By Ear
When I first started taking piano lessons, I had a beginner’s book filled with exercises. I would write the names of the notes, practice scales, and do all my homework so I could put another star sticker by my name on the great big chart in my piano teacher’s lesson room. In the beginning, I had to make myself practice every day for a certain amount of time. But thanks to all that practice the all those exercises, I learned to read music, understand basic theory, and improvise.
But it was when I quit taking piano lessons that I really started to play.
In fact, interestingly enough, I think I played more after I stopped taking lessons.
In college, I would wander over to the music building where they had individual practice keyboards in small rooms, and even though I wasn’t a music major, I would reserve a room for a couple of hours and sit in there and play and sing all by myself. Instead of playing classical and jazz, I learned to play hymns and contemporary worship music. Playing became less about practice and performance, and more about prayer and worship.
Instead of playing out of workbooks, I played out of my heart.
Now, whenever I even see a piano, it beckons me to sit for a minute and play for Jesus the first song that comes into my heart.
Yet I remember all those days of routine practice and exercises and I cherish them. I wouldn’t love to play like I do today if I hadn’t learned the disciplines the way that I did. Lessons taught me how to play. But playing taught me how to love to play.
So it is with spiritual disciplines, too.
We have an amazing amount of tools at our fingertips to help us learn how to pray and study Scripture. Just this week, I attended a beautiful session that gave some very practical tips on spending time with the Lord: playing soft worship music, lighting three candles to represent the presence of the trinity, holding a cross in the palm of your hand, wrapping up in a blanket with a warm cup of tea. We have resources like prayer guides, meditation books, prayer templates like ACTS, prayer lists and calendars, and apps like She Reads Truth and Operation World. All of these are gifts that teach our hearts the “music theory” of spending time with the Lord.
At first, it may take disciplined practice for thirty minutes a day. It may feel like boring exercises or wrote memorization in the beginning. You may need books, exercises, calendars, and charts to motivate you. But before long, you will start to learn not just how to pray, but how to love to pray. And then, just as the piano now beckons me to come and sit and play by ear, you will find yourself praying and spending time with God in the most natural and desirable way, by ear and by heart.
But it was when I quit taking piano lessons that I really started to play.
In fact, interestingly enough, I think I played more after I stopped taking lessons.
In college, I would wander over to the music building where they had individual practice keyboards in small rooms, and even though I wasn’t a music major, I would reserve a room for a couple of hours and sit in there and play and sing all by myself. Instead of playing classical and jazz, I learned to play hymns and contemporary worship music. Playing became less about practice and performance, and more about prayer and worship.
Instead of playing out of workbooks, I played out of my heart.
Now, whenever I even see a piano, it beckons me to sit for a minute and play for Jesus the first song that comes into my heart.
Yet I remember all those days of routine practice and exercises and I cherish them. I wouldn’t love to play like I do today if I hadn’t learned the disciplines the way that I did. Lessons taught me how to play. But playing taught me how to love to play.
So it is with spiritual disciplines, too.
We have an amazing amount of tools at our fingertips to help us learn how to pray and study Scripture. Just this week, I attended a beautiful session that gave some very practical tips on spending time with the Lord: playing soft worship music, lighting three candles to represent the presence of the trinity, holding a cross in the palm of your hand, wrapping up in a blanket with a warm cup of tea. We have resources like prayer guides, meditation books, prayer templates like ACTS, prayer lists and calendars, and apps like She Reads Truth and Operation World. All of these are gifts that teach our hearts the “music theory” of spending time with the Lord.
At first, it may take disciplined practice for thirty minutes a day. It may feel like boring exercises or wrote memorization in the beginning. You may need books, exercises, calendars, and charts to motivate you. But before long, you will start to learn not just how to pray, but how to love to pray. And then, just as the piano now beckons me to come and sit and play by ear, you will find yourself praying and spending time with God in the most natural and desirable way, by ear and by heart.
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