Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up. (Proverbs 12:25 NLT)

There are three stages of relationships. The most basic is the acquaintance stage:

“Hey, how are you?”
“I’m good.”
“Good.”

End of conversation. Maybe sharing details of lives, maybe not.
The next stage is the personal stage. This is when we can actually share details of our lives and our feelings surrounding these details.

“Hey, how are you?”
“Oh, not good, I am dealing with a difficult time.”
“That’s too bad, I’ve gone through hard times too.”

And then there is a third kind of relationship. There may actually be very few people we allow into this stage, the spiritual stage. In this stage, we not only listen to our fellows and friends, but we invite the Holy Spirit into our conversations and time together. We pray for them and we pray with them, and we allow them to pray for us.
Look at yourself frankly and ask, where have I physically isolated from dealing with my relationships? Where have I spiritually held back and isolated, either by way of not making time for my own growth or not working on a spiritual relationship with others?
If you want to have deeper level of friendships with people, take a chance and begin praying with them.

“…and though perhaps he came to scoff, he may remain to pray.” -Big Book of A.A.

Father, thank You so much for all three levels of conversation. But thank You most for designing us to yearn for depth in relationships. Thank You for meeting us as we meet each other in honesty, integrity, and transparency before You. I pray for each of us to be willing to be transparent and grow deeper in faith with you and stronger in relationship with each other. May we see the fruits of honest relationships in our lives. In Jesus name, Amen!