Practicing Faith

I had a football coach who lived by the proposition that “we practice hard so we can enjoy the game.” And practice hard we did  Monday through Wednesday. Thursday we practiced a lighter routine in preparation for the Friday night game.


The necessity of practice does not just apply to athletic events. What musician would even think of stepping up to preform without adequate practice time? Our choir practices in preparation for morning worship leadership. Linda Swearingen also comes to church early Sunday mornings to “run through” her music presentations for the day.

Throughout the week, I practice what will become the Sunday sermon, what I will say, how I will say it, what particular translation of the scripture I will read in the worship service.

Practice does not mean perfection. Practice means putting something into action. Without practice the action has no focus or direction. Practice refines us.

Living faith takes practice, too. It astounds me how often we seem to think and act as if a “hit and miss practice” of the essentials of Christian practice…a prayer here, a worship attendance there, a study of scripture sometimes…really helps develop the level of faith that can endure the struggles and the difficulties of life, help us make wise choices and bring us joy, peace, and hope.

If your practice life is suffering, consider one of the following suggestions:

Begin using the Upper Room devotionals. It’s also online at www. upperroom.org.

Read a Psalm or portion of a Psalm every day. Start July 1 with Psalm 1 and read one a day…in 150 days you will have read the entire book of Psalms.

Be more active in attending either morning worship or join one of the Sunday School classes or study groups.

Find a need in the community and volunteer to help.

How we practice faith is worth pondering.