Practice

In 2002, NBA Hall-of-Famer Allen Iverson famously went on his notorious full two-minute rant on TV, after the press questioned his work ethic - "We talkin' 'bout practice!  Practice!  Not a game! We talkin' ' bout practice!"  The point he was making was that, as the most recent MVP winner, NBA leading scorer and NBA finalist, he gave his all on the court, and therefore the media had no right to question his work ethic at practice.

As a professional basketball player, it's pretty unlikely that Allen Iverson didn't practice - though he probably didn't practice as much as he could have.  So is it true that one can "turn it on" in a real game, and not worry too much about practice?  In a Buzzfeed video, host Steven Lim decides to test if practice will enable him to take on a WNBA professional at free throws.  On day 1, he makes 37 of a 100.  For the next 30 days, he shoots 100 free throws a day, and by the end, he ups his percentage to 70%.  He then takes on the WNBA professional and still loses, but, pretty nice improvement for just one month of practice!

Malcolm Gladwell (who writes some of the most entertaining stuff!) propounds the 10000 hour rule in his book Outliers, in which he suggests that the key to mastery in any field is simply a matter of deliberately and intensively practising a specific task with 20 hours of work a week for 10 years (although subsequent academic work suggests that the impact of practice is greater in sports, games and music than in, say, business.  Which seems to make sense - there are a lot more out-of-your-control external variables in business than in a game).

Practice isn't confined to games and sports though.  Since the beginning of the year, my church group has been deliberately tracking and practising our spiritual disciplines - how often we do our daily devotions, how often we turn up for our group meetings, how often we bring friends to church and so on.

The idea is not to be pedantic about these disciplines - after all, the relationship with Christ is not about how good we are, but how good He is.  In fact the whole point of Christianity is that we're not good enough, but Jesus who paid the price for us, so we can rest in Him alone.  So the idea of tracking our spiritual discipline is simply to give us a reality check about what our life really looks like, and what we're missing out on.  We might think we are pretty regular in spending time with God, but the numbers may tell us otherwise!

So what does practising spending time with God look like?  It includes just quiet time reading the Bible, keeping the ears open to hear what He's saying through the word, and reflecting on what He is telling us - and yes, it's amazing how much truth and practical guidance you can find in there!  But it's more than that - it extends to everything else we do after we've closed the Bible (app :D).  Because, just like one can read about cycling but never actually learn how to cycle, one can know all about the Bible but never actually know God.

A very old book called "The Practice of the Presence of God" records the correspondence and conversations between the author and the 17th Century Carmelite monk Brother Lawrence.  The book describes how Brother Lawrence lives with keen awareness of God's presence in everything he does, not just the "religious" bits of it, but also the mundanities when he's cleaning the yard, buying provisions for the monastery, or working in the kitchen.

Practising the presence of God in real life situations is the equivalent of practising free throws in a game situation, with 10000 fans screaming at you.  When there's a mistake - is my instinct to cover up or own up?  When the team does well - is my instinct to take credit or give credit?  When my kids act up - is my instinct to scream at them, or pray for them?  When the work piles up - is my instinct to double up my own effort, or turn to Him?  When my health gets wonky - is my instinct to cower in fear or to rest in Him?  I need to practise - owning up, giving credit, praying for others, turning to Him, resting in the One who's got the whole world in His hands, and who's in absolute control!

Allen Iverson never led his team back to the NBA Finals after his 2002 rant.  In fact, he only made the playoffs five more times in his career, four of which he was bounced out by the first round.

By comparison, Stephen Curry, two-time and current NBA champ, widely regarded as the best shooter ever, and leader of the team which has made it to the last 3 Finals, practises.  A lot.  He shoots till he makes 500 3-pointers a day.  In the off-season, he trains 3 hours a day, no days off.  In season, on top of normal team practices, he spends 20 minutes on his own before each game on his now-famous pregame routine which fans actually turn up for - practising!

Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage - with great patience and careful instruction.  2 Timothy 4:2

 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  Philippians 4:13

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