Scripture Daily

Context No. 1144 of 4322 · Matthew

Context · Reflection

Matthew 6:1-13: in context

1“Be careful that you don’t do your charitable giving before men, to be seen by them, or else you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 2Therefore, when you do merciful deeds, don’t sound a trumpet before yourself, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may get glory from men. Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward. 3But when you do merciful deeds, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand does, 4so that your merciful deeds may be in secret, then your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. 5“When you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Most certainly, I tell you, they have received their reward. 6But you, when you pray, enter into your inner room, and having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. 7In praying, don’t use vain repetitions as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their much speaking. 8Therefore don’t be like them, for your Father knows what things you need before you ask him. 9Pray like this: “‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. 10Let your Kingdom come. Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11Give us today our daily bread. 12Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. 13Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.’

Jesus teaches how to practice righteousness without turning it into a performance. Do not give to be seen, do not sound a trumpet when you give; give so secretly your left hand does not know what your right is doing. Do not pray to be seen; go into your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father in secret. Do not heap up empty words like the pagans, for your Father knows what you need before you ask. Then he gives the model prayer: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, give us daily bread, forgive us as we forgive, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

The thread through all of it is a Father who sees in secret. Jesus keeps contrasting two audiences: the crowd, whose applause the hypocrites crave and receive in full, and the Father, who sees what is done in secret and rewards it. The whole aim is to shift the audience of our devotion from people to God, to give and pray for the eyes of the Father alone. And the prayer he gives models it. It begins not with our needs but with God, Father, your name, your kingdom, your will, teaching us to seek him first before we ask for anything. Only then does it turn to our needs, and even those are strikingly simple: daily bread, forgiveness, protection from temptation. It is short, unadorned, the opposite of the empty repetitions Jesus just condemned, because it is addressed to a Father who already knows what we need before we ask. The heart of true prayer, this passage says, is not performance or many words but a child speaking honestly to a Father who sees in secret and already knows.

Is my devotion aimed at the Father who sees in secret, or at people who might notice, and does my prayer begin, like his model, with God before it turns to my own needs?

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