Practice, Practice, Practice
As a sports fan I have heard many times this answer to a question about "how did you get to be so good at what you do?" The answer, almost a cliche, is "practice." So it is that people of faith grow in the quality of their relationship to God and in their living out of their faith through practice. There is no shortcut, no easy road to faith and faithfulness, other than practice. If we want to have a vital, fruit-producing faith we must practice it every day.
What are the practices that sustain your faith on a daily basis? Most of us don't try anything too extreme. The five times that a faithful Muslim prays each day probably exceeds any average Christian's daily regimen. We wouldn't even think about what the Dalai Lama does each day-- go to bed at sunset every night so that he can rise at 3:30 a.m. to meditate and pray. We probably don't try to emulate the Benedictine Christian community in Minnesota that Kathleen Norris talks about in The Cloister Walk of rising to pray the Lauds at six a.m. daily.
Still, we have our daily and weekly practices by which we nurture our faith. Any good Christian will develop a discipline that will include many of the following practices. First, we will incorporate prayers several times a day into our routine. The easiest times to pray are at meals and at bedtime. Certainly at meals our practice will be one of gratitude, giving thanks to God for providing for our daily needs. At bedtime, or if we can incorporate prayer or devotion into another part of our day, we may be more focused on interceding for others, or even asking for God's forgiveness for whatever sin we have been a part of during that day. Second, we will read Scripture, and perhaps a devotion based on Scripture. Reading Scripture itself is a good discipline because it is our daily encounter with something where God promises to be-- in the Word. I find devotional thoughts of others to be helpful especially in terms of the practice of my faith because often by hearing about another person's expeirence I am pointed toward ways I can practice my faith during that day. Third, we will on a weekly basis seek to worship God and to give God thanks. During the last ten weeks where I have heard the sermons of others I have appreciated the many suggestions of how I can apply the text and the theme of each sermon into my daily life. In addition, many of us will receive Holy Communion on a weekly basis, which in and of itself leads us to thankfulness and service.
We can find many other ways of practicing our spiritual life through the books that we read. We can read a book about ethics or living the Christian life, such as Martha Stortz's A World According to God: Practices for Putting Faith at the Center of Your Life. We can be inspired to help others by reading the nonfictional or fictional stories of other people's lives. My wife, Pam, was inspired as a younger person to take up a helpoing profession when she read Catherine Marshall's Christy. Certainly today we may encounter lives that motivate us through watching movies or even through reading about the lives of others through websites and blogs.
Whatever you do, don't hesitate to get going, "Practice, Practice, Practice." Practice Your Faith-- through engaging in these daily and weekly disciplines. Practice your faith-- through reaching out and helping others. Practice your faith-- by being a part of a Christian community that is engaged in Christian service to others. Let's get serving!
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