One of the best ways to “grow” your disciples is through prayer. While they need you to talk to them about God, they also need you to talk to God about them! The apostle Paul selflessly invested his time in his disciples, teaching and training them, but he also spent much time on his knees interceding for them. Paul told his spiritual son Timothy: “I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day” (2 Tim. 1:3).

I keep photos of people I pray for on my iPad and I pray for them daily. Seeing their faces reminds me of how much I love them. Sometimes I spend more than an hour a day just praying for their needs. But I am also aware that prayer helps form a person into Christ’s image. I ask the Holy Spirit to work in their lives, answer specific requests and strengthen them with God’s grace and power. The prophet Samuel said: “Far be it from you that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you” (1 Sam.12:23). If God has put disciples in your life, you have a parental responsibility to pray for them. Let God use you to nurture and shape them into powerful followers of Jesus!