Walking can be a great blessing!

[Mark Corbett]

Unlike posts about prayer, resisting temptation, and serving God, this post will not apply to everybody. But it will apply to many of you, and for a few of you it may lead to blessings of many kinds. You may find the Spirit guiding your heart and mind more often. You might feel a lift in your emotions. Your health may improve and you might live longer.

This post is about walking. Literal walking. (I totally admit that the verse from Isaiah above is not about literal walking, but it’s still a great verse!)

I walk for exercise every day. Most days I walk between 1.5 and 3 miles, which is no great distance. Except when it is pouring rain or sleeting I very rarely miss my walk. Including the time it takes to get ready, most days I spend between 45 minutes and just over an hour on walking.

I am writing to encourage you to consider walking. There are many benefits.

Health Benefits

Paul wrote:

1 Timothy 4:8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

While this verse is applicable to us and to this topic, we need to keep in mind some major differences between Paul’s day and our own. In Paul’s day almost everyone who was physically capable of doing so got a lot more exercise than we do today. There are two reasons this was true. First, the vast majority of work in Paul’s day involved physical labor. Today, most of you probably have jobs like mine which require very little physical labor. We sit and we ride. Second, the main mode of transportation in Paul’s day was walking. Most people walked a lot. So when Paul talked about “physical training” being of “some value” he was talking about the level of training required of athletes.

In a world where neither work nor transportation requires physical exercise for most of us, getting a little physical exercise becomes much more valuable. Many studies show that being overweight is one of the biggest (perhaps the biggest) lifestyle health issues in the US today (see articles here, here, and here). Walking is not a magic solution to this problem, but it helps!

Besides being healthier yourself, when you get regular exercise you are a good example to others.

Emotional Benefits

During times when I have struggled with depression and anxiety, I have found regular walks to be a significant benefit. Of course God’s Word, prayer, and encouraging Christian fellowship are even more important. But for me, quiet walks have been a blessing from the Lord to help me through tough times. This has been true over and over in my life. It was even true when I lived in a big, crowded, dirty, noisy, third world city (not the most ideal place for peaceful walks!). Of course, it is even nicer taking walks in the beautiful rural setting where I now live.

Spiritual Benefits

Whenever I go for a walk, I ask God to walk and talk with me. And He graciously does.
I often am blessed with important insights for my life and ministry while on walks. I also often have very meaningful and uplifting times of worship. I pray a lot while walking. Sometimes I sing (usually to myself or very quietly, but occasionally out loud). Every minute of walking does not need to be focused on prayer and worship, but some of it can be and should be.

Praying while you walk in addition to and as an extension of “closet prayer time” is a wonderful blessing.

I Know Walking Is Not for Everyone

Some of you have types of work which involve a lot of physical exercise. When you are relaxing you might not want to do so with more physical exercise. My guess is that this only applies to a small fraction of those reading my blog.

Some of you cannot take long walks due to health problems. I just got off my knees praying that God will help you and show you mercy in many ways. Don’t worry about the things you cannot do. God will give you grace. Just focus on the things you can do. God bless you!

Most of you are very busy. If your life does not include regular exercise, I encourage you to try to find time to exercise some. It’s true that in the short run, adding a walk to your daily routine will take away some of the precious time and energy you have. On days that I know I am going to be super extra busy I often cut my walk down to just one mile. But in the long run, I am convinced that for most people a little exercise will increase your energy level. And for some of you it will literally prolong your life. For those who are in a season where you honestly just can’t spare even forty minutes a day, I pray that God will help you through this tough time and give you extra grace.

Some of you are way more athletic than I am. You get exercise by biking or swimming or running or sports. God bless you! For many people walking will be the best choice for exercise because it is relatively easy, does not require special equipment, and can be done almost anywhere. For you athletes, keep going for it, but don’t let your physical exercise be a higher priority than serving and worshiping God.

I pray that God will encourage some of you to try walking. If you do, I pray that He will bless your health, emotions, and spiritual life as you walk. I pray that God will give extra grace and blessings to those of you who can’t go on walks. God bless you all!

p.s. A few “testimonies” in the comments sections might be nice if you are already a “walker” and find it to be a blessing like I do.


This was initially a post on my blog.

 

[JCFantasy23]

You are right that walking is one of the best things for us - I love him. Unfortunately the weather in Florida is too hot and humid for me to walk outside most of the year, unless there is a rainy day, so I tend to pace inside with an MP3 player and music. Not quite the same thing as walking in nature, but my neighborhood itself isn't pretty anyway

 

[Mark Corbett]

You are right that walking is one of the best things for us - I love him. Unfortunately the weather in Florida is too hot and humid for me to walk outside most of the year, unless there is a rainy day, so I tend to pace inside with an MP3 player and music. Not quite the same thing as walking in nature, but my neighborhood itself isn't pretty anyway

May the Lord bless you as you "pace inside"! I understand your situation. We lived in Makassar, Indonesia for 14 years. It was a big, dirty city in the tropics. Yet, even there, the Lord blessed me on walks around my neighborhood. And even in the city there was beauty - a bird, a tree, a flower growing in a crack, a child. May God bless you and encourage you wherever you are at!

 

[quietbloke]

Unlike posts about prayer, resisting temptation, and serving God, this post will not apply to everybody. But it will apply to many of you, and for a few of you it may lead to blessings of many kinds. You may find the Spirit guiding your heart and mind more often. You might feel a lift in your emotions. Your health may improve and you might live longer.

This post is about walking. Literal walking. (I totally admit that the verse from Isaiah above is not about literal walking, but it’s still a great verse!)

I walk for exercise every day. Most days I walk between 1.5 and 3 miles, which is no great distance. Except when it is pouring rain or sleeting I very rarely miss my walk. Including the time it takes to get ready, most days I spend between 45 minutes and just over an hour on walking.

I am writing to encourage you to consider walking. There are many benefits.

Health Benefits

Paul wrote:

1 Timothy 4:8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

While this verse is applicable to us and to this topic, we need to keep in mind some major differences between Paul’s day and our own. In Paul’s day almost everyone who was physically capable of doing so got a lot more exercise than we do today. There are two reasons this was true. First, the vast majority of work in Paul’s day involved physical labor. Today, most of you probably have jobs like mine which require very little physical labor. We sit and we ride. Second, the main mode of transportation in Paul’s day was walking. Most people walked a lot. So when Paul talked about “physical training” being of “some value” he was talking about the level of training required of athletes.

In a world where neither work nor transportation requires physical exercise for most of us, getting a little physical exercise becomes much more valuable. Many studies show that being overweight is one of the biggest (perhaps the biggest) lifestyle health issues in the US today (see articles here, here, and here). Walking is not a magic solution to this problem, but it helps!

Besides being healthier yourself, when you get regular exercise you are a good example to others.

Emotional Benefits

During times when I have struggled with depression and anxiety, I have found regular walks to be a significant benefit. Of course God’s Word, prayer, and encouraging Christian fellowship are even more important. But for me, quiet walks have been a blessing from the Lord to help me through tough times. This has been true over and over in my life. It was even true when I lived in a big, crowded, dirty, noisy, third world city (not the most ideal place for peaceful walks!). Of course, it is even nicer taking walks in the beautiful rural setting where I now live.

Spiritual Benefits

Whenever I go for a walk, I ask God to walk and talk with me. And He graciously does.
I often am blessed with important insights for my life and ministry while on walks. I also often have very meaningful and uplifting times of worship. I pray a lot while walking. Sometimes I sing (usually to myself or very quietly, but occasionally out loud). Every minute of walking does not need to be focused on prayer and worship, but some of it can be and should be.

Praying while you walk in addition to and as an extension of “closet prayer time” is a wonderful blessing.

I Know Walking Is Not for Everyone

Some of you have types of work which involve a lot of physical exercise. When you are relaxing you might not want to do so with more physical exercise. My guess is that this only applies to a small fraction of those reading my blog.

Some of you cannot take long walks due to health problems. I just got off my knees praying that God will help you and show you mercy in many ways. Don’t worry about the things you cannot do. God will give you grace. Just focus on the things you can do. God bless you!

Most of you are very busy. If your life does not include regular exercise, I encourage you to try to find time to exercise some. It’s true that in the short run, adding a walk to your daily routine will take away some of the precious time and energy you have. On days that I know I am going to be super extra busy I often cut my walk down to just one mile. But in the long run, I am convinced that for most people a little exercise will increase your energy level. And for some of you it will literally prolong your life. For those who are in a season where you honestly just can’t spare even forty minutes a day, I pray that God will help you through this tough time and give you extra grace.

Some of you are way more athletic than I am. You get exercise by biking or swimming or running or sports. God bless you! For many people walking will be the best choice for exercise because it is relatively easy, does not require special equipment, and can be done almost anywhere. For you athletes, keep going for it, but don’t let your physical exercise be a higher priority than serving and worshiping God.

I pray that God will encourage some of you to try walking. If you do, I pray that He will bless your health, emotions, and spiritual life as you walk. I pray that God will give extra grace and blessings to those of you who can’t go on walks. God bless you all!

p.s. A few “testimonies” in the comments sections might be nice if you are already a “walker” and find it to be a blessing like I do.


This was initially a post on my blog.

This is really useful. Thankyou 'Mark'. I need to walk more so Thankyou for this encouragement and I look forward to following you on this thread

 

[Mark Corbett]

This is really useful. Thankyou 'Mark'. I need to walk more so Thankyou for this encouragement and I look forward to following you on this thread

May God bless you as you walk!

 

[Little Lantern]

I tend to pace inside with an MP3 player and music.

I do, too, except I usually listen to sermons, and I actually enjoy it. Truth is, folks who go the the gym do their exercise inside as well. It's far less expensive to exercise at home.

 

[Bob Crowley]

For what it's worth, as a diabetic who doesn't exercise enough (on medication, not insulin), "slow twitch" muscles are much better suited to burning up blood sugar, as they have more mitochondria than "fast twitch" muscles. And they don't get tired as quickly as "fast twitch" muscles. Mitochondria are the powerhouses of body cells.

One "slow twitch" muscle we use all the time is the diaphragm muscle which is the lynch pin of breathing. And i've never known my diaphragm to get tired. Oh, I might get breathless after or during heavy exercise, but that's all my other muscles crying out for oxygen and, no doubt, sugar.

The muscles we use for walking are by and large "slow twitch" muscles, so walking is good exercise for diabetics (and all the rest of us for that matter). Or if you like, God designed us to walk. In our modern society, we don't do enough of it.

 

[brinny]

Just seeing this now.....reminds me of my "prayer walks".....i lived in the heart of a city and there were drug dealers, shootings, etc. i had started walking and praying during the walk and praying over the entire community, for the buildings, bus stops.....well and gradually it was also becoming trash pickup walks combined with prayer hahaaa...it was becoming a war against rats too....oh yeah, God n' me went on those walks and CLAIMED all the spaces, buildings, bus stops, and corners. It was a wunnerful time to minister to the homeless guys.....i would get them to help me pick up trash, etc. and get their name, and get them involved with a ministry that would see to their needs for shelter, etc. if they were willing, and give them whatever was in my pocket, or an umbrella, and pray for them. One guy was a former teacher, and his buddy was a former student of his...small world.

Sometimes walks are praise and thanksgiving walks......

Walking is a blessing in that it's a moderate form of exercise and great for yer circulation, etc.

Thanks for the info Mark, and what a great idea, JCFantasy, what did you call it, "pace inside"? That's a great idea when the weather's bad, etc.

God bless y'all