Seven-Day Practical Faith Blog: First Steps to a Practical Faith

Psalm 63:1 You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you in a dry and parched land where there is no water.

I recently recorded an episode of the Waking Up the Lions podcast with Rory Paquette, and he asked me a question I get often: How does one get started on living a seven-day practical faith? How does one build past a Sunday-only faith to an everyday faith?

I first noted that people can operate off a checkbox approach: As an example, "Did I go to church on Sunday?" So when they want to expand to an everyday faith, they start looking for new checkboxes: "Do I pray more?" or "Do I read the Bible more?"

Those are surely good things to do, but from my own experience and from what I hear from my Practical Faith Academy podcast guests, there's more to it than that. Praying expands to an ongoing conversation. One reads the Bible not for the sake of reading alone, but to open yourself up to what God wants to say or where God might be leading you. That doesn't mean we try to force that every scripture passage will impact that very day, but rather, being open to how scripture can mold you through its message.

We pray and read not to check a box but to go deeper with God.

For me, when I wanted to go all-in on God and live a seven-day practical faith, I began reading Psalm 63 every day, particularly the first eight verses. This psalm speaks of a hunger and thirst for God that leads to praising God, feeling satisfied by what God offers, and observing God's protection.

I found that when I deepened my hunger for God's presence, then God satisfied that desire, and my faith deepened. When my faith grew, then I was willing to go further with God and for God.

Ultimately, I told Rory, our goal is a closer relationship with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit guides us, counsels us, loves us, surrounds us. When we get to know and speak with the Holy Spirit that resides within us, then we can live a seven-day practical faith.

Please search for the Wake up the Lions podcast on your favorite podcast platform. As of this writing, my episode has not been released, but I expect it to be out within days.