For the better part of the past decade, I have been giving guitar lessons. I've taught 6-year-olds to 50-year-olds and everything in between. Students come and students go as with the seasons, but over the course of my time as an instructor, it is been repeatedly confirmed what the single most important element that makes up a musician is: practice.
It consistently amazes me how this seemingly rudimentary method of repetition for the purpose of improvement and growth is so often neglected. Out of every practicing guitar student there are ten that do not. However, without fail the single determining factor in whether someone will be able to play the instrument or not has far less to do with their natural talent or abilities than with their willingness to practice.
Strangely enough, what is stunning about practicing as a concept is that it has such broad applications. Someone who knows how to practice has the necessary tools for successful life that goes well-beyond the quest to learn an instrument. It is for this reason that it seems fitting to put forth a method for practice.
The first thing to know about practice is that it is not a magic wand that offers instant change but is a time-worn method that causes dramatic change over time. This is sometimes the misconception. Instead, practice is based upon a methodological tripod: challenge, consistency, and repetition.
The Challenge aspect of practice could be described as a matter of direction. This is what good teachers do. Good teachers direct the student towards new areas of challenge for the purposes of growth. This is the major reason that most people plateau because they do not know what to do next. A good teacher can also help point out areas of weakness that may be blind to our eyes. Additionally, if you are not being challenged you are not doing something new but re-hashing what you are already able to do. This cannot be overlooked, because if we are not challenged, then we will not grow.
As for Consistency, it is a matter of forming habits. Practice is not doing something one day a week. No, practice is doing something several times a week, if not multiple times a day. Think of the most effective workers in the work place: the consistency of working five days a week for years means that they have consistently practiced their work to the point that they excel at it and perform it with ease. This idea can be easily translated to the weightier matters of life in the way of practice.
Lastly, and most importantly, is repetition. This element of practice sometimes drives people crazy because of the inherent implications of monotony. But the reality is that if someone is unable to repeat results then all that is being practiced is how to achieve poor results. Repetition forces memorization and reinforces technique, both useful things in the achievement of goals. Therefore, practice must include a healthy dose of repetition though it need not feel stale. Rather, repetition can be made enjoyable when creativity is employed to modify the repeated thing, to add an element of competition, or simply to contextualize what is being repeated so as to recognize its usefulness.
Although practice is associated with sport or music, practice is at its most usefulness in regards to godliness. As Paul exhorts Timothy to "train in godliness (1 Tim 4:7-8)." What is it to train but to practice and grow? Therefore, practice is something that must be applied to the spiritual life. Some of the things that Christianity demands to be practiced is Bible study, godliness, humility, service, patience, and brotherly love, et al.
These traits do not come passively but are practiced and learned. They take time and dedication to grow. Community does not happen by chance but by practice. Thus, we should apply these concepts of practice to our Christian life: challenge, consistency, and repetition. Then we will grow in Christ and bear fruit by His power. The most tragic thing is when an individual with vast potential never uses it because they get in their own way. We do not want such a fate. Let us then put practice into practice in our spiritual walks so as to grow, to be challenged, and to live out life as God has intended for us!
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