My pastor works also as a baseball coach. He talks about drilling his players over and over so that they develop “muscle memory”. They don’t need to think about what to do in the middle of a play- their body just knows.

The same thing happens in public speaking. For years I coached homeschoolers on their public speaking skills. If they practiced over and over, they developed the “dominant response”. When they stepped to the platform and experienced a surge of stage fright, it was okay because the dominant response kicked in. Their brain and body simply made the speech happen- it knew what to do.

I think it is a similar thing in prayer. We want to pray, as often as we can, according to God’s will. BUT how do develop the spiritual sensitivity- the “knowingness” to know His will? We’re more likely to be sensitive spiritually if we know His voice.

We know His voice when we know His Word.

We know His Word when we know Scripture.

Jesus said in John 10:27: My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

You can develop your spiritual sensitivity by learning His voice well: by learning His Words spoken in Scripture. Learn His Word by reading often, by lectio devina, by meditation on His word, by prayer that quotes His Word back to Him.

Try this:

You have something you are concerned about, right? You want to know God’s will regarding that thing. Ask God for a Scripture that you can pray. Then, as part of your prayer time, start reading your Bible. Read until you run into that verse that jumps off the page and speaks to your heart. Begin offering that Scripture up the the Lord in your prayer time. See what He shows you…

In the meantime, you can develop that spiritual muscle memory to know the Scripture as a whole VERY well. Read it prayerfully till you know the whole story!