Practice makes perfect?

Maybe.

I've taught Reading for years.  Watching kids emerge into fluent readers is one of the most exciting things I've been privileged to witness.

One loved reading activity is fluency building using a bar graph. I had the coolest graph for my students. You have the child read to you for one minute.  They then chart the number of words read in that minute. You have them begin again, reading the same material with the expectation that they will get a little farther in the next minute. They chart the number of words read for that minute. The idea is that the more times you read, the more fluently you will read.  The kids love it. They see their bars on their word graph grow before their very eyes.

Usually.
My kid didn't love it. In fact I remember us both being flabbergasted because his number not only didn't get higher, his reading rate dropped in subsequent readings.  Not one to give up easily, after repeated readings he and I both wanted to pull our hair out.

Determination lead to doom.

Practice didn't make perfect. Practice, on its own frustrated.  It flaunted failure.  Ultimately I remember having to put the book and graph down along with my pride.   Certainly practice requires something more.

Grace.

Grace isn't impressed by the world's standards and it isn't frustrated by failure. Grace hits where we miss.  Where we are limited, God's grace is limitless.

Each time he said, "My grace is all you need.  My power works best in weakness." So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. - 2 Corinthians 12:9

Practice doesn't make perfect; God's grace does.