A preacher once said that when a Christian comes to him for counsel, he would always ask them the same two questions, “How often do you read your Bible,” and “How often do you pray?” Typically, the answer to one of those would begin to identify some deficiency of a struggling Christian. Our growth and maturity as a Christian is directly linked to our prayer life. Therefore, if we want to grow and mature, we must make deepening our prayers a priority. In our desire to pray deeply, let’s note some lessons we can identify within Scripture.
First, we must make time to pray alone. Consider the example of our Lord Jesus Christ and His prayers. Yes, Jesus prayed with His disciples for the meal (John 6:11), but we also find Jesus often removing Himself to a solitary place to pray. Jesus would rise early in the morning before the sun rose to pray alone (Mark 1:35). Jesus would send His disciples ahead of Him so He could pray alone on a mountain (Matt. 14:22, 23). It is a wonderful thing to pray communally with fellow Christians, but if we want our prayers to become deeper, we must make time to pray in our closets as well (Matt. 6:6). Praying alone gives us the opportunity to pray about specific needs in our lives, bring our sins before God in confession, and truly pour out our soul to God (1 Sam. 1:15).
Second, our prayers will deepen by praying through Scripture. We might read through the Psalms and take note of how often the author is praying to God. We find moments when David cries out in distress, “How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?” (Ps. 13:1) in addition to praising God for hearing His prayers (Ps. 28:6). We might look to the prayers of men like Daniel or Paul and see how they can shape our prayers. As we read through the Bible and learn what God is teaching us, we can use what we are reading to help guide our thoughts in prayer. Praying through Scripture gives us the ability to confess the truth of God’s Word as it is applied to our lives.
Third, in order to deepen our prayers, we must deepen our relationship with God. Praying deeply does not mean praying elaborately or simply knowing the right things to say. Praying deeply is a result of a growing and deepening relationship with the one to whom we address. As we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 3:18), what we pray and how we pray should grow as well. The more we set our mind on things above (Col. 3:2), the more spiritual our prayers should become. The more we understand the love shown in Jesus’ death on the cross (Rom. 5:8), the more we might pray like the tax collector who said, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” (Luke 18:13). As our relationship with God deepens, our prayer life will deepen and flourish accordingly.
If we are to grow and mature as Christians, we must be growing in prayer. We cannot afford to neglect such an important aspect of our spiritual walk with God. When we dedicate time to pray personally with God, use Scripture to guide our prayers, and make the growth of our relationship with God a priority, our prayers to God will deepen as a result. As we strive to imitate Christ in all areas of our lives, let’s consider every day how we can pray more deeply like our Lord.
-Chris Willcut