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Active Prayer
September 15, 2012
By Tim Richards
I’m always looking for new and interesting things to share. Last month I came across an inspirational story about a 31 year old Douglasville, Georgia teacher and single mother who realized she needed to lose weight. She had repeatedly tried numerous diets and exercise programs; but always regained whatever she lost.
It was as Yolanda Silveri reviewed pictures taken at her ten year high school re-union in 2009, that she realized how much heavier than everyone else in the pictures; 271 pounds. She began coming to terms with the fact that she had to do something about her weight and that she needed God’s help. Here is how she put it, “Faith has always been a big part of my life, so in January 2010, I decided to incorporate it into my weight loss strategy. I resolved to turn to prayer instead of food when I was upset or stressed.”
That conscious decision represented a major turning point in both her faith and life. Her favorite TV show was The Biggest Loser. She was inspired by how hard the participants trained and began walking as she watched the show. During commercials she would see how many sprints she could run across the first floor of her home. Then she tried to beat that number during the next commercial break.
Yolanda also dramatically changed her diet. She decided to use food swaps as a healthy weight loss strategy instead of counting calories. She replaced hamburger with lean ground turkey and whole milk with skimmed.
With God’s help and consistent personal discipline the pounds began to come off. In five months she lost fifty pounds. As time went on she continued to adapt her diet; eventually counting calories and closing her kitchen after 7:30. She finished 2010, 85 pounds lighter than when the year began.
She also discovered she enjoyed running and began a Recess Running Club with her students. She found it not only helped her, but also introduced more physical activity into their lives.
Today Yolanda has lost a total of 140 pounds; she now weighs a very healthy 131. Her story first caught my attention because I need to lose weight, but her story is inspirational regardless of how much you weigh.
Yolanda asked God for help, and committed herself to change. She illustrates the balance between prayer and personal responsibility. God rarely answers our prayers the way we want if we refuse to participate in His answer. The Apostle James said, “…faith without works is useless.” (James 2:20b NASB)
Here’s the point, pray and then get involved in what you’re asking God to do. Prayer doesn’t take the place of action and action doesn’t take the place of prayer. When we ask God to change us and participate in that change, we will notice that God answers our prayers in ways we never anticipated.
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