{"id":65603,"date":"2004-06-02T18:29:00","date_gmt":"2004-06-02T18:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/?p=65603"},"modified":"2026-03-17T18:30:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T18:30:26","slug":"deepening-your-ministry-through-prayer-and-personal-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/deepening-your-ministry-through-prayer-and-personal-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"Deepening Your Ministry Through Prayer and Personal Growth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Prayer. Quiet time. Spiritual disciplines. Every pastor knows their value. But what do you do when schedules squeeze you tight, when you feel more harried than holy, when you lose your sense of God\u2019s gentle leading? How do you maintain good spiritual health?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deepening Your Ministry Through Prayer and Personal Growth<\/em> offers tested, life-changing counsel. It is a focused, no-stone-unturned look at what some of America\u2019s dynamic pastors do to keep grounded\u2014as well as what they had to go through\u2014to stay that way. Never before has there been such an inspiring, challenging treatment of these issues by so many respected church leaders. This fourth book in the Library of Christian Leadership<\/em> offers the steps to help you stay intimate with the Lord and help others do the same. Out of the trenches and onto the page, here are thirty fresh and helpful chapters of excellent advice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prayer. Quiet time. Spiritual disciplines. Every pastor knows their value. But what do you do when schedules squeeze you tight, when you feel more harried than holy, when you lose your sense of God\u2019s gentle leading? How do you maintain good spiritual health? Deepening Your Ministry Through Prayer and Personal Growth offers tested, life-changing counsel. Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_books":[331],"tax_ctp_categories":[154],"tax_ctp_field_guide_subcategory":[],"tax_ctp_field_guides":[],"tax_ctp_format":[134],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[156],"tax_ctp_tags":[],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-65603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tax_publications-leadership-journal"],"acf":{"scripture_references":null},"yoast_head":"\nDeepening Your Ministry Through Prayer and Personal Growth - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Prayer. Quiet time. Spiritual disciplines. Every pastor knows their value. But what do you do when schedules squeeze you tight, when you feel more harried\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/deepening-your-ministry-through-prayer-and-personal-growth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Deepening Your Ministry Through Prayer and Personal Growth - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Prayer. Quiet time. Spiritual disciplines. Every pastor knows their value. But what do you do when schedules squeeze you tight, when you feel more harried\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/deepening-your-ministry-through-prayer-and-personal-growth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2004-06-02T18:29:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-17T18:30:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/ogimage.png?resize=1200,628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@CTpastors\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@CTpastors\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/deepening-your-ministry-through-prayer-and-personal-growth\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/deepening-your-ministry-through-prayer-and-personal-growth\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Valerie Broucek\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/person\/dac0adc0d6320f34b00cf90419d5c02c\"},\"headline\":\"Deepening Your Ministry Through Prayer and Personal Growth\",\"datePublished\":\"2004-06-02T18:29:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-17T18:30:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/deepening-your-ministry-through-prayer-and-personal-growth\/\"},\"wordCount\":158,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/deepening-your-ministry-through-prayer-and-personal-growth\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/deepening-your-ministry-through-prayer-and-personal-growth\/\",\"name\":\"Deepening Your Ministry Through Prayer and Personal Growth - CT Pastors\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2004-06-02T18:29:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-17T18:30:26+00:00\",\"description\":\"Prayer. Quiet time. Spiritual disciplines. Every pastor knows their value. But what do you do when schedules squeeze you tight, when you feel more harried\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/deepening-your-ministry-through-prayer-and-personal-growth\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/deepening-your-ministry-through-prayer-and-personal-growth\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/deepening-your-ministry-through-prayer-and-personal-growth\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Deepening Your Ministry Through Prayer and Personal Growth\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\",\"name\":\"CT Pastors\",\"description\":\"Timeless wisdom for pastors with forward-thinking solutions\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Christianity Today\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg\",\"caption\":\"Christianity Today\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/CTpastors\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/person\/dac0adc0d6320f34b00cf90419d5c02c\",\"name\":\"Valerie Broucek\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42054f63351fff49ce7d582263bef0a8dac4e637349afc35dc580c6e6eabf8cd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42054f63351fff49ce7d582263bef0a8dac4e637349afc35dc580c6e6eabf8cd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Valerie Broucek\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Deepening Your Ministry Through Prayer and Personal Growth - CT Pastors","description":"Prayer. Quiet time. Spiritual disciplines. Every pastor knows their value. But what do you do when schedules squeeze you tight, when you feel more harried","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/deepening-your-ministry-through-prayer-and-personal-growth\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Deepening Your Ministry Through Prayer and Personal Growth - CT Pastors","og_description":"Prayer. Quiet time. Spiritual disciplines. Every pastor knows their value. But what do you do when schedules squeeze you tight, when you feel more harried","og_url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/deepening-your-ministry-through-prayer-and-personal-growth\/","og_site_name":"CT Pastors","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors","article_published_time":"2004-06-02T18:29:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-17T18:30:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":628,"url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/ogimage.png?resize=1200,628","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@CTpastors","twitter_site":"@CTpastors","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/deepening-your-ministry-through-prayer-and-personal-growth\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/deepening-your-ministry-through-prayer-and-personal-growth\/"},"author":{"name":"Valerie Broucek","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/person\/dac0adc0d6320f34b00cf90419d5c02c"},"headline":"Deepening Your Ministry Through Prayer and Personal Growth","datePublished":"2004-06-02T18:29:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-17T18:30:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/deepening-your-ministry-through-prayer-and-personal-growth\/"},"wordCount":158,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization"},"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/deepening-your-ministry-through-prayer-and-personal-growth\/","url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/deepening-your-ministry-through-prayer-and-personal-growth\/","name":"Deepening Your Ministry Through Prayer and Personal Growth - CT Pastors","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website"},"datePublished":"2004-06-02T18:29:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-17T18:30:26+00:00","description":"Prayer. Quiet time. Spiritual disciplines. Every pastor knows their value. But what do you do when schedules squeeze you tight, when you feel more harried","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/deepening-your-ministry-through-prayer-and-personal-growth\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/deepening-your-ministry-through-prayer-and-personal-growth\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/deepening-your-ministry-through-prayer-and-personal-growth\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Deepening Your Ministry Through Prayer and Personal Growth"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/","name":"CT Pastors","description":"Timeless wisdom for pastors with forward-thinking solutions","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization","name":"Christianity Today","url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg","caption":"Christianity Today"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors","https:\/\/x.com\/CTpastors"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/person\/dac0adc0d6320f34b00cf90419d5c02c","name":"Valerie Broucek","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42054f63351fff49ce7d582263bef0a8dac4e637349afc35dc580c6e6eabf8cd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42054f63351fff49ce7d582263bef0a8dac4e637349afc35dc580c6e6eabf8cd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Valerie Broucek"}}]}},"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/deepening-your-ministry-through-prayer-and-personal-growth\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Deepening Your Ministry Through Prayer and Personal Growth","url":"http:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/deepening-your-ministry-through-prayer-and-personal-growth\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/deepening-your-ministry-through-prayer-and-personal-growth\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":""},"articleSection":"Uncategorized","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Valerie Broucek"}],"creator":["Valerie Broucek"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"CT Pastors","logo":""},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2004-06-02T18:29:00Z","datePublished":"2004-06-02T18:29:00Z","dateModified":"2026-03-17T18:30:26Z"},"rendered":"<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"wp-parsely-metadata\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"headline\":\"Deepening Your Ministry Through Prayer and Personal Growth\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.christianitytoday.com\\\/pastors\\\/content\\\/deepening-your-ministry-through-prayer-and-personal-growth\\\/\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.christianitytoday.com\\\/pastors\\\/content\\\/deepening-your-ministry-through-prayer-and-personal-growth\\\/\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"\"},\"articleSection\":\"Uncategorized\",\"author\":[{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"Valerie Broucek\"}],\"creator\":[\"Valerie Broucek\"],\"publisher\":{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"name\":\"CT Pastors\",\"logo\":\"\"},\"keywords\":[],\"dateCreated\":\"2004-06-02T18:29:00Z\",\"datePublished\":\"2004-06-02T18:29:00Z\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-17T18:30:26Z\"}<\/script>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/christianitytoday.com\/p.js"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","byline":{"writer_byline":"","writer_byline_override":""},"primary_category":null,"secondary_categories":[],"featured_video":null,"related_articles":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65603"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65603\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65604,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65603\/revisions\/65604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_authors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_authors?post=65603"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_books","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_books?post=65603"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_categories?post=65603"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_field_guide_subcategory","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_field_guide_subcategory?post=65603"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_field_guides","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_field_guides?post=65603"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_format?post=65603"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_multimedia","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_multimedia?post=65603"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_point_editor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_point_editor?post=65603"},{"taxonomy":"tax_publications","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_publications?post=65603"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_tags?post=65603"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_topics?post=65603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}