Spiritual Meal Prep

“Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them. Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.”
Genesis 6:21-22

Meal prepping: the act of preparing food ahead of time, portioning it out to create “ready-made” meals. Usually, the goal is to prepare enough food (breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner) for a week. The purpose: weight loss, saving time, saving money, health benefits, and convenience.

If you have ever meal prepped, please raise your hand. Those of you who made it at least one day, you can still raise your hand. 😉

By searching Google, over three million “meal-prep” opinions, websites, and Pinterest boards are available. There are meal prep websites and Facebook groups with many suggestions. You can search through various meal prep menus. Suggestions for food containers, methods for weight loss, and encouragement are most popular.

Let’s bring in the spiritual aspect of meal prep with Noah and Jesus. In preparation for the flood, God told Noah to take food and store it up. (Genesis 6:21) Within the duration of those 40 days and nights, God knew Noah and his family would need nourishment to endure the journey. Noah was obedient in making provisions thus resulting in nourishment and satisfaction.

Blessings flow from the ark of obedience.

There have been seasons in my life when I’ve been on an ark tossed to-and-fro, uncertain of the duration of the storm. Can anyone relate? When we become tired and weary, the enemy immediately attacks. He attacks our self-esteem, our self-worth, our marriages, friendships, children, and the list goes on. By preparing a spiritual meal plan, we too can be satisfied and endure the storms of life.

Obedience is intentional.

Basic Guide to Spiritual Meal Prepping 101

1. PRAY. Spend time in prayer asking God to reveal the weak areas in your spiritual life. Seek God’s guidance over the areas He reveals. Choose ONE! Be intentional with your spiritual target as you prepare and practice.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”
Psalm 139:23-24 (NLT)

2. PREPARE. Establish a plan for growth, a menu for success. If your spiritual target is reading God’s Word daily, then prepare a daily reading plan. Prepare time to DO it. There are various electronic options as well as devotion books. Two popular online devotions are the YouVersion app, and the First5 app. In the back of your Bible, there are several reading plans that will guide you through the Bible in a year. Although the list is infinite, you must be intentional.

You have to prepare to succeed. Be an ant. 🙂

“Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise! Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter.”
Proverbs 6:6-8 (NLT)

Labor hard in making your spiritual meal plan successful. If needed, prepare a sleep schedule that allows you the opportunities to spend time in God’s Word. Remove distractions (TV, cell phone) in the evening to allow preparation time for the next day. Be always constant in seeking God in prayer. He will guide you and give you clarity as you prepare.

3. PRACTICE. This is the hard one, especially for me. I can develop a beautiful plan, fancy it up and let it stay right on the page in my journal. My awesome Pinterest worthy plan is looking all fine while I’m going on about my own way. Ha! Let me provide you some words of grace to wash over your spirit from the book, Everyday Obedience.

Have you ever been on this try-harder wheel?….Let me save you from another face-plant: you will not get it right. You can never obey perfectly. Ever. The try-harder life leads to either burnout and frustration of self-dependence and man-made righteousness. Neither of these is what we really want. Neither of these leads to the abundant life Jesus promises.

Obedience is hard and unfortunately, obedience takes practice. You are practicing a heart change. Give yourself some grace. You are still learning. We all are.

Keep walking. Just keep walking.

“And keep the charge of the LORD your God, walking in His ways and keeping His statutes, His commandments, His rules, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn” 
1 Kings 2:3

Today, tomorrow, this week- be intentional with shedding a few extra pounds of burdens. Lower your anxiety and sleep sweet.

Time to Unfold

• Read God’s Word: Today, sit down and schedule a time to pray and read God’s Word.
• Pray: Tomorrow, do it, even if it’s not at your “scheduled” time. Don’t go to bed until you have talked to God and read about Him. Keep preparing!
• Do: Keep praying, preparing, and practicing. You will get there. Give yourself some grace. You are still learning, we all are.
• Repeat: Keep preparing those spiritual meal plans. God will fill you with His Spirit and you will be satisfied.

Meal prepping with you,