Practice makes presence—time with God makes us more like Him

INTRODUCTION

Alright, I’ve got a confession to make. Now, I know that’s probably not how you expected this to start—but hey, I trust you all. This is a safe space, right?

Here it is: I am terrible at organized sports.

Phew. Feels good to get that off my chest.

Now, I know some of you just mentally benched me. You've been playing sports since you could walk. You’ve got highlight reels from middle school. You can drain 3-pointers in your sleep. Maybe you even have a varsity jacket.

Me? I’m more of a ‘toss the ball in the front yard with my 3-year-old’ kind of athlete.

Don’t get me wrong—I like sports! I’ll try just about anything. But I never really put in the time or effort to get good at them. Except for running. I actually love running and working out, so I do understand the power of practice, discipline, and repetition.

But when it comes to team sports? Let's just say... I’m not exactly MVP material.

What I’ve realized is that just like in sports, we can’t grow spiritually without showing up, practicing, and spending time with God. Our relationship with Him deepens through prayer, scripture, and spending time with Him. So let’s start today by practicing that together.

Let’s pray.

BIBLE VERSE

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you” (Mark 1:35-37 NIV)!

TENSION

Look, here’s what I know:

If you want to get better at something, you should probably practice.

Here’s what else I know:

A lot of us don’t like practice.

Extra conditioning at the end of baseball practice? Not for us.

Reviewing the study guide before the big test? Not having it.

Carry the tuba through another song for the marching band? Are you kidding me?

I get it, practice isn’t always our favorite thing.

But what if practice is the key to some of the best things in life?

Practice often leads to developing greater skills, achieving more of what you want in life, and even getting the results you’re hoping for.

-It’s the thousands of hours you put in behind the scenes that someday help you be successful when you finally get the opportunity you were waiting for.

-It’s how you have a better chance of getting into your top school.

-It’s how you become ready to make the team.

Practicing and putting in the work are the ways we as people develop our skills and achieve their goals.

And believe it or not, practice is also how you can see God more clearly in your everyday life.

But let’s be clear: Putting in work is not what causes God to love you more or give you more blessings. Not how that works! The good news is that God loves you and is with you always.

But in this series, we’re talking about how to see God in our everyday lives. And just like any other skill, becoming more aware of how God is working in your life, other people, and the world around you takes practice.

And like any other practice, building the skill of looking for God takes discipline, time, and effort.

Practicing looking for God is not something that comes naturally at first. And just a reminder: When we talk about looking for God, we are really talking about where we see God’s Spirit at work. Usually it looks like the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Let’s be honest, sometimes we’re too busy, distracted, and surrounded by noise to be super tuned into God’s Spirit at work around us. That’s normal, but, if we get intentional about the kind of practice we’re talking about today, maybe we can build the skill it takes to be more aware of God in our everyday lives.

Just to get us on the same page, when we talk about practice as a part of our faith, here’s what we mean: Practice is intentionally scheduling time to reflect on and look forward to seeing God at work all around you.

Now, you may be thinking, Isn’t that why I am at church right now? You aren’t wrong! JRNY Students is one place we can gather to practice this, but if we really want to connect with God, we need to practice looking for God every day, not just once a week.

To be fair, it can be easy to only engage spiritually when you’re with other friends who follow Jesus. This happens for a couple of reasons:

1. We’re intimidated by the idea of practicing spending time with God alone. Maybe we are cool with prayer, Scripture reading, or talking about God when we’re at church. But it could be that we’re thinking things like, What do we say when praying? The Bible is weird sometimes. How do we know if we are doing it right?

2. We tried spiritual practices once, and they didn’t work. Maybe we fell asleep praying or reading the Bible. Or we prayed and didn’t get the answer we wanted. Or we kept trying spiritual practices, but nothing in our lives really changed. So, we wondered, Shouldn’t I feel something… anything?

3. Nobody has time for that. School, sports, band practice, chores, and social activities—when you do have a minute to just chill, you would rather be zoning out on social media than anything. We have all been there.

If you haven’t engaged in spiritual habits for any of these reasons or other ones, there’s no judgement. We all struggle sometimes to invest in things we care about, especially if we don’t feel successful at them.

But what if we could start to build better habits around looking for God in our everyday lives? What if we could build confidence as we practice spiritual habits and be okay when it doesn’t go as we planned? What if we can grow in our awareness to God and connection with God?

TRUTH

Okay, if you’re anything like me, before you even start considering this you might be wondering, Why in the world would I do this?

Maybe you are wondering why practices like prayer, reading the Bible, connecting with other Jesus followers, or serving other people are even something we should do.

Well, this whole idea goes back to the very beginning of the Christian faith. In fact, the big reason we practice spending time in God’s presence through things like prayer, worship, Scripture, and other spiritual practices is because Jesus did.

Here’s what Mark wrote...

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you” (Mark 1:35-37 NIV)!

This seemed to be a pretty regular habit for Jesus. All throughout Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—the books in the New Testament that document Jesus’ life—we see Him waking up early to pray (Mark 1:35), hiking up a mountain to spend some time with God (Luke 6:12), or escaping from the massive crowds to spend some time alone in prayer (Luke 5:16).

Jesus set an example of spiritual practices.

We see Him praying (John 17), spending time alone with God (Luke 5:16), and even talking about the Scriptures in the Temple as a twelve-year-old (Luke 2:41-50).

John Mark Comer, a Pastor and author, says these spiritual practices are Jesus soul habits.

Habits that we can also make normal in our every day lives. In this series, we’re talking about how to see God at work in our everyday lives. We do this by paying attention to the fruit, or evidence, of God’s Spirit (God’s power and presence) around us. We look for examples of things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:22-23) in the world around us. When we see them, we can be confident that we’re seeing God.

But being aware of the fruit of the Spirit takes practice. The more we practice connecting with God and becoming like Jesus, the more we’ll build a habit of seeing God at work.

INTERACTIVE: Muscle Memory

Talk about when I was running with my daughter to the GMS track and they had hurdles out. It made me think of how much time, effort, and practice it takes to do hurdles. Yes, you can easily jump over a hurdle. But it takes practice to get the timing exactly right to hurdle into a sprint right after.

Think about it in the same way athletes develop muscle memory. Professional athletes swim laps, hit off tees, shoot free throws endlessly, and run the same plays over and over to build the skills they need to perform in the games.

What’s incredible is that by the time they are in the moment of the big game, they’ve already practiced the skills necessary to succeed thousands of times. Making the shot, hitting the homerun, or sticking the landing is something that almost comes naturally to them because of how much they’ve practiced.

Sometimes, I wonder if seeing God might work the same way.

When we spend time following Jesus’ example and practicing habits of prayer, hearing from God through reading Scripture, talking with others about Him, and living for God, seeing God’s Spirit at work becomes a more consistent part of our everyday lives.

-We start recognizing how the God we read about in the Bible is still working in the world today.

-We start becoming more aware of how God is working in our lives even when we can’t see God tangibly.

-We start understanding how serving others is a way to experience the fruit of the Spirit.

Will we ever perfect spiritual practices to the point that we never miss a day, or never get bored during prayer, or never let our minds wander when reading the Bible?

Of course not! That’s not the point. If we want to grow in recognizing how God is moving—in our lives, in others, and in the world—it’s not about getting everything right. It’s about showing up. Practice doesn’t make perfect; it makes us present. Sometimes, the most important thing is simply to begin.

Because real spiritual growth? It starts in quiet moments—just you and God.

This is why, Practice makes presence—time with God makes us more like Him.

APPLICATION

So, how do we actually start?

Let’s be real—building spiritual habits can feel overwhelming. But it doesn’t have to be. What if we just took a small step today? Let’s talk about how you can start practicing spiritual rhythms in a real, simple, everyday way.

Here are three practical steps to help you build a rhythm with God this week:

1. Choose a time and protect it. The best time to connect with God? The one you’ll actually show up for. Morning, lunch break, bedtime—pick whatever works for your life right now. Maybe it’s while you’re brushing your teeth, walking to school, or lying in bed before sleep. I like to start my day with some Bible reading and journaling—it helps center me before everything else begins. This week, pick one time of day and stick with it for the next five days. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just consistent.

2. Pick one simple practice. Don’t overthink this. Start with something doable: read a Bible verse, listen to worship music, pray while walking, or even just sit in silence and ask God to speak. After my morning run/lift, I read Scripture—but your rhythm might look totally different. What matters is that it helps you spend time with God in your day. Try one thing and let it grow from there.

3. Give yourself grace. You’re not going to get this perfect. You’ll miss a day. You’ll get distracted. And that’s okay. The goal isn’t perfection—it’s connection—it’s relationship. If you mess up, don’t quit. Just pick it up again the next day. Remember: God isn’t keeping score. He’s simply inviting you closer.

Bottom line: Growth starts in the quiet. When you make space for God—even just a few minutes—you begin to grow in ways you can't always see right away. So this week, start small. Be consistent. Be honest. And trust that God will meet you there.

Remember, Practice makes presence—time with God makes us more like Him.

LANDING

Imagine the first time you listened to your favorite song for the first time. Maybe it's a popular song, a worship song, or a classical piece. You love it, maybe it’s even moving. But then you sit down with it. You listen again. You begin to notice layers—how the melody weaves with the harmony, how the rhythm shifts subtly in the background, how the lyrics carry a depth of meaning you missed before.

Now imagine you learn to play it. At first, it’s clunky—your fingers fumble, your timing is off. But as you practice, as you live with the music, it begins to take shape. You begin to feel the song, not just hear it. You know where the tension builds, where the release comes. You discover beauty that was invisible on that first listen.

That’s how a relationship with God works. At first glance—or the first time you find Jesus—you catch something beautiful and life changing. But when you return, when you dwell in it, meditate on it, even struggle with it, deeper beauty emerges. The more you practice in His presence, the more you realize: it was never just a nice tune. It’s a masterpiece you get to live in.

-Just imagine what could happen if practicing prayer helped you see God working in your own life.

-Or if spending time silently paying attention to God’s presence helped you become more aware of Him being with you throughout your day.

-And think about how reading Scripture could help you start to see God more clearly at work at your school.

I have a feeling it’d be pretty amazing to experience God like that.

Remember, Practice makes presence—time with God makes us more like Him.

Now, when you head to Small Group, think about your answer to this question:

What is one way you want to include spiritual practices in your routine this week?

Let’s pray.