Latest / Faithful Fitness With Coach Alex VanHouten / Why Your Morning Is a Spiritual Battleground (And How to Win It)

Transcript

Why Your Morning Is a Spiritual Battleground (And How to Win It) · Faithful Fitness With Coach Alex VanHouten

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Faithful Fitness Podcast for my Dad. Coach
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Alex van Houghten helps you get stronger and mind, body,
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: and spirit. He believes that your body's a temple, so
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: taking good care of it is an actual worship. I
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: should know. I live with them every week. He brings
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: truth from the Bible too, of some science and stories
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: that will set your heart on fire. May God bless
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: you to become everything He made you to be, just
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: one percent better every single day.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: If Satan can't steal your salvation, he'll gladly steal your morning.
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: Most Christians don't lose their faith overnight. They lose it
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: slowly through fatigue, distraction, and disorder. If you wake up
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: already reactive, already scrolling, already behind, and you didn't just
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: lose time, you surrendered authority. Today, I want to show
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: you why mornings matter biblically, why they matter biologically, and
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: how to build a faithful morning routine that actually works.
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: This isn't theory, this is real life. I'm coach Alex
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: van Houten, and this his Faithful Fitness scripture is obsessively
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: clear about mornings. They're not a vibe, They're not self care.
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: Mornings are about consecration. Psalms verse three says this in
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: the morning, Oh Lord, you hear my voice. Mark Chapter one,
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: verse thirty five says that Jesus rose early in the
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: morning while it was still dark, and withdrew to a
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: place to pray and lamentations. Chapter three, verse twenty three
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: says that your mercies, O, Lord, are renewed every morning. Biblically,
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: the mornings are the first fruits of the day, and
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: first fruits always belong to God. When you give God
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: your leftovers in the morning, after whatever emails, news or
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: noise has had its way with you, you're not being disciplined.
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: You're being reactive. The morning is where your orientation happens.
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: Who is Lord today? What story am I living inside?
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: And what does faithfulness look like? Before the world speaks?
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: If you don't answer these questions early and every day,
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: the world will answer them for you loudly. Now here's
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: the part that most Christians don't know, and they should.
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: God designed your body to win your day. First thing
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: in the morning. Men specifically experience their highest testosterone levels
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: in the morning. Your cortisol level, your stress hormone, actually
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: rises in the morning, not from stress, but from purpose.
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: In morning light is the primary signal that sets your
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: circadian rhythm for the entire rest of the day. When
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: you wake up and immediately check your phone, it introduce
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: a whole bunch of novelty and spike your dopamine. Before activity,
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: you scramble your entire nervous system before you even stand up.
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: But when you get sunlight in your eyes, start moving
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: your body and stretching, take control of your breath, and
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: then ground yourself in truth. You tell your brain we're safe,
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: we're focused, and we are under authority today. This isn't
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: self help, this is good stewardship of God's design. Now,
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: your phone might not have a place in your life
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: first thing in the morning, but your Bible does. Your
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: Bible is not just spiritually forming, but it's neurologically stabilizing.
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: And here's why your brain is most plastic, that is
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: to say, impressionable. First thing in the morning, whatever patterns
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: you reinforce for the morning, reverence, gratitude, fear, purpose, those
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: will set your tone for the entire day. The truth
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: is this, what you rehearse first thing in the morning
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: will actually be your default response to stress all day long.
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: When you dive into scripture before you dive into a
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: phone screen. Every day. This trains your attention towards the
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: truth rather than toward a threat. Eating scripture early every
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: day clothes your breathing, anchors your identity, and reorientce your
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: nervous system toward meaning in truth rather than urgency. You're
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: not just having quiet time. You're training your mind to
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: submit before it consumes. So what should your morning look like.
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: It's not complicated. It's simple, repeatable, and realistic. Rule Number one.
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: Scripture before screens. When you first wake up, no phone,
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: no notifications, no news, no email. Make it a point
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: to open your Bible and spend at least five to
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: ten minutes in the Word before you allow yourself to
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: pick up your device. That way, God's word speaks to
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: you before the world does. If you let the world
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: disciple you when you're at the most impressionable, don't be
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: surprised when you spend all day thinking just like it.
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: Number two. After you finish your Bible, get some some
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: light movement. This can be as simple as going for
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: a walk outside with no headphones. If possible, just ten
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: to fifteen minutes of light movement outside will anchor your
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: circadian rhythm today, improve mood and focus, and support hormone regulation.
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: Believe it or not, God did not design you to
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: wake up indoors under LEDs. You might not know better,
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  Speaker 2: but your body and mind do. Number three, either during
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: your walk or directly after. Spend a short amount of
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: time in prayer for alignment not performance. Make this prayer short, honest,
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  Speaker 2: and grounded. The less words the better, something like Lord,
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  Speaker 2: order what I love today, or Lord, teach me to
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  Speaker 2: follow you, or God, help me put you first today.
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  Speaker 2: Those are enough and last but not least, delay the
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: dopamine as long as possible. No scrolling, no junk input.
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  Speaker 2: Remember first thing in the morning is your most impressionable
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: discipline is deciding what you won't consume for breakfast. Pause.
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: If this is landing for you, I want to invite
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: you to something practical. Inside Faithful Fitness Premium, we don't
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: just talk about habits, we practice them. You get structured
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: daily disciplines, biblical grounding in your faith and fitness practice,
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: scientific clarity on your next steps in a community of
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: men and women who won't give up on you and
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: won't give up on making the most out of the body.
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: God's given them. If you're tired of starting strong but fading,
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: this is for you. The link is below, Click it
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: and join us. We'd love to walk this road with you.
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: This morning thing is no joke. It really can change
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: everything because here's the truth most people miss during the day.
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: We don't rise to the level of our goals. We
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: actually fall to the level of the habits of our morning.
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  Speaker 2: Strong mornings don't make life easier, they make you more
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  Speaker 2: faithful when life gets hard. If you implement what we
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: talk about today, you'll reduce anxiety, improve focus, increase emotional regulation,
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: and strengthen your spiritual attentiveness all day long. Not because
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: mornings are magical, but because starting your day with order
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: invites peace in your life. And peace is not passivity.
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: Peace is readiness. So here's your challenge for the next
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  Speaker 2: seven days. I will before phone and minutes of a
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: light walk outside in one short, honest prayer before the noise.
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  Speaker 2: That's it. No perfection, no aesthetics, just faithfulness, because the
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: morning isn't about your productivity, It's about who you belong to.
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  Speaker 2: Before the world makes its demands, May the Lord make
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: himself known in your mornings, and may that change you
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  Speaker 2: all of your days. I'm coach Alex van Houghten on
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: the Faithful Fitness Podcast. Until next time, Train hard, but
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: pray harder.
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: Hey, if this episode helps you, chare it with someone
• 8:03
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• 8:07
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• 8:10
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• 8:15
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• 8:19
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• 8:23
  Speaker 1: clicking on the links in the show notes below. We
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: all have a cross to carry, but it's lighter when
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: we do it together, so check out both links and
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: the show notes. Don't be a big well Bob, just
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: do it. Until next time, don't forget, Train hard and
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: pray even harder.