Matthew 6

S - Matthew 6
Matt 5-7 is part of Jesus' ministry in Galilee, and this is his sermon on the mount. (nearly got this wrong, but referring to this helps http://www.biblestudytools.com/matthew/)
O - Whether it is giving to the needy,
3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.


Prayer,
6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you


or Fasting,
18 so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.


Jesus repeated teaches us that we should conduct our personal relationship with God in secret, since God cannot be seen by man, and then God will reward us for it. I think it is less a matter of hiding it, than being humble about ourselves.


Before telling us what we should do (each of the verses above), he tell us what we shouldn't be like
2 "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.


5 "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.


7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 
(Why should we not pray aloud to be heard by men? It is to pray to our father in heaven, not men. and God knows what we want to pray for even before we pray. Which is pretty mind-blowing, but I suppose he wants us to humble ourselves before him and ask for things, and he will give us what we need in his own time.)

16 "When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 


Jesus calls those who strive to be seen as great and worthy in the eyes of men "pagans" and "hypocrites". He says that "they have received their reward in full". Since they live for recognition and honour by men, and not God as their focus for doing the motions above, they have men's reward for it.
But if we put our heart in God and humble ourselves before him while giving to the needy,  praying or fasting, God will reward us in his own way.


This ties in with the next bit...
19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 


If we store up in material wealth, or status, or money or any other "treasure on earth", we love it. But our heart will be broken as these don't last forever due to depreciating or breaking down with time and the evil on earth. Why not store up heavenly treasures* where they will last for eternity? We will be able to find joy in that always.


22 "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 
* I think this is about looking at things that are not sinful, then we can be a light for ourselves as well as others.


24 "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
The one that we struggle with a lot. In this world we need money to live and survive, but we shouldn't live for it.


25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?


31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.*


Don't look to material things and worry about them all the time. God knows we need it and will give it to us. If we put him first "seek first his kingdom and his righteousness" he will give us these things as well.


26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life ?
28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 


Jesus is saying how God has provided for the birds and grass, yet they do not work. But God treasures us more than anything and he will provide for us more than he does for birds and grass.
v27 stands out to me as worrying seems really pointless being put this way, it doesn't prolong our life it actually takes hours from our lives that we spend worrying. If we have complete faith in God, he will provide for us.


Back to the Jesus' example for us in prayer


9 "This, then, is how you should pray: " 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. '
14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.



Everyone knows the Lord's prayer. The difficult parts to actually mean what you say are v9-10, and v12.
Sure we can recite the prayer, but do we actually mean for God's will do be done on earth when we want to live life our own way? And sure we can pray for it, but we do have to work to bring it about, right?
Jesus also emphasizes v12 by explaining in v14-15. If we don't forgive men, God won't forgive us either.*


* Parts I will look into again, not completely sure.


A/P - Thanks for Jesus' sermon on the Mount, as it gives many valuable teachings and instructs us as to how we should live our lives for God. Pray the Lord's prayer. That I will forgive others. and to humble myself before God and not be like hypocrites or pagans, who honour men before they honour God.