Monday Morning Devotion-October 6, 2014
Practice, Practice, Practice
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to His disciples, "The teacher of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the Scriptures. So practice and obey whatever they say to you, but don't follow their example. For they don't practice what they teach. They crush you with impossible religious demands and never lift a finger to help ease the burden."
Matthew 23:1-4
"Practice makes perfect.
"You play like you practice."
"Practice what you preach."
The list of quotes telling why you should practice is endless. Not what to practice, just why practice.
In keeping with that advice I have done a lot of practicing. I have practiced my acceptance speech for the Academy Award for best Screenplay. I have practice my acceptance of the National Book Award. Practiced what I would say in receiving the Pulitzer Prize.
I think big! Can you tell? :) Only problem is I have never had the chance to put any of those practiced speeches to use in the hoped for venue. Doesn't mean I'll stop practicing or thinking big or praying. Just means I have to keep working hard in the areas where I want to receive recognition.
Oh, you mean there is work involved? Yes, there is. You see if we practice the end result without first practicing the tasks that take you to that desired ending, well…it's obvious that preferred finish will still come about only in our dreams.
Does that sound like I have given myself a proper pep talk? How about you does that ring a bell?
I'm not sure that long hours of practice are the key. When something becomes drudgery I can't see how we receive positive benefits from it. A better case can be made for deliberate practice.
Deliberate practice involves having a plan, practicing it and even more importantly when something goes wrong or doesn't fit or seems out of sync…address it immediately and work on correcting it before moving on. We all get anxious to move a project ahead to its conclusion, but it is not concluded until all the kinks are ironed out.
In an article titled: "It's Not How Much; It's How' in The Journal of Research in Music Education some advanced piano students were taped as they practiced a passage from a Shostakovich concerto and the ultimate performance was ranked. It was found that there was no correlation between how many times or how long the piece was practiced and the final ranking. Those who stopped and addressed their mistakes immediately as they occurred were the ones who, in the end, performed best.
So while practice does not necessarily make perfect…it is more a case of perfect practice or as perfect as one can make it that brings about the best results.
Annie Paul (www.ideas.time.com) writes that "Without deliberate practice, even the most talented indivduals will reach a plateau and stay there. For most of us that's just fine. But don't delude yourself that you'll see much improvement unless you're ready to tackle mistakes as weel as your successes.
What she says resonates well with me because I am currently trying to learn to play the piano at an age and stage of life that many wouldn't undertake it. Especially if they had never played a musical instrument before and couldn't even carry a tune well enough to sing in church where people are forgiving. :)
I've found that often when I go through a song that I have practiced before, like say, "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," I make a few mistakes but play on through them, get to the end and move on to the next piece. It gets frustrating when you have played a song many times and keep on making mistakes. Now, I understand, and… duh, my teacher told me before that I should go back to the measure or notes I messed up and play them correctly a number of times until I get how they should sound and feel when played properly. OK, I will!
Often we observe how others do something and try to emulate that in our practice. That is not always the best procedure. Jesus warned against this. While he did not discredit the knowledge of some of the teachers he did disdain their practices.
I think Matthew 23:3 is where we find the first instruction to "Practice what you preach."
Jesus told the people that the Pharisees were rightfully regarded as teachers and interpreters of the law. But, they did not follow their own teachings. The laws had become as import to them as God's law itself. QSB says: "The laws were not all bad---some were beneficial. Problems arose when the religious leaders1) held that man-made rules were equal to God's laws; 2) Told the people to obey these rules but did not do so themselves, or 3) Obeyed the rules, not to honor God, but to make themselves look good.
So, just because an authority on a subject tells us how to do something properly doesn't mean they do it. When we do it the way they said we will do it right. But, if we observe them doing it that might not work. They may be in a "do as I say, not as I do" mode. That won't work for us.
Jesus was not condemning what the Pharisees taught, just what they were which is hypocrites. If we want to be recognized and/or followed we must do what we say.
When I see a Quarterback in football throw a long pass perfectly and a receiver runs under it, grabs it and heads toward the goal line, I know that did not happen by accident. Those two have practiced that throw many times until they got it right.
We will have many things thrown at us. Rules, regulations, advice, judgements and more. But, learning the right way to do things and practicing them correctly is the only way to get better.
This applies in all areas of our lives. Practicing our prayer life daily improves our ability to hear God's answers. And hearing them shows us the right way to go in life.
Monday Prayer: Thanks you Lord for the gift of practice. Help us to use it wisely so that we may be good stewards of the talents you have endowed us with. Amen!
***author's note: Practice, practice, practice this week to become the person you want to be in all phases of your life.