The Abiding Practice
A daily thank-first prayer, scripture, and journaling routine that builds clarity and energy
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 7
- Confidence
- 72%
The Abiding Practice is a structured morning ritual Eric Frohardt built after leaving the SEAL Teams: thank God first, then move through prayer in a deliberate order (self, family, extended family, friends, coworkers, country, church, health, work, finances), read scripture on a plan to finish it annually, journal a few lines to clear mental clutter, then extend the reflection into a walking prayer during a workout. The mechanism is sequencing gratitude before requests and making the practice cheap to start (even 10 minutes) but consistent daily, so it compounds into measurable gains in focus and stamina rather than depending on willpower in the moment.
Origin
Eric learned the term 'abiding' from a faith-based business networking group in Denver similar to YPO, where members tracked how much time they'd spent 'abiding' that day. He started with a one-month trial in 2012; a month became a year, and he has kept it up since.
Core principles
- 01Thank before you ask
- 02Order of attention reveals real priorities
- 03Small, consistent practice compounds over years, not days
- 04Getting thoughts out of your head and onto paper clears mental load
- 05The energy invested returns multiple times over
How to run it
- 1
Protect the first hour
Wake before the day's obligations start and set aside dedicated, undistracted time, even if it's only 10-15 minutes to begin.
Pro tip Treat the time block as non-negotiable the same way you'd treat a physical training session.
- 2
Lead with gratitude, not requests
Open by thanking for what you already have before asking for anything, starting with the fact that you woke up at all.
Watch out Skipping straight to requests turns the practice into a to-do list instead of a reset.
- 3
Pray in a fixed order
Move through a consistent sequence: your own relationship with God, spouse, kids, extended family, friends, coworkers, country, church, health, work, and finances.
Pro tip The fixed order removes decision fatigue about what to pray for each day.
- 4
Read scripture on a plan
Read toward finishing the full text over the course of a year rather than reading at random.
Pro tip Some years, go deeper on just one section (Old or New Testament) instead of the full read-through.
- 5
Journal to offload your head
Write a few honest lines to get whatever is looping in your mind onto paper.
- 6
Extend it into movement
Carry the reflection into a walk or workout, continuing to pray or think through the day ahead while moving.
- 7
Commit to a trial period before judging it
Give the full routine at least a month before deciding whether it's worth keeping, since the payoff builds gradually.
Pro tip Start with whatever time you can realistically protect (even 10 minutes) rather than skipping the practice because you can't do the full hour.
In the wild
After struggling with a loss of identity and purpose in the first two years after leaving the Navy, Eric began the practice in 2012 on a one-month trial through a Denver business fellowship group. He has done it almost every morning since, reading the Bible cover to cover most years.
→ He reports no lingering nightmares or sleep issues from combat, attributes his sustained 24-year marriage partly to the habit, and says it gives him energy that carries through a full workday.
Common mistakes
Starting with requests instead of gratitude
Jumping straight to asking for things turns the practice into another obligation rather than a reset, losing the psychological benefit of starting from thankfulness.
Waiting for a full hour before starting
Treating an hour as the minimum viable version stops people from starting at all; a shorter, consistent version still compounds.
Quitting before the trial period is up
The benefits build gradually; judging the practice after a few days rather than a full month leads people to abandon it before it pays off.
Is it for you?
Best for
People who need a sustainable daily discipline to handle high-stress careers or life transitions and are open to a faith-based framing.
Not ideal for
Someone who wants a purely secular mindfulness practice or is unwilling to protect even 10-15 minutes of uninterrupted time each morning.
From the transcript
“today these now every morning I spend time praying reading the Bible and journaling and I've been doing that for whatever 10 years. It makes…”
“if it takes an hour to do that it's worth seven hours of energy”
“I go to work and I have so much energy until like 2 or 3 p.m.”
From the episode
#313 Eric Frohardt - DEVGRU Gold Squadron Sniper and Assaulter