Matthew Chapter 6

¹ Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

• If you give to others so that people will think highly of you, your reward is their opinion of you.
• If you give to others because you have godly compassion on them, you will naturally shield them from being made into a spectacle and give on the down low to preserve their dignity. Your only goal is to help them. God sees this and has your reward for you.

² Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

• When a person starts telling me how much they give to those in need and all they do for God, they’re trying to shape my opinion of them as a Christians. They want me to view them as being a great Christian, that’s why they’re telling me…this is their motivation and their desired reward is to be seen in a better light. This is a religious people. Their actions are performative with the goal of creating a narrative that they are godly.
• When a Christian who is motivated by their love for God and others does anything, they aren’t even thinking about a reward of any kind. They are motivated by their love for God and his spirit living inside of them. This is a regenerated, born again believer.

³ But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:

⁴ That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

⁵ And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

• There is a social media trend to post praying hands emojis on threads about something tragic or bad… and people sometimes say “sending thoughts and prayers” I wonder how many of those actually stop right there and pray… or even remember and pray later on. If a person posts a praying hands emoji and does nothing more about the situation, the only gain is to their reputation among other hypocrites.
• I have a friend named Lois who whenever I mention I need prayer will instantly say a prayer about the situation. Her prayers are short and to the point…because God doesn’t require more than our sincere words.

⁶ But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

• Personally, I pray better when I’m just talking to God in a private conversation. If I pray in public I have to think of how I say what I’m praying about, so the person can feel ok standing in agreement with me…. but when it’s just God and me, I know he knows what my heart is trying to say in the most perfect way possible… I don’t have to worry about being misunderstood by God.

⁷ But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

• It seems like those people who keep repeating the same prayers, like saying the rosary or the Hail Mary’s falsely think they have a deal with God to work for his blessings or forgiveness. Prayer in these false religions become punishments for sin. There are also religious ideas where you must tick a box of prayer every day… and in those prayers you have so many things you have to ask God for… like a list of daily request. The problem is these kinds of prayers become “works” when failing to complete them daily leaves a person feeling unsaved…or backslidden. God wants honest connections… a real relationship…he already knows what our heart desires.

⁸ Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

• I’ve mentioned this before that there was an idea going around when I was in the AOG that you never want to pray for patience because you will instantly be given persecution or trials. It gave the idea that God was in heaven just waiting for you to pray for something he could use to punish you. This whole notion corrupts the purity of the prayer relationship between God and his child. God is always loving and always looking out for our good. If we do go into the trials, it’s because God wants us to overcome something and have the victory over it…and he will take us through the trial. The Word says “ For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” Romans 8:29-30. God knows our needs and his plans for us… in prayer we yield to his plans and trust him to take care of us. His Word says in this chapter on verse 33 “ But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.“. This tells me we can relax and trust that God has us and is taking care of us.

⁹ After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

• Honor God, give him praise.

¹⁰ Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

• Submit to the will of God.

¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread.

• Trust God to supply all your needs.

¹² And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

• Ask for forgiveness and forgive others

¹³ And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

• Ask for his protection and guidance.
• Remember his greatness and trust in his power to take care of you and all your needs.

¹⁴ For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

• When we received Jesus as our savior, we had a change of heart about our way of living. Now we want to be like Jesus… and follow his example. Jesus forgave those men who were driving nails into his hands… he forgave the thieves that mocked him as they all hung on the crosses they were nailed too. To be like Jesus is to forgive those who hurt us and do us wrong.

¹⁵ But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

• Jesus doesn’t ask us to do the impossible… obviously forgiving others is an action of our will, not feelings. In fact, feelings hinder actual faith when we come to count of them as a way to measure our spiritual growth and connections to God. Feelings are of the flesh. When we die to ourselves, take control of our will and determine to follow Jesus, we can forgive as an act of our will and desire to follow Jesus. Knowing what forgiveness is and what it isn’t is the major part of being able to forgive others who have hurt us. Forgiveness is not a feeling. It doesn’t erase the hurt right away. It doesn’t erase the memory. Forgiveness is a choice to not seek unrighteous revenge and leave it in the righteous hands of God. You decide to walk in love, to pray for the person, and to resist ruminating thoughts. It’s giving the situation to God and giving the person the same mercy and forgiveness that you want God to give you.

¹⁶ Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

¹⁷ But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;

¹⁸ That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

¹⁹ Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

²⁰ But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

²¹ For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

• There is a truth the Bible teaches from Genesis to Revelation… BE HUMBLE! Don’t seek the glory/admiration/exaltation from others. When we pray, it needs to be to God alone… not for other people to see so you can manipulate their opinion of you into believing you are super spiritual. The same with your giving and fasting. If you seek the reward of having people think of you more highly, then that is all you will receive from your prayers, giving and fasting… but if you want God’s hand on your life and work, then make sure you keep it between just you and God. Every single person on the plant is given the chance to seek God in prayer… and to have their prayers answered…. it’s not a special position that only some obtain, seeking God is open to anyone who desire to seek him in spirit and truth. So long eloquent prayers made in public are not done to reach the heart of God, but to manipulate the opinion of others…it’s prideful.

²² The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

• If our focus is on God… on following Jesus…without distractions, then we will be full of the light of Jesus.

²³ But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

• If we focus on evil, we’ll be filled with evil.

²⁴ No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

• A person can’t be filled with light and darkness at the same time… we are either filled with light or we are filled with darkness. You aren’t walking out salvation if your plan for your life is to attend church on Sunday and get drunk at the bar all weekend. One of these two activities has your heart…if its the bar, you attend church to get rid of guilt not to follow Jesus….and if it’s Church, you will eventually stop going to the bar because the Lord with convict you until you seek deliverence…but you will never be able to fully give your heart over to both the bar scene and the Lord at the same time.

²⁵ Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

²⁶ Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

²⁷ Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

²⁸ And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

²⁹ And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

³⁰ Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

³¹ Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

³² (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

³³ But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

• We are to get busy serving Jesus and seeking him… spreading the Gospel…living a biblical life. If we will do those things, God will make sure all of our needs are met.

³⁴ Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

And one step further is not to worry about stuff that may or may not happen tomorrow… God wants us to focus on today. (Lord help me to do this… and stop worrying about stuff that probably won’t even happen. Deliver me from my imagination that can come up with a list of doom sceneros for even the smallest thing. AMEN)

In addition I want to say that this chapter disproves the Word of Faith movement. God doesn’t want us to lay up treasure here… so hording wealth or even seeking it isn’t scriptural. They say God wants us all to be wealthy… but these verses say God wants us to be dependent daily on his provisions…. we aren’t even to pursue those things. Now I know these false prophets will claim their wealth was God providing… if this was true they would not need to get people “sowing seeds” of faith into these false prophets pockets. God is soveriegn….our lives are mapped by him in his providence…. every aspect of it…so to assume the position of God even in our own life and start trying to speak into existence things we ourselves have decided we want is error. God said we are to give no thought to those things and seek the Kingdom of God. Cutting the providential plans of God out in favor of our own is idolitry.
A brother with more wealth or less wealth is our equal before God who at any moment can shift the tide.