Lifestyle
Moving Forward With Prayer: What Comes After the 21 Days With Dino Rizzo
As January closes and we move on to February, March, and the rest of the year, many people find themselves returning to normal routines after the momentum of a new year has faded. Pastor Dino Rizzo offers a reminder that prayer is not only a way to begin a season, but a way to carry faith forward every day. The best way to move into the months ahead is not by doing more, but by continuing to seek God first.
That’s why so many churches set aside 21 Days of Prayer at the start of the year, creating space to reset hearts, refocus priorities, and anchor life in God’s presence. This year’s 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting has ended, but the invitation remains the same: prayer isn’t meant to stay confined to January. It’s meant to shape the entire year.
Below, Rizzo shares practical insight on how to keep prayer at the center as you move forward. Rather than requiring a major shift in your schedule, praying first is built through small, intentional habits, often beginning with just the first fifteen minutes of the day.
What Does “Pray First” Mean?
To pray first means choosing prayer as your initial response rather than your last resort. Instead of reacting to emails, news, or responsibilities, you begin the day by acknowledging God, surrendering control, and inviting His direction.
Dino Rizzo on Why Prayer Comes Before Planning
Dino Rizzo has consistently taught that prayer aligns the heart before it activates the hands. Vision, leadership, and productivity flow more clearly when they are rooted in time with God. A life shaped by prayer creates a spiritual foundation that sustains you long after January ends.
How Do You Pray First Moving Forward?
You don’t need hours of uninterrupted silence or a perfect routine. Here’s a simple, practical approach:
Give God the First 15 Minutes
Before checking your phone or starting your day, set aside 15 minutes for prayer. Consistency matters more than length.
Start with Gratitude
Begin by thanking God for who He is and what He has already done. Gratitude softens the heart and builds faith.
Pray Scripture
Choose a short passage or Psalm and pray it back to God. This keeps prayer grounded and focused.
Surrender the Day
Offer your plans, responsibilities, and decisions to God. Ask for wisdom, clarity, and sensitivity to His leading.
Listen, Don’t Rush
Prayer is not only talking, it’s listening. Even a moment of stillness creates space for God to speak.
What are the 21 Days of Prayer?
Every year, churches across the nation set aside 21 Days of Prayer at the beginning of the year. While formats vary, the heart is the same: prioritizing prayer as a community and individually.
Even though this year’s season has ended, the purpose continues. These weeks serve as a reminder that spiritual renewal often begins with intentional focus—and daily prayer doesn’t have to stop when the calendar moves forward.
Why Praying First Changes the Entire Year
Prayer shapes what follows. When you continue putting God first, priorities tend to realign. Anxiety decreases. Faith increases. Decisions become clearer. Challenges are approached with trust instead of fear.
Rizzo often reminds leaders and families alike that who we become matters more than what we accomplish. Prayer forms the inner life before it impacts the outer one.
When God comes first, everything else finds its proper place.
About Dino Rizzo
Dino Rizzo, a 35-year ministry veteran, co-founded Healing Place Church with his wife, DeLynn, where he served as senior pastor for two decades, and is the Executive Director of the Association of Related Churches (ARC). Through his passion for inspiring believers to serve their communities, he also founded Servolution, a movement that encourages churches and individuals to become the “hands and feet of Jesus” by meeting tangible needs like food, housing, and support.
Meta Description:
Dino Rizzo shares simple, practical ways to keep prayer first and move forward with faith beyond January. These timeless habits reflect the heart behind the 21 Days of Prayer many churches observe each year.
Lifestyle
Gordon Ramsay and his fitness routine as a celebrity chef
A chef is usually pictured as being overweight, due to the nature of the job. Having to constantly taste food to understand it, can’t be good for your health. But with celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, it doesn’t show at all. This thanks to a fitness routine and healthy diet. Ramsay lost an incredible 50lbs, and he looks better than ever. His routine consists more of endurance training rather than lifting heavy weights, and he routinely trains with cycling when he’s travelling. If he’s not travelling, he makes sure to get his workouts in at his home gym (working out with Will Usher, former army captain and member of the Royal Protection Squad!).
“The more I train, the more normal I am, the more I feel that I’m still unchanged” said Ramsay in regards to his diet and training routine, which he believes keeps him feeling young and healthy.
Moreover, Gordon came out with a new cookbook called “Gordon Ramsay’s Ultimate Food: Mouth-Watering Recipes to Fuel You for Life”, which is full of healthy meals for the fitness enthusiast.
Gordon doesn’t follow a specific diet or have a dietician, but he swears by certain rules for his eating habits. One of these is cutting down on dairy, which he believes makes you feel sluggish. Almond milk is his replacement, which mixes in with a smoothie consisting of berries yoghurt. He also believes in drinking a couple glasses of water before you eat a meal, which he says doesn’t fill you up but it does stop you from eating excessively.
It’s plain to see that Gordon Ramsay is in great shape, and it is evident in his body even at his age of 53. It is important to take care of your health, even if you are a celebrity chef who can create delicious meals at any time.
Lifestyle
Daily habits of Mark Wahlberg to use in your own life
Mark Wahlberg is commonly on the big screens, and is obviously a healthy and fit guy just by looking at him. So it comes as no surprise that he has a rigorous daily routine and habits that keep him scheduled, disciplined and in shape.
It also helps him deal with his busy lifestyle as a movie star, producer and model.
Here are some of the daily habits Mark Wahlberg has that you could use to benefit your own life.
Early morning workouts
It’s obvious that Mark Wahlberg works out, but how about a 5am workout?
Wahlberg rises early at 4am to start his day with a scheduled breakfast, then a 5am workout. After training intensely at the gym, he’s drinking a shake at 6:30, then dropping the kids to school at 7:30 and eating at the same time. He says by 9am, he’s been to church and eaten again.
Discipline is everything
This isn’t surprising either, considering how disciplined he would have to be to continue his above schedule every morning. For Wahlberg, the discipline in his fitness, career and faith is how he keeps his life together. He continually strives for more and more, and he believes since he started acting he is much more disciplined, in contrast to when he was doing music.
He is always hustling
Wahlberg is always working towards the next big thing, and following his mantra of hustle harder. This started from his past when he was hustling in the music industry, to going in front of the camera and hustling within the movie industry where he enjoys his success of today.
Mark Wahlberg is a very disciplined person who follows habits almost religiously to do with fitness, faith and career. He believes it’s this discipline and drive that has made and kept him successful.
Lifestyle
Christian Bale’s physical transformations for movies – from skinny to huge
Christian Bale is responsible for some of the most drastic physical transformations shown on the big screen. From very skinny in “The Machinist” to huge playing The Batman in “The Dark Knight”, Bale’s physicality range knows no bounds. A dedicated actor in his art, Bale commits all the way for his roles and continuously delivers in both his on screen performance as well as his on screen appearance.
These are some of Christian Bale’s physical transformations on the big screen.
The Machinist
Four months prior to the production of “The Machinist”, Bale started to lose weight for this role. Starting at 180 pounds, Bale dropped an unbelievable 60 pounds to look extremely skinny. His diet during this time included one coffee, an apple and water. He also chain smoked cigarettes and drank whiskey to further lose weight. His dedication is revealed on the screen, with Bale looking scraggly and dangerously skinny.
Batman Begins/The Dark Knight
Bale put on 100 pounds for his role as The Batman, doing so in an unbelievable 6 months from his end of role in “The Machinist”. He used a typical workout body part split to focus on different muscle groups on different days. The effect is noticeable, The Batman looking large and intimidating on screen.
American Hustle
This role required Bale to pack on the weight again, but this time not through working out. He ate cheeseburgers, donuts and whatever else he could get his hands on for two months in order to get to 200 pounds, and visibly fatter. The effect is obvious on screen, with Bale sporting a belly and obviously looking much rounder when compared to “The Dark Knight”.
Christian Bale is a master of physical transformations, and he commits to his roles. From ridiculously skinny, to ripped and muscled, to fat and overweight, Bale can and will do it for a worthwhile movie role.
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