$\"\"$ <\/p>\n

I took a psychopharmacology class last summer and it was life changing. Minus the intense studying and medical terminology, the biggest take away was this — our brains need nutrition, fish oil, sleep and CARBS. If we remove these things our brains can\u2019t make the connections we need to make. Low carb diets may be a great temporary fix but long term can cause dizziness, confusion and reduced functioning skills. High protein, high carbs, gluten free, sugar free are all terms that have become common place but those quick fix plans do not fit every person and are not to be utilized for months or years at a time! When our bodies starve for protein, vitamins or basic minerals we do not function at peak performance.<\/p>\n

Americans have trained themselves to eat FAST! We eat on the run, grab a cheese stick, and rush out the door. No longer do we linger with laughter and love. No longer do we pause to add thankfulness or even \u2026 salad dressing. It\u2019s a quick procedure meant to give us just enough fuel to live and hopefully do some minor tasks daily. To get ahead and steam forward many drink liquid shakes and race thru their day. Some even pop a pill and forgo eating entirely. Do we skip meals and then become surprised when we have no endurance to think, no energy to run and no strength to succeed?<\/p>\n

Our spiritual habits follow our natural habits very often.<\/p>\n

Abraham did not have a devotional book but he knew how to look up and count the stars. Melchizadek didn\u2019t have a one year Bible but he did have some wine and bread. Isaiah did not have an IPhone with inspirational tunes but he was married to a praying woman who could hear from God. King David prayed not once or twice a day but seven times daily! I wonder if eating just enough to survive has also impacted how we eat spiritually? Is spiritual anorexia one of our nation\u2019s most dangerous diseases?<\/strong> Do we hear “let go and let God ” because it’s less work than praying or fasting?<\/p>\n

As we head to the annual celebration of Pentecost I have been doing some research. This past week we spent the evening with some conservationists at Burr Oak Nature Center. What was intended as just a fun family night took a serious turn of events when a khaki dressed man supplied my children with owl pellets. Don\u2019t let the scientific name fool you \u2013 it’s owl digestive material. They rummaged through the tightly wound material and pulled out mole bones, mice skulls and a variety of things owls eat when no one is noticing. Being somewhat of a germa-phobe my first reaction was to run for the hand sanitizer but I endured and watched as my two precious boys sifted through the remains of an owls take -out choices and non-vegan supper collections. I\u2019ve never seen them so still and focused (the boys, not the owls). Another woman in khaki asked my family if we knew the difference between a field mouse and a city mouse? My reply , \u201cone has overalls and the other a teeny, tiny vacuum?\u201d drew groans from my kids. With a little investigation, one can discover what the owl likes to eat, where the owl likes to eat and even when the owl likes to eat. You might be thinking \u201cwho-oo cares?\u201d The life of this owl can be determined by its stomach contents and food choices.<\/p>\n

What if we<\/em><\/strong> were given a spiritual autopsy on that final day?<\/p>\n

What if our spiritual nutrition could be weighed and measured in relation to our fruitful output? Is there a magic bullet for spiritual nutrition, strength or growth? Yes. Acts 6:4: “<\/b><\/span>but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.\u201d The word continuously is from two root words \u2013 pros\/kartereo. Pros means to be a priority, before anything else, in front of, superior. Kratos means to be great, mighty, and powerful, with strength, vigor and dominion. The emphasis is on constantly giving care and attention in a steadfast way to this activity. Continually. <\/p>\n

The church where we attend has a prayer group but it is not just a group of people that claim that as their spiritual gift. It is made up of men and women, some desperate for answers, others sacrificially giving their intercession and time. They also have prayer before the preaching Sunday morning, prayer requests through Facebook, a prayer chain and group prayer weekly. Their prayers have strengthened me in many ways such as healing, courage and more. I love those spiritual meals corporately but if the only<\/em> time I prayed was in the sanctuary I would spiritually starve. Prayer must also be 24\/7, 365, at home, in the car and wherever life takes us. We choose to be spiritually famished or spiritually full and unless you are on a food drip that choice must be made intentionally and daily. Maybe minute by minute if you are in crisis. The more full of God we are as individuals, the more full our corporate times will be.<\/p>\n

Dr. Billy Graham used to stop and read Psalms several times a day. The busier he was, the more he would pause to read, pray and refresh. He never preached his \u201cformula\u201d but the Word of God. He told us his \u201csource\u201d yet Christians today would rather read his book than get on their knees and emulate his lifestyle. We are a lazy society physically and spiritually and the results come with that package deal. The problem is that there is no statin, high blood pressure pill or insulin shot for spiritual disease but it will kill just the same. Elijah did not stop praying to sell anointing oil on TBN. He continued on in prayer. Daniel prayed by his window and resisted the temptation to sell prayed over windows on HSN. David prayed seven times a day to face trials not obtain a preaching circuit. Now these Jesus Freaks in Acts are beckoning us to pray CONTINUOUSLY? You would need power to do that. Heavenly power. If it is stated as necessary, it must also logically be possible. Available, unlimited. Hmm? As long as we are asking Lord, is it also<\/em> possible, available and unlimited \u2013 daily, like manna? I want that! Need that!<\/p>\n

If we cannot fathom, comprehend or experience this\u2026 we might need a special spiritual coach or trainer. <\/p>\n

This week some things happened in lives around us that were quite frightening, some of these things gave me \u201cshaky guts\u201d and I needed to connect with a strong Savior to get thru them. My spiritual diet had to be fortified. When I work out in the natural, I drink a recovery drink. When I do spiritual warfare, my prayer needs to increase, not decrease. The bigger the stress, the greater the mess, prayer and fasting need to become more, not less. Our spiritual feeding cycles needs attention!<\/p>\n

If someone dissected your spiritual diet and nutritional pellet (gut content), what would they find? Are you anemic and anorexic, or fat and flowing? To continuously pray, we need a power source. To continuously battle, we need a power source. To continuously overflow, we need a Power Source.<\/p>\n

Our \u201cguts\u201d need to be filled with the very presence and person of the Holy Spirit. Wisdom.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If we want to be a Justice Little (weightlifting champion 2017), a Chris Froome (champion Biker) or Michael Phelps (champion swimmer) we would eat like they eat, train like they train and abstain from what they abstain from. If we want the success, strength and testimonies of the saved disciples in the book of Acts we need to adapt their magic bullet and the first<\/em> part of that is: \u201cWe will give ourselves continuously to prayer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I don\u2019t want to do sit-ups today, it\u2019s rainy. I don\u2019t want to train like Sarina Williams, that\u2019s just legalistic and rule-keeping. No one can make me do laps like Phelps, I\u2019m free in Christ. OK, just sit there and enjoy your cankles then. Can \u201cNo pain, no gain\u201d apply spiritually<\/em>? Do large groups decrase our need for individual sanctification or spiritual formation habits? Are the churches in America becoming spiritual insulin centers? Do what you want and we’ll fix you right Sunday? Are we a nation that fixes problems AFTER they occur because we neglect the obvious beforehand<\/em>? Redemption and Sanctification is what the Holy Spirit<\/strong> accomplishes , but we still need to place ourselves under the flow, the faucet of Christs’ grace. We need continual prayer and the meat of the Word. For the book of Acts results, we<\/strong> must lift the book of Acts weights and a good start might be praying continuously. Note: the group had a plan, it was not the sole responsibility of a pastor or a leader to do the heavy lifting.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m so glad for health leaders who have recently told me the truth about what my body needed to not only survive but thrive \u2013 I\u2019m feeling physically great. New habits and God’s healing have blessed me. Where are the people willing to tell us we are dying spiritually? Not easy at first but very important. The disciples did not just pray alone or with those of the same nationality, gender or denomination. THEY prayed continuously. Like Paul we need to put on our running shoes and run the race set before us, like Moses we need to eat our spiritual bread, like Jesus said we need to drink in the water that gives us eternal life. Like the disciples during and after<\/em> Pentecost we need to be filled with the Spirit. Strong groups are comprised of praying individuals relying on the strength of the Holy Spirit. <\/p>\n

Lord, we pray that you will fill us, saturate us with Your Spirit. Give us this day our daily bread. Change our appetites that we would hunger for holy things that actually satisfy. Quench our thirst with Your living Water . Help us to find and pray with people who want to see Your Kingdom come. Renew Pentecost in US today and give US that Power, Person and Presence of the Holy Spirit that we too could pray continuously.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Who will do this with me and continuously pray for ACTS type families, churches and lives?
\n Who, who, who?<\/p>\n

RenaeRoche2018\u00a9<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Slim fast \u2013 less sugar, more protein. Weight Watchers \u2013 Freestyle\/ More freedom and choices. Nutrisystem- lose weight and improve your health. Promises that are very similar, all promising one size fits all results. Can we not get more protein at our own houses? Do we not have freedom or choices in our own kitchens […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"","bgseo_description":"","bgseo_robots_index":"index","bgseo_robots_follow":"follow","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/homeplateadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/homeplateadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/homeplateadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homeplateadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homeplateadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=567"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/homeplateadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":577,"href":"https:\/\/homeplateadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567\/revisions\/577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/homeplateadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homeplateadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homeplateadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}