Practicing the Way
by John Mark Comer · 2024
The follow-up to The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry lays out the actual mechanics of spiritual formation: how you become like the person you spend the most time with.
Worth reading? Practicing the Way is Comer graduating from diagnosis to system. Where The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry named hurry as the disease, this book builds the full architecture of spiritual formation around Dallas Willard's old insight: you become like whoever, or whatever, you spend the most time with. Comer's structure is simple and repeats through the whole book, be with Jesus, become like him, do as he did, and he backs it with the history of apprenticeship in the desert fathers and monastic tradition rather than inventing something new. The practical payoff is a personal Rule of Life, a written, honest structure for how you'll actually spend your days, which is more useful than most spiritual books manage because it ends in a document you build, not just a feeling you're supposed to have.
| Full Title | Practicing the Way: Be with Jesus. Become like him. Do as he did. |
|---|---|
| Author | John Mark Comer |
| Published | 2024 |
| Publisher | WaterBrook |
| Category | Religion & Spirituality |
| Favorite quote | “We become who we spend time with.” |
The Verdict
Comer’s first big book named the disease. This one builds the treatment plan. The frame he keeps returning to, be with Jesus, become like him, do as he did, sounds simple enough to write on a napkin, and that’s the point: he’s not inventing a new spiritual technology, he’s recovering an old one from the desert fathers and pulling it into a modern reader’s actual week.
The best thing about it is that it doesn’t stop at inspiration. It pushes you toward writing an actual personal Rule of Life, a real, revisable document about how you’ll spend your days, which is rarer and more useful than another book of principles. Read it if The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry landed and you want the fuller system behind it. Skip it if you’re looking for something Jesus-adjacent but not explicitly discipleship-focused, this book doesn’t hedge on that.
you liked The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry and want the fuller system behind it -- a real Rule of Life, not just the anti-hurry piece
you're not interested in a specifically Jesus-centered framework -- the whole book is built on discipleship, not a generic mindfulness model
Book Summary
Spiritual transformation isn't primarily about willpower or information, it's about apprenticeship: you become like whoever or whatever you spend the most time with. Comer applies this literally to following Jesus the way a craftsman's apprentice follows a master.
The three-part frame, be with Jesus, become like him, do as he did, structures the whole book. Presence comes before behavior change; you can't will yourself into Christlike action without first spending unhurried time in the relationship.
A personal Rule of Life, an intentional, written structure for your days, weeks, and habits, is presented as the practical tool that turns formation from a vague aspiration into something you actually build and revise, borrowed from monastic tradition and made usable for an ordinary modern life.
Top 9 Lessons from Practicing the Way
- You become like whoever or whatever occupies your attention most -- formation follows exposure, not just intention.
- Spiritual growth is closer to apprenticeship than to information transfer; you can't read your way into becoming like Jesus.
- Being with Jesus has to come before behavior change, or the changed behavior won't hold under pressure.
- A written personal Rule of Life turns vague spiritual goals into an actual, revisable structure for your days.
- The desert fathers and monastic tradition already solved most of the 'how' questions modern spiritual books treat as new.
- Doing as Jesus did means copying his actual practices, solitude, prayer, service, not just admiring his teaching from a distance.
- Community isn't optional scaffolding for formation, it's a load-bearing part of how apprenticeship has always worked.
- Habits and environment shape character more reliably than willpower or a single big decision does.
- Most people fail at spiritual growth not from lack of desire but from lack of an actual plan, this book insists you need one.
Top 4 Quotes from Practicing the Way
"We become who we spend time with."
John Mark Comer, Practicing the Way
"He invited people to apprentice under him into a whole new way of living."
John Mark Comer, Practicing the Way
"Jesus didn't have a disciple; he had disciples, plural. He called people to apprentice under him in community."
John Mark Comer, Practicing the Way
"The question Saint Benedict would have us sit with is this: Who am I becoming?"
John Mark Comer, Practicing the Way
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Practicing the Way worth reading?
Yes, especially if you read The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry -- this is Comer's fuller system for spiritual formation, ending in a practical Rule of Life instead of just a diagnosis.
Do you need to read The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry first?
No, but it helps -- Practicing the Way builds on the same anti-hurry foundation and takes it further into a complete apprenticeship framework.
What is the main idea of Practicing the Way?
You become like whoever you spend the most time with, so spiritual formation means apprenticing yourself to Jesus through presence, imitation, and a deliberate Rule of Life.
Is Practicing the Way only for committed Christians?
It's written specifically as a discipleship book, not a generic mindfulness guide, so it lands best for readers already interested in following Jesus, not a secular audience.
Does the book give you a practical tool, or is it just theory?
It ends in a concrete, written personal Rule of Life -- an actual structure for your days and habits, not just an idea to feel inspired by.
Ready to read it?
Get Practicing the Way on Amazon
