Practice is Play

For a long time now, I’ve enjoyed practicing golf in my backyard. Nothing fancy, just a net and a chipping area. And when it comes to putting, I practice right on the carpet in my office. It doesn’t feel quite like playing 18 holes, but it still brings real joy and delight. Sure, I can’t see the ball fly down the fairway, but I still have the swing, the strike, the feel. It’s deeply enjoyable. I’ve thought for a long time: practice is play.

The same is true of spiritual practices. Reading the Bible, praying, worshiping with your church community, or simply noticing God in the everyday—these aren’t meant to be burdens. They’re invitations to joy, to delight, to play.

Scripture says: “As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.” (Isaiah 62:5) If God delights in us that much, then surely we can delight in Him as much as a bride delights in her groom. Practice becomes play when it’s rooted in delight.

Spiritual practices don’t always look like kneeling in prayer or sitting with an open Bible. They can look like breathing deeply, enjoying the softness of a pillow in the middle of a nap, savoring music, or relaxing in a hot tub. Each of these can be received as play—little tastes of God’s intimacy and affection. Every good gift becomes a space for connection.

Yes, practice prepares us for the “game” ahead—greater endurance, deeper roots, stronger faith. But it’s more than preparation. It’s joy now. It’s love now. When we reframe practice as play, we stop grinding through spiritual disciplines and start enjoying them. We enter into God’s delight and discover He is already delighted in us.

If you’d like to talk more about these kinds of practices with a spiritual director, I’d be glad to have that conversation with you.

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