Do prayer and exercise go together?

Originally appeared online in the teen series Q&A -  June 6, 2024.

Q: I’ve learned in Christian Science that I can pray about my health and expect to be healthy. But I also hear about moving my body, exercising, and doing physical activities to be balanced. Do prayer and exercise go together?

A: 7 . . . 8 . . . 9 . . . oof. I was just finishing a set of Spiderman push-ups when something in my back went all weird. Awkwardly, I struggled to stand up. Bouncing on my toes for a second just to see . . . Wow, yeah, I was done exercising for the day. 

Gingerly I walked home, sure that I’d feel better tomorrow. I was training for a big endurance obstacle course—a ten-mile run interspersed with twenty different obstacles—and this intense workout I’d been doing seemed like just the thing to get me ready for it.

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