mercy and forgiveness—again and again. Questions for Reflection and Discussion 1. Name some of the many, different ways we can be generous. What do we have that we can share with others (materially, emotionally, spiritually, etc.)? 2. Tell the story of a time when you were lacking something that you needed. How did God reveal His generosity to you? Did you get what you needed? Through what person or people did God deliver this help? Was it hard or easy to accept this help? 3. Describe an incident when you decided to give away something but had a difficult time letting go of it. How did you know you should give it away? What process did you go through in learning to let go? How has it changed your life? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Matthew 6:5 - 15 The second tool of spiritual growth discussed by Jesus is prayer. There is a right way to pray and a wrong way, a right attitude and a wrong attitude. Do we pray with pious words and appropriate gestures to get people’s approval? Do we turn our attention to God in prayer because we want Him to grant us favors? Do we recite formula prayers over and over to convince God to pay us heed? Or is prayer simply communication with the One we love? Jesus said (verse 8): “Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” If this is true, then why bother asking? God already loves us and wants to help us, so what’s the purpose of prayer? It is this: Praying means we recognize God’s value and our inability to live without Him. Prayer means that we love God and trust Him. When we ask for help, we can tell Him how we’d like Him to answer our prayer, but if we trust Him, we add: “Father, You handle this the way You know is best with the timing You know is best.” When Jesus gave us the “Our Father” as an example of how to pray, He showed us that our communication with God should include prais...
