How should we pray?

This week I have been sharing how we can measure the depth of our love for God and our spiritual maturity by what we contemplate or think about, because we spend our time thinking about what we love and are devoted to. Yesterday, I talked about the danger of misunderstanding and misusing prayer with a focus on impressing others. A person who is in a growing and maturing relationship with God will spend time contemplating or thinking about God through the practice of prayer, either individually or in groups, with the focus of having communion with God and with the focus of hearing from God as well as being heard by God. Now a natural question that arises is “well what does the prayer of a person who is in a growing and maturing relationship with God look like?” Jesus Himself answered that question for us in Matthew 6:9-15:

"Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 'Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. 'Give us this day our daily bread And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 'And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen].' "For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. "But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

Notice the focus of this prayer. Jesus reveals for us that people who are charting a course to spiritual maturity by investing their time thinking about God reflect that reality in their prayers. The person who is in a growing and maturing relationship with God pray God centered and other centered prayers that focus on God as the center and God being the one who receives glory. The person who is in a growing and maturing relationship with God will pray in a way that acknowledges the reality that God is worthy of our awe and our worship. A person who is in a growing and maturing relationship with God acknowledges that God is large and in charge because He sets the agenda as our provider, our forgiver, our deliverer and our leader who is beyond anything we can wrap our minds around. A person who has a growing and maturing relationship with God recognizes these realities and asks God to align us with what He is doing and with what He desires us to be doing in the lives of those around us. Jesus also reveals to us the reality that a person who is in a growing and maturing relationship with God will pray in a way that acknowledges and understands that we are called by God to forgive others. And when we invest our time thinking about God in a way that reflects God’s nature and character, God leverages our time with Him in a way that transforms our hearts and our minds resulting in spiritual growth and maturity as He cultivates and develops a growing and maturing relationship with Him.

So what do your contemplations reveal about what you love and are devoted to? What does what you spend your time thinking about reveal about what you are focused on?