I’ve enjoyed a number of books and conversations recently around spiritual maturity. They all attempt to address the area of the markers of spiritual maturity. What can we notice as we lean into our relationship with the God of the universe? What will we see in ourselves? What will we notice in others perhaps?

In all of this, there appears to be a theme around prayer. That what will change the most is how we embrace the act of prayer, our conversations with the Father.

When we first come to faith, our prayers are raw and very specific. We need God to show up in very practical ways. And amazingly, as I have witnessed and as these various authors would validate, God does. Our faith is new, without much of a foundation. God is a good Father, he knows our frailty, and he shows up for us in these practical ways. 

Think of the many stories of the bible and what happens. When the Israelites moved out of Egypt after slavery, God showed up in very immediate and practical ways, to show who he was and what he was capable of doing, that he was in control of all things.

Think of the early church as described in the book of Acts, and the many miraculous things that took place through prayer. A new thing was happening and God was revealing himself.

My conversations with my friend Saulius Karosas in Lithuania also reveal this. When independence came in the early 1990s, the church had new freedom to be all it was called to be. There were amazing examples of practical answers to prayer, many people being healed, people coming to faith in strange and beautiful ways. God was showing up.

Yet for maturity to take place, God knows that we need to develop a true relationship with Him that goes deep, that he’s not simply a bubble gum machine – put in your prayer and out comes the desired result.

I have noticed that many (I hope that word is not too bold) Christians have a hard time moving beyond this. They continue to look for the formula to get God to answer prayers as they want them answered. The get into the right emotional state, the find the right scripture, to be in the church the “gets it” and knows how to get God to respond.

Yet maturity in faith is so different. It moves beyond “bubble gum machine God” into a space of conversation, of listening, of simply being with the Father, and not needing Him to respond to our every whim. It is a faith that is more about sensing His closeness and love than about getting our answer.

Certainly we will talk to him about what is worrying us, and we will bring our concerns about those around us to him. It will also lead us to pray in even bigger ways, about issues and concerns that don’t necessarily impact us directly yet we sense a call to talk to God about them.

I have seen this in the people that I have come alongside in their discipleship. As their faith deepens, their prayers change. What they pray and how they pray is so evident. Times to simply be silent with God are treasured. The need to fill the space with requests diminishes. 

So how about you? What does prayering look like? Are you finding the need to convince God of what he needs to do, or are you simply more enjoying the beauty of a relationship that is full of love and meaning?

Some thoughts to reflect on.

For the kingdom.