There is a story that has come down to us through the years. It is about a famous concert pianist from Poland. His name was Ignace Jan Paderewski. He became a virtuoso, appearing in Vienna, and with extraordinary success in Paris, in London, in America, and in hosts of places around the world. He was asked to tell the secret of his success in maintaining his remarkably high standard as a pianist. He revealed that it was due to taking care to practice every day.
"Surely", someone asked, "anyone as accomplished as you are doesn't need to practice every single day!?" "If I miss practising even for one day, I immediately notice the difference in myself," said Paderewski: "If I neglect to practice a second day I feel worse, and others see something is lacking. But if I leave out practising for yet a third day, the whole world is commenting and saying `What has gone wrong with Paderewski?'" He attributed his remarkable achievements as a pianist to the care he took in practising.
Behind the lives of faithful achievers is to be found that same dogged quality in careful and absorbed preparation. Even Jesus would go out to a quiet place to pray for the day ahead of Him. He spent forty days and forty nights in the wilderness. By fasting and praying, He was absorbed by God's presence . . . strengthened by it for the battle with evil that followed. He arrived at the challenging moments of temptation hungry and exhausted physically, but supremely strong spiritually well practised, and prepared to go out on the stage as Paderewski made sure to be.
Christ's practising awareness of God's presence for 40 days had a deep effect on Him. It is seen in His brilliant replies to the Devil, and in the way the name of God is stressed:
"man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God"
"Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God"
"Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God"
Paderewski found practising his art essential to his performance. In the art of prayer, Brother Lawrence laid such emphasis on the practice of being absorbed in God through prayer that he gave to the world an excellent little book. Its title describes our purpose in the forty days of Lent: "The practice of the presence of God". Giving time each day to think and pray and set our minds on God in deep concentration is practising His presence. It was the early Church's habit. It has been so at all times. "They continued steadily learning the teaching of the Apostles, and joined in their fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and prayer.
God does not change. The faith does not change. It helps those tempted to despondency about affairs to practice repeating words in the Creed: "His Kingdom will have no end".