No, this isn't about beer. Yes, this is about abs. Just what you'd expect on a ministry equipping website: an instructional guide for getting that six pack you always dreamed about.

Well, I figured it out. It's pretty simple: get really sick.

You see, everyone already has a six pack; you just can't see it. Some of us show a little more TLC by protecting our six packs with a layer of insulation. So last Sunday I got sick, Monday I was sicker, and Tuesday my throat felt like I had been sucking on poison ivy for a coffee drop. My muscles resembled the euphoria of being beaten with a bat, my head pounded every time I stood up, and I was cold in an 85 degree room. 

Hunger dropped to an all time low and what was the result? I woke up with a six pack. I kid you not. It was always there; you just couldn't see it because it had been covered up.

So don't waste your hard-earned money on fat burners, hunger repressers, and fake chocolates that taste like dirt clods. Let the germs do the work for you! 

Laying there feeling like a garbage dump, I had lots of time to think. And I started realizing how undisciplined I've been in prayer lately. This is not just stupid, it's sinful. To not pray constantly is to say that we really don't believe that God reigns over all. But if you really do believe that God holds power over every molecule, and if you really do believe that He is so good that the word itself explodes just trying to capture His infinite goodness, then you'll pray like you breathe: all the time.

It's easy to get convicted over prayerlessness and think, "Yea, that's true," and then tomorrow nothing's changed in your life. So yesterday afternoon, my wife and I sat down, pulled out some blank 3x5 cards, and started making prayer lists. Each card represents a different "group" of people to pray for. Here is what it looks like:

Government (city, state, and national leaders)

Family (both immediate and extended)

Friends at our kids' school

Neighbors

College students in our ministry (leaders, longtimers, and newcomers)

Staff at our church (and their families)

Elders and Deacons at our church (and their families)

Miscellaneous families at our church (this list is getting massive)

Fellow students and professors in my preaching cohort 

Try this. Make simple categories, and give each category as many 3x5 cards as it needs. The more I write these cards the more convicted I get. Just for example, I haven't prayed for my grandmother in a month! She's alone, in great need of encouragement, and is slowly losing her vision. 

If you claim to follow Jesus, don't follow Him but ignore His example of prayer. He prayed all night, by Himself, and constantly throughout his ministry. We need to pray. If God is good and if He does reign, then how could we not?

Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much (Jam 5:16).