Warm-ups have come along way since I was in high school. We would take a short jog from the line to second base and back, line up for a few arm circles and a couple static stretches, throw a little bit, and then we would get after it. My present high school team has a 45 minute game (30 min practice) warm-up scripted by one of the top performance coaches on the east coast. In addition to this fully scripted program our guys do soft tissue work, band work, throwing and hitting before the game. I think we would all agree that warm-ups have become events in and of themselves.
Advancements in kinesiology and sports science has taught us how important the warm-up is for our health and performance level. In the warm-up we are looking to get everything “turned on” and “activated” so that as soon we start the game we can play at our highest level. The warm-up orients and prepares our minds and bodies for the task that is before us. The same holds true for the Christian athlete, we need a warm-up that turns on and activates our spiritual mindset each day – one that prepares and orients us toward living Christianly. The great spiritual leaders of the Church have been in unison down through ages in recommending some form of prayer/devotional time at the start of each day. This time of being with God is that necessary warm-up for living Christianly that day.
What I suggest is that just like you script a warm-up for your sport, you need to script a prayer/devotional warm-up to use each day. This can come in all types and forms, from devotional books to the liturgical prayers of your particular church. Whatever you do, you need to develop the discipline of setting aside this time each day to warm up those spiritual muscles. (And oh yea, don’t forget before you go to sleep each night to seek forgiveness for those things you did and those things you forgot to do, as well as, give thanks for the opportunity of getting better early that day.)
Here is an example of a spiritual warm-up script I put together for my family. (This was complied from the Prayer Book of ACNA).
Prayer In the Morning
Open my lips, O Lord,
and my mouth shall proclaim your praise. (Psalm 51:16)
Psalm 51:11-13
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence and take not your holy Spirit from me.
Give me the joy of your saving help again and sustain me with your bountiful Spirit.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
A Reading from Holy Scripture (or from the Bible or Devotional book here)
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 1 Peter 1:3
or this
Give thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:12-14
or this
If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Colossians 3:1-4
Praise:
Venite O Come
Psalm 95:1-7; 8-11
O COME, let us sing unto the LORD;
let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our salvation.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving;
and show ourselves glad in him with psalms.
For the LORD is a great God;
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are all the corners of the earth;
and the strength of the hills is his also.
The sea is his, and he made it;
and his hands prepared the dry land.
O come, let us worship and fall down,
and kneel before the LORD our Maker.
For he is the Lord our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
O COME, let us sing unto the LORD;
let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our salvation.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving;
and show ourselves glad in him with psalms.
For the LORD is a great God;
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are all the corners of the earth;
and the strength of the hills is his also.
The sea is his, and he made it;
and his hands prepared the dry land.
O come, let us worship and fall down,
and kneel before the LORD our Maker.
For he is the Lord our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
or this
Jubilate Be Joyful
Psalm 100
Be joyful in the Lord, all you lands;
serve the Lord with gladness
and come before his presence with a song.
Know this: the Lord himself is God;
he himself has made us, and we are his;
we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and call upon his Name.
For the Lord is good;
his mercy is everlasting;
and his faithfulness endures from age to age.
Say The Lord’s Prayer
and then:
O Lord, show us your mercy;
And grant us your salvation.
O Lord, save our nations;
And guide us in the way of justice and truth. Clothe your ministers with righteousness; And make your chosen people joyful. O Lord, save your people;
And bless your inheritance.
Give peace in our time, O Lord;
For only in you can we live in safety. Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten; Nor the hope of the poor be taken away. Create in us clean hearts, O God;
And take not your Holy Spirit from us.
Add your personal prayer request here then end with the Collect for the day
A Collect for the Renewal of Life (Monday)
O God, the King eternal, whose light divides the day from the night and turns the shadow of death into the morning: Drive far from us all wrong desires, incline our hearts to keep your law, and guide our feet into the way of peace; that, having done your will with cheerfulness during the day, we may, when night comes, rejoice to give you thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
A Collect for Peace (Tuesday)
O God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom: Defend us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries, through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
A Collect for Grace (Wednesday)
O Lord, our heavenly Father, almighty and everlasting God, you have brought us safely to the beginning of this day: Defend us by your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin nor run into any danger; and that guided by your Spirit, we may do what is righteous in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
A Collect for Guidance (Thursday)
Heavenly Father, in you we live and move and have our being: We humbly pray you so to guide and govern us by your Holy Spirit, that in all the cares and occupations of our life we may not forget you, but may remember that we are ever walking in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
A Collect for Endurance (Friday)
Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen.
A Collect for Sabbath Rest (Saturday)
Almighty God, who after the creation of the world rested from all your works and sanctified a day of rest for all your creatures: Grant that we, putting away all earthly anxieties, may be duly prepared for the service of your sanctuary, and that our rest here upon earth may be a preparation for the eternal rest promised to your people in heaven; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.