Greetings! It’s Day 18 of 21 Days of Prayer. When athletes are in a race, they have to pace themselves so that they do not burn out before the race ends. We are approaching the curve of the home stretch. Don’t lose your form. Breathe through your nose. Keep your eyes looking forward to the finish line. These are self-talks athletes have with themselves when they are approaching the home stretch.
Mental toughness is the key to win the race.
When you are nearing the prayer home stretch,
Stay mentally tough. Mental toughness ensures emotional and spiritual maturity.
Like an athlete, recall your training. Recall your prayers. Review the past 17 days of prayer.
Picture yourself getting the victory.
Don’t just visualize the positive but be ready to expect the unexpected. An athlete imagines their muscles getting tired and they develop a strategy to overcome. Imagine the distractions, imagine the gossip, imagine the sexual immorality, imagine the things that disgusts God, and prepare to mentally defeat your enemy.
Implement the mental cues. Meditate. Set the scene. Set your face like a flint. Boost your self-confidence, your self-talk, and your self-actualization.
See a positive outcome. See yourself overcoming distractions, sexual immorality, and everything that is against God. See yourself not quitting. See yourself not being defeated.
Repeat the spiritual mental training.
Prayer fuels
the race of faith.
You are encompassed about with a great cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1). “Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls! (Hebrews 1-3 MSG)”.
Say this prayer: Father, I can feel myself getting tired. I can feel myself losing focus. I can feel myself lagging behind but today I am reminded that prayer fuels the race of faith. Through the blood of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit, I strip myself of spiritual fat and parasitic sins that would try to weigh me down. Help me to stay mentally strong and morally straight. Help me, Holy Spirit, to keep my eyes on Jesus who is the author and finisher of my faith. I declare with the power of the Holy Spirit that I plow through the litany of hostility because Jesus has already defeated the things that would come my way. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen!
~Inspiring Hope & Seasoning Faith, Dr. Regina Daigre
Dr. Regina M. Daigre, Prayer Firewall Blog Founder | Editorial Director