according to God’s Word. But you would never know what He has said if you never take the time to read.

And reading goes beyond a devotional plan. Search the Scriptures for yourself. Put yourself in the stories and learn from the people and situations described there for a better understanding.

I can say that your prayer life needs to be consistent. There is no lie here. And I can say your reading life needs to be consistent. Once again, there is no lie here. But what I really want you to think about is this: how disciplined are you?

You cannot tap into consistency if you lack discipline. If you are being intentional with praying and reading, then your lack of discipline, insufficiencies, insecurities, and the list goes on will be exposed to you in your intimate times with Him.

When I think about discipline, I think about what an athlete does to train their body for their next race. How are you training your appetites? You cannot boast about spiritual growth if your flesh is still louder than your spiritual appetite.

The more you love God, the more your life should increasingly turn away from sin. But to love God more, you have to develop an appetite for the things of Him through discipline. That means developing a consistent lifestyle of prayer, studying the Word, and fasting.

Pause and take a deep breath. Because I already sense you feel a bit overstimulated because it sounds like a lot of work.

The beauty in this is that you are not doing it alone. The Holy Spirit is with you, and He is guiding you at a steady pace. Just allow Him to do the work within you, and do not build up resistance toward Him in the process either. If it feels like a heavy load, communicate that with Him.

The discipline is building an inseparable bond between the two of you.

Enjoy the ride to closer proximity.

Practical Application

Set two specific times today for prayer and Scripture reading, separate from your devotional time, keeping the commitment realistic enough that you can repeat it tomorrow; then, write down one spiritual habit you want to develop over the next six months and identify the smallest daily action that will help you build it.

Reflection Questions

1. What does my current prayer and Scripture routine reveal about the level of discipline I am bringing to my relationship with God?
2. What spiritual appetite do I want to strengthen, and what habit will help me feed it consistently?
3. Where have I been relying on occasional spiritual highs instead of developing a steady relationship with God?

Prayer

Lord, increase my appetite for more of You and help me become disciplined in prayer, Your Word, and the practices that draw me closer to You. Holy Spirit, guide me through the process and help me trust You as You work in me. Amen.

Devotional Written By: Leshea Jones (Sapphire-J)