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Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth.” (3 John 1:2-3)

During the times of the Puritans, many hundreds of years ago, the followers of Christ practiced a spiritual habit which has been largely forgotten. They called this habit, Conference.

A conference can be a formal meeting, like the annual gathering of Seventh Day Baptists which this year will take place on the campus of Calvin University from July 23-29.

Or conference can be when two people are engaged in discussion. In the case of the Puritans, conference had to do with talking about the condition of their soul with another believer. They would begin this conversation with a simple question.

How’s your soul?

It’s a different question than, “How’s it going?” This question opens the door to conversation that is below the surface. It gives an invitation to talk about deeper things than the weather or the Packers. The Puritans understood something that we in our day have not really grasped.

We all need to talk about the condition of our souls!

We are weaker spiritually when we don’t have the opportunity both to share about our soul and to hear about the condition of someone else’s soul.

Once you start talking about the state of your soul, it naturally leads into prayer. I don’t understand all of the reasons why it happens that way, but it just does. As a child of God, prayer is our heart language, and when we start talking about the things of the heart and soul, we are moved to pray.

For this year when the Holy Spirit is moving on our people in the area of prayer, let’s take this next step. Let’s start to ask the question: How’s your soul?

Then, let’s follow it up with praying for one another.

Do you want to see the power of God? Then, let me challenge you to ask the question, and just see what God will do.