By examination of the historical views of prayer and prayerfulness we discover a dynamic intimacy with the heart of God through expressions and thoughts that are lost to us or diluted by time.

As we have examined the historical views of prayer and prayerfulness we have seen a dynamic intimacy develop between the heart of God and the prayer. Some of these dynamics are confronting.

Julian of Norwich for example prayed to experience all sufferings that a person on the brink of death would experience and to then be restored to health in order to better understand the depth of her salvation. Such experience goes much deeper than a cerebral understanding of the mission of Christ "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) To a partnership with Christ "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."(John 3:17)

Martin Luther offers us a systematic approach to prayer that does not constrain the prayer but liberates their prayer life by asking the believer to look back on the faithfulness of God in the past both to help inform us of His will in our lives, and to strengthen and encourage us by seeing how God has answered our prayers in the past.

John of the Cross develops an understanding of prayer as a technique of growing spiritual maturity that is closely associated with the concept of the ‘dark night of the soul’. This dark night marks a transition point that necessitates a deliberate action on behalf of the believer to seek God although they feel anhedonic with their current relationship with God. To use contemporary parlance they need to ‘push through’ the boundaries that define their spiritual relationship and when they do they will find a deeper and more rewarding relationship with the heart of God.

Guyon introduces two patterns for reading Scripture that move us past simply seeking advice in the written word to moving us to an encounter with the living Word.

Douglas Steere brings us a fresh understanding of the life of the intercessory prayer. Though his insight we begin to understand that when we seek the heart of God to intercede in the life of another, we are firstly seeking to align ourselves with the will of God. Intercessory prayer then allows us to work in cooperation with God, it removes the barriers of selfishness and individualism and asks us to put the life and considerations of others first.

It is not suggested that all of these practices must be followed, however they provide a breadth of expression that will no doubt will catch many people within it’s wide net. These practices from the past not only inform our contemporary spiritual practice they may very well enhance it and bring us all deeper into the heart of God.