Practice Makes Perfect!

Back in the early 1990’s a small group of individuals gathered at our home on Thursday nights to pray about the beginnings of a new church we hoped to start in our city.  We had purchased our first home in 1986 and had dedicated it to the Lord.  As it turned out, in the beginning days of the church, our formal living room served as a good meeting place for the fledgling congregation.  That house was about 500 square feet larger than our current home and had a formal living room and dining room in the front with the kitchen and a good sized family room in the back along with the 3 bedrooms and 2 full baths.

With our growing family and my wife homeschooling the kids, we spent most of our time in the family room and kitchen areas.  We had turned the dining room into an office area but barely ever used the living room.  In fact, the only furniture in the living room was a large couch, a couple of end tables, Piper’s piano and some light fixtures!  Therefore it was easy to set up folding chairs and have church!

A few weeks after beginning our weekly prayer sessions, we were fortunate to have a recent graduate of the Bible College that I would eventually attend, drive up each week from the valley area of California and teach Bible lessons or hold formal church services with Piper and I leading the Praise and Worship.  I remember one of his earliest sermons as he walked around those of us assembled in the living room, asking how many of us were currently standing in faith for something.  I was a little surprised when only a few of us raised our hands.  He then went on to teach about the importance of staying in faith for the various situations and circumstances of our lives.

That important time in our lives came back to me this morning, including the memory of our neighbor who just happened to be out front washing his car on Sunday mornings after we began formal services at the house.  His driveway was right next to our living room and he enjoyed listening to the music we played!  Psalm 37:3 teaches us to “Trust in the Lord, and do good things.  Live in the land and practice being faithful.” (God’s Word ©)  I took that verse as an encouragement to practice being in faith just as Pastor Paul had taught us some 25 years ago!

And you know, no matter what one may think, it makes perfect sense just as any professional athlete, musician or anyone learning something new would state that “Practice makes perfect.”  Why can’t the same hold true for our faith life?  This is something that my wife and I grabbed on to very early in our marriage.  Over the years we have had different people ask us the reasons behind the success of our union together and both of us would normally say without much consideration that we have been a team serving the Lord since we began dating back in the 1970’s!

Looking back now, I would say that our desire to strengthen and grow our faith is what kept things exciting and different over the years as we moved from dating to marriage, to raising a family and whatever next the Lord has for us in this current phase of our lives.  As I have mentioned many times in this blog, we decided early on that we did not want to be just bystanders in our relationship with the Lord.  If the Word said that we could move mountains, we wanted to be right in the middle of that earth-moving process! (Mark 11:23)  If He said that He would supply all of our needs, then we wanted to put that Word to the test. (Philippians 4:19)  If He said that by Christ’s stripes we were healed then we wanted to believe for healing! (I Peter 2:24)  If He said that He would give us wisdom, then we wanted to ask of Him and walk in His counsel and direction. (James 1:5)

And you know?  I now find that I get bored and uneasy if I am not in middle of a faith project at any given time!  What about you?  We learned real quick concerning that idiom that “Practice Makes Perfect.”  I can’t say that every step of faith we took worked out as we had desired… but I can honestly say that if we hit a bump and fell that we got up, brushed ourselves off, learned from our mistakes and jumped right back into the faith saddle!  Believe me when I say that we’ve had a few people shake their heads in unbelief when we stepped into another faith project after a similar attempt may not have totally worked out!  But like I said, we’ve been quick to humble ourselves, examine what happened and learn before we stepped back into God’s exciting process of faith!

David, the author of Psalm 37 wrote from personal experiences with the Lord.  He had some failures, made a few stupid mistakes but always bounced back to pursue the things of God.  And remember that it was God himself that said of David that “I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.” (Acts 13:22 KJV)

So… what do you think?  Are you up to practicing your faith this week?  It all begins by building up your faith as Romans 10:17 tells us that “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (KJV)  So again, if you’re into the practice that makes one grow in their perfection of the steps of their faith, get in the Word of God and start building your faith up!  Then as the Lord leads, step out into the wonderful frontiers of faith!  For Piper and I, this is one of the most spectacular places to reside!

Have a great week, and as you do, keep asking yourself… “What FAITH project am I expecting to step into today?”