The Purity of Prayer

[S] Mark 11:25-26 --
²⁵"Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions.
²⁶["But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions."]

[O] Praying to God is both simple and complicated. It's simple when I think of it as just chatting with God but passages like these remind me that although it may be a simple action for me to carry out, I must have a right attitude and heart beforehand. So more than what I actually say (pray) to Him, what type of heart I'm lifting up to Him matters more. If you think about it, God already knows what I'm going to say anyways so the words I use is really not significant. So, what type of heart I bring to Him to speak those words is what matters in the end and He wants to hear a pure prayer which comes out of my pure heart -- the purity that is not contaminated with unforgiveness.

I know prayer must be an integral part of my life and at times I tend to focus on the quantity of prayer (how long I pray) but Jesus never emphasized the length of prayer except for the last hours before He was arrested when He scolded His disciples about not being able to stay up and pray with Him. However, if I think about that situation it is really not about the length but the desires and hearts of disciples Jesus was questioning. So Jesus' emphasis on prayer was always on the heart of the one praying as well as the right timing (when).

[A] I must pray at the right moment, and with right heart. Nothing magical or spiritual about the early hours but for me, my application is to pray early in the morning, and by forgiving anyone that I have anything against them. I want my prayer to be pure which is lifted up to God in Heaven. Also, I am going to encourage two people who's been going through some tension between them to forgive so that they, too, will lift up pure prayer to God in their lives.

[P] Dear God, I desire to lift up my pure prayers to You to start off the day. I desire to pray for others with the same purity. I desire to teach others how to lift up such prayers. In Jesus' name. Amen.