Believe it or not, exercise can get old for me too.

So I have been trying this new thing on for size. Not only does it make the workout go a little bit faster, but it also helps me push myself more. PLUS, there is one even bigger added bonus the benefits of which far outweigh any sweat session.

Who wants in on the secret? Lucky for you, I am willing to share.

So we all have a laundry list of prayer intentions right? If we really stop to think about it, we have a myriad of circumstances and people on our hearts and minds that we would like to bring before the Lord.

Buuuut, if you are anything like me, I can be neglectful or forgetful in actually actively spending time praying about them. All too often, I am spiritually lazy and seemingly “too busy”. Couple that with the fact that I don’t feeeeel like praying, or for some reason, I think I need to bring my requests to God in eloquent words that rival iconic speeches.

Then, it dawned on me. Why don’t I bring these intentions before the Lord in my actual workout? My suspicions were that it would make the time go faster because anyone that has done Tabata knows that 20 seconds can feel like an eternity, and I would hopefully be more dedicated in prayer.

So far so good. My inklings were correct.

What do I do exactly, you ask?

Well, I essentially divide my workout up in sections. For example, this could be the different intervals in a HIIT workout, miles in a long run or sets of strength training session. Then, I attach a different intention to each thing be it an interval, mile or set. I simply state the prayer request (no need to beautifully state them – God knows best what is on our hearts and what that situation/person needs), and then give it over to God for the duration of the set, interval, mile, etc.

When the work of the exercise gets hard, and I don’t want to push anymore, I think about that intention, and offer my efforts up to God for that specific situation or person. It helps me go harder and gives a deeper purpose to the workout than the sweat alone.

Feels like a win, win, win.