Many Christians lament about their non-progressive prayer lives. Jesus introduces a way that one's prayer life can be tweaked. Give. And giving creates treasure in heaven. Of course, it is very popular to view this passage in the following way: If I give, it will benefit me in the afterlife. This is probably true, but the teachings of the New Covenant on the kingdom don't concern just the afterlife, but the now-ness of the kingdom. Thus, investing in heaven will cause me to reap the benefits now. So the reason that many of us struggle in our prayer lives is because we lived lives that are spiritually compartmentalized. To Jesus, giving and prayer went hand-in-hand. Prayer and worship likewise went hand-in-hand. And prayer and fellowship also go together. These disciplines give life to the others and draw life from the others. Our goal, as believers, is to create a web of spirituality in our lives. (This is Christianity, by the way.) Generosity. Worship. Bible Study. Fellowship. Serving. Prayer. Prayer by itself is pretty bland. But when we are interfacing with God through Bible study and interfacing with people through service and generosity, prayer is recharged with God's burden and our spiritual experiences. We, thus, deepen, as Christ-followers in this web. But if we ignore different strands of the web, we falter. This is why the Rich Young Ruler was an upstanding, moral, and God-fearing person, yet REJECTED Christ! He couldn't fellowship with God and, thus, enter the kingdom, because he was materialistic. How many of us struggle with depressing prayer lives or serial selfishness in our hearts because we haven't developed this web of devotion?

Matthew 19:21-22