Drawing Closer to God

“Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). That simple request, uttered by the disciples of Jesus, has echoed through the centuries. In every age, the people of God have longed to draw near to Him with deeper intimacy, greater clarity, and more enduring joy.

In our modern rush, we often treat prayer as a brief transaction rather than a sacred communion. But in looking back, we can find wisdom from those who knew how to walk closely with God. Among them, the Puritans stand out not because they used lofty language, but because they knew how to pray as those who had tasted the living God.

To draw near to God in a way that truly changes us, we must learn to pray with intelligence, reverence, confidence, and substance. In this, the Puritans serve as faithful guides not to be mimicked mechanically, but to be studied humbly.

1. Pray with Intelligence

When the Puritans prayed, they didn’t simply pour out words they poured out truth. Their prayers were saturated with the knowledge of God, not just intellectually but affectionately. They prayed as men and women who had walked familiar paths to the throne of grace, who knew what it meant to commune with the Almighty.

They thought carefully about the nature of prayer. The Westminster Catechism defines prayer as “an offering up of our desires unto God, for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ.” John Bunyan described it as “a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the heart or soul to God, through Christ, in the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit.”

These weren’t just definitions they were the convictions behind their prayers. They knew who they were speaking to, what they were asking for, and why they came in Jesus’s name.

2. Pray with Reverence and Confidence

Reverence and confidence are not opposites. The Puritans knew how to hold both in beautiful tension. They trembled before the holy God and rejoiced in their access to Him through Christ.

Thomas Cobbet captured this balance when he wrote that as believers draw near to God, “the beams of the glory of God reflect upon their souls,” producing awe and humility. But this humility didn’t keep them away it drove them closer. They came, as Hebrews 10:22 says, “with a true heart in full assurance of faith.”

To them, the throne of grace was not theoretical. It was a real, spiritual place where sinners found mercy and saints found strength. Their prayers were bold because their confidence wasn’t in themselves it was in the blood of Jesus (Hebrews 4:16).

3. Pray with Substance

Perhaps what stands out most in Puritan prayers is their richness. These weren’t shallow sentiments. Their words flowed from deep wells of Scripture, shaped by the Psalms, the prayers of Christ, and the promises of God.

Like Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 9, Puritan prayers wove together the truths of God’s Word. They echoed His promises back to Him. They pleaded like Jacob, who wrestled with God and would not let go (Genesis 32:26).

In books like The Valley of Vision and Piercing Heaven, we hear prayers that cry for holiness, plead for the lost, rejoice in Christ, and groan under the burden of sin. These weren’t performances. They were soul-work. They aimed not at the ears of men, but at the heart of God.

And they offer us a model: not for mimicry, but for maturity. To pray with substance is to let Scripture shape your vocabulary, your desires, your longings.

4. Learn from Their Categories

The Puritans thought deeply about different kinds of prayer: public and private, family and personal, regular and spontaneous. They debated issues like written prayers versus extemporaneous ones not to complicate things, but to honor God more fully.

They knew that not all prayer is the same that different seasons and settings require different tones and approaches. This thoughtful approach helped them avoid both mindless repetition and shallow spontaneity.

Their goal wasn’t eloquence it was faithfulness.

5. Come to the Throne of Grace

If we were to ask a Puritan how to become a better prayer, they wouldn’t start with technique. They’d point us to Christ.

All true prayer is Trinitarian in nature. We come by the Spirit, through the Son, to the Father. This is the heart of drawing near. Not in our strength. Not in our righteousness. But in the name of Jesus, through the merit of His blood, under the Spirit’s guidance.

Hebrews 10:19–22 gives us our footing. “Since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus . . . let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.”

This is how the Puritans prayed. And this is how we must learn to pray. The joy, the boldness, the reverence, the clarity all flow from knowing who we’re approaching and why we’re welcomed.

Prayer Is a Path

Prayer is not a performance. It’s a path a path to deeper communion with the living God. The Puritans walked that path with a steady tread, not because they were strong, but because they leaned hard on a faithful Savior.

They show us that drawing near to God is not a mystical experience reserved for the spiritual elite. It is the birthright of every believer in Christ. It’s not about praying like a Puritan. It’s about knowing the God they prayed to.

And if we study the God of the Puritans the Christ they adored, the Spirit they depended on, the Father they loved we will find ourselves praying more earnestly, more joyfully, more like Jesus.

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