Train Like a Pro - 5 Steps For Spiritual Fitness

When I first started running ultramarathons, I got frustrated at how much I faded physically in the closing stages of a race. Despite my best efforts, I was regularly being overtaken by people looking much fresher and stronger than me. Just when I was reaching the point of phsical exhaustion, these people were hitting their stride and powering towards the finish.

It was so frustrating! How are they doing this?!

I arrogantly concluded that they must be “natural runners” with some sort of innate physiological advantage that I have no access to. It made me feel better to think that their success was a fluke of genetics, because it removed me from responsibility for my inadequacy. "That must be why they look all happy and smily and chatting", I thought when I eventually reached the finish line, as I slumped in my seat staring off into the distance like I’ve just retuned from Bastogne.

I believe it was Dr W Edwards Deming who first said:

“Your system is perfectly designed to yield the results you are getting”

In a moment of honesty I began to look more seriously at what was happening. I realised that my results were simply the consequence of my training. What I was getting out could only be the fruit of what I was putting in. This sounds so obvious to say it, but it’s amazing how we dismiss or rationalise our deficiencies to make us feel better.

Putting in some research I realised that all those runners who were running strong at the end were training very differently to me. They were doing a higher volume of miles, more steep hills, and getting out there more consistently.

My training didn’t match my ambition. If I wanted to improve my results, I needed to model my training on that of the best athletes around. Why not make my training reflect more closely the sort of runner I aspired to be? Why not train like a pro?

So I did.

Coach Paul writes:

“Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly” 1 Corinthians 9.

It can be frustrating when life isn’t working out the way you want it to. Maybe you have become aimless in your journey with Jesus? Maybe you’re not seeing the good fruit in your life that you long to see. Maybe you feel futher away from the Lord today than you did yesterday? Perhaps your faith is burning out and you’re ready to call it a day?

What if your system is perfectly designed to yield the results you are getting?

If we're honest, we live too much of my life as spiritual slobs, just waiting passively for faith to rise up within us. Because we know God can do all things, we think that maybe one day he will just zap us and we will become the sort of faithful, set-apart, Jesus followers we long to be. But this just isn’t the way God works. He invites us to partnership. He invites us to invest of ourselves. He calls us to die to self, that we might live for him.

So what if we shaped our daily life, disciplins and actions around the sort of disciples we apsire to be? This is what Coach Paul encourages us to do. If we want to race for that eternal prize, then we should consider what our training regime looks like. Here are five coaching points that might form the basis of a healthy routine.

5 Steps For Spiritual Fitness

1) Reject the Quick Fix

I’m sorry to break it to you, but buying a pair of Vaporflys is not going to turn you into Eliud Kipchoge. No amount of tech, gear or apparel can come anywhere close to producing the improvements of a disciplined training program.

There are no short cut to spiritual fitness either. Whilst imputed righteousness means we run with the finishers medal already round our necks, sanctification is the slow work of the spirit as we are made day by day into the likeness of Christ. Developing Spiritual Fitness is a lifelong programme. Implement a sustainable plan.

2) Implement the Mundane

Success isn’t achieved through ambition on race day, but through the mundane disciplines of daily life. It’s the 5am alarm clocks, the boring 6 mile ‘easy runs’ on familiar roads, the rigorous daily stretching routines*. Disciplines can be a joy, but it is also dull stuff at times. Comitting to getting the dull days done sets us up for the moments of glory. In football parlance, can you do it on a cold wet Tuesday night in Stoke?

Much of our devotion to Jesus is very ‘normal’. It’s sharing the unspectacular moments of every day with our Heavenly Father. It’s chatting to Jesus in the shower. It’s reading a bible verse and not getting what it means. It’s praying and feeling like it makes no difference. It’s the commitment of worshiping every Sunday in your small, local, imperfect church. It’s tithing. It’s serving. It’s setting your alarm at 5am so you get some quiet time with Jesus.

Through mundane ways God prepares us for mighty works.

3) Deepen your ROOTS

“Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8

Disciples who endure are those who have well-established roots, digging deep into Jesus soaked soil. At St Peter’s Morley we intentionally invest in these seven ROOTS to help train and nurture our spiritual health. They are not exhaustive, but they might be a good place for you to start. In brief:

Scripture – daily time spent studying and meditating on God’s word.

Solitude – time alone with the Lord for contemplation and simply being with him.

Silence – away from audible, digital & internal noise. Making space for God's whisper.

Spoken Prayer – sharing our heart’s desire wiht our Heavenly Father.

Sabbath – weekly rest from all work in order to play, to praise and delight in his love.

Self-Care – attending to our own emotional, physical and spiritual needs.

Significant Relationships – investing in those who God has placed in the race alongside us.

(I will endeavour to write a bonus blog on ROOTS in the next few weeks.)

4) Employ a Coach

I’ve never had a running coach. This is mostly because I try to keep running as a hobby and having a coach would make it more like work. However, if there was one single thing I could do to improve my running, it would be employing coach.

Our head coach is Jesus. He’s the top dog. There is nothing he hasn't seen and no questions he cannot answer. There is no situation for which he is poorly placed to guide us in the right direction.

He’s also given us a whole team of support coaches, the great cloud of witnesses. Those who say “follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Cor 11:1). The patriarchs, matriarchs, judges, kings, prophets and apostles of the scriptures bear faithful witness that we would be foolish to ignore.

On top of that, we can seek out coaching amongst our contemporaries. Have you considered asking someone to mentor/disciple/coach you in the faith? Who would be a good person for the job? Someone whose faith you admire. Someone who is further along the road of faith. Someone who lives a life of prayer and intimacy with Jesus. Someone with wisdom and patience (they’re going to need it!). Someone you can have fun with.

If someone comes to mind, why not ask them if they would meet with you to drink coffee, cha about faith and pray?

5) Make a Plan

Whenever I embark on a new training phase, I write a little training plan. It’s never complex and I use it as a guide rather than a straitjacket. What it does, though, is help me to be focused and accountable and avoid "running aimlessly". My runs, cycles and gym sessions go into my diary so that I can make them a priority in the week. I track my milage and record my progress.

If developing our spiritual fitness is going to be a priority, then getting it scheduled in is a must. Allocate the prime spots in your diary time for flexing your spiritual muscles and deepening your roots. Make your regime realistic, but know that all things worth doing are difficult and costly. That's why Paul insists that our trinaing is strict. This may involve setting your alarm early on a morning. It may mean sacrificing or abstaining from other activities. It may mean missing out. But our joy is in Jesus and the coming kingdom is our crown.

(I have attached a simple template to the bottom of the page to help you map out your new regime)

You might wonder what happened when I decided to train like a pro. Well surprise, surprise, my running improved. The new disciplines that I introduced resulted in a first podium finish at the 268 mile Summer Spine Race 2023. In this race, to my delight, I was the one powering past people as I pressed on to towards the prize. It turns out that discipline actually works.

"Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 1:10-11

*Hahahahaha! Only joking. Runners don’t stretch.

...or warm up. Running is the warm up.

This post is part of a series of short blogs titled Faith Endurance, based on a sermon series preached at St Peter’s Morley in Spring 2024. If you enjoyed this, subscribe (above on the left) to get notifications each time a new blog is released.