Practice Makes Permanent

Growing up, I constantly heard that “practice makes perfect.” One year while at teachers’ convention, I heard this revolutionary sentence:

“Practice makes permanent.”

Ahhh! I thought. Yes! That’s it. If my students practice things incorrectly, then it can actually do more harm than good. I really need to think about ways to increase accurate practice in order to make good habits permanent.

We can apply this same principle to evangelism. Every believer has the amazing privilege and responsibility of sharing the gospel with others. Recently I have been practicing doing just that. Remember? Practice makes permanent.

In order to sanctify the Lord God in my heart and be ready always with meekness and fear to give an answer to every man that asks me a reason of the hope that is in me, I need to practice (I Pet. 3:15). I set to work brainstorming ways that I could practice sharing the gospel. The Lord gave me several ideas.

Practice to yourself.

Do you believe that you need the Gospel every day? You do. Galatians 3:3 stopped me dead:

“Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?”

God saved me by faith. I submitted my spirit to reality, God’s truth. The Bible teaches me that I am sinner. The penalty of my sin is death because the God who made me is holy and sin must be atoned. Jesus, God’s only Son, loves me so much that 2,000 or so years ago, He came to earth, was born of a virgin, and lived a sinless life. Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God, volitionally obeyed His Father by dying on the cross for me. He died in my place - and yours.

Then, oh my friend, God raised Him from the dead! Does your soul rejoice at the thought of it? Sin’s final blow is death. By rising from the dead, Jesus conquered all power of sin over me. As His child, I am no longer under the rule or dominion of sin. I am in Christ. It is unbiblical to believe that I can become better at anything spiritual alone. I cannot perfect myself “in the flesh,” in my own strength.

For by grace I have been saved through faith; and that not of myself: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest I should boast (Eph. 2:8-9).

I needed the truth of the Gospel to save me, and I daily need those same truths to sanctify me.

Practice with other believers.

A wonderful place to practice talking about God is with like-minded believers. At church, after the service is over, purpose to say something Christ-centered about the sermon. For example, “Wow, I really enjoyed how the pastor highlighted the importance of keeping short sin accounts with God. Aren’t you so thankful that every time we ask for forgiveness, He is faithful and just to forgive?”

Comment on the music, “I love singing with other believers. There is so much truth set to music. I am so thankful that God’s love for me is ‘vast beyond all measure, that He would give His only Son to make a wretch His treasure.’”

Do you see how simple this can be? It requires only a minute of careful thought to choose an aspect of the service that glorified the Lord and spoke to your heart. By sharing this truth with another believer, you are practicing pointing others to Christ.

Practice in prayer.

My favorite resources for this include Praying the Bible by Donald S. Whitney and A Gospel Primer by Milton Vincent. You will become more comfortable with evangelism the more you practice saying the words out loud. Pray out loud to the Lord and thank Him for all the incredible truths of the Gospel.

This kind of prayer could go something like this: “Dear Lord, Thank you for your perfect salvation plan. I praise you that you are in control. You are all-powerful and perfectly loving. Because you love me so much you sent your only Son to die on the cross. You enjoy an eternally perfect fellowship with your Son. Thank you for sacrificing that fellowship with Christ when He became sin for me (I Cor. 5:21). In doing so, you made my fellowship with you possible. Because of your great love for me, even when I was Your enemy, alienated from You, a child of darkness, You chose to love me. I praise You that You powerfully and definitively conquered death and sin by raising Jesus Christ from the dead. Thank you for the great gift of the Holy Spirit. You made it possible for me to speak to You directly. I can come boldly before Your throne because You redeemed me (Heb. 4:16). In Christ, I am righteous, and the Holy Spirit makes intercession for me (Rom. 8:26). Thank you that Jesus’ sacrifice is effective and sufficient for any who come to you in faith and repentance. Please help me to share You with (insert name of a specific person) because You love him and have placed me in his life. Enable me to clearly and lovingly show him your love today. Amen.”

Speaking the truths of the Gospel out loud makes you more comfortable with sharing them when the time comes.

Practice with loved ones.

Your spouse needs to hear the truth of the gospel. Your child needs to be reminded about Jesus. Your student needs to know Jesus rose from the dead. Your friend or roommate needs the godly reminder that Jesus died so that they would not live unto themselves, but unto Him who died for them (II Cor. 5:15).

You will quickly find other growing Christians as you practice this way of sharing the Gospel. Watch them light up and reply to you with their own recent spiritual lesson. You need to be reading your Bible consistently, not to achieve “I’m an amazing Christian” status, to check the box on the Christian duties checklist, or to feel good about yourself.

Friend, Jesus knows you and loves you! He makes Himself known to you in His Word. Dig into God’s Word. Spend time getting to know Him because you love Him. He is wonderful! As you are spending time with Him, you will actually have God-glorifying things to say to others.

It may sound like this, “This morning I was reading in the book of James. I loved the verse which tells me that if I lack wisdom, I can ask God for it (Jas. 1:5). I am so thankful for a Savior that promises to give me wisdom when I ask for it. Is there anything in your life you need wisdom to navigate? May I pray with you right now that God would give you wisdom?”

Practice through memorization.

God said it best when He said it in His Word. If none of my ideas have resonated with you so far, fall back on the basic of memorizing. You don’t have to be excessively creative and dynamic. Even my second graders can do this. Simply share with others exactly what God has said.

John 17:17 says, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”

Romans 10:13-15 and 17 beautifully teaches us, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!... So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

The Lord will help you to communicate His Word for His glory.

Practice by telling a story.

Everyone loves a good story, and Jesus often used them as He taught. As you are living a godly life, consistently depending on God for grace and strength, He will take care of you in miraculous ways. Pray specifically about things in your life. When God answers your prayers, share those stories with others. Your story may be similar to this one:

“Last week I had engine trouble. I had no idea how I was going to pay for the repairs on my car. I shared the need as a prayer request at church. The next day when I checked my mailbox, there was an anonymous handwritten letter with cash inside. The person said God had laid it on their heart to financially meet this need. Praise God that He chose to take care of me in this way. I am so thankful that He is caring for me.” Or:

“Last week I had a big nursing test. I studied so much but was still nervous that I wouldn’t pass. I prayed and asked God to give me good recall and a calm mind. Jesus cares for me so much that He answered that prayer, and I passed my test.”

When you practice giving glory to God in these basic, yet meaningful situations, it prepares you to testify more confidently of the Lord to unbelievers.

Practice makes permanent.

Now that you have practiced rehearsing the Gospel to yourself, with other believers at church, in prayer with your heavenly Father, in person with those in your sphere of influence, and through stories, you are more prepared to effectively share the gospel with the unsaved. You never fully know what is going on in someone’s life. I am so comforted by the apostle Paul’s reminder that he planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase (I Corinthians 3:6-9).

Today you may be planting. Plant with joy and hope.

Tomorrow you may be watering. Water faithfully.

I promise you that God will give the increase.