(6:1) Maybe you know a person like this or maybe you are this type of person. Do you look for validation from others? Do you only feel good about yourself (or THINK you feel good) when others tell you that you are? If you are doing a good deed to feel better about yourself or to look better in another person's eyes, it is not a good deed but is instead a selfish act. God does not reward selfish acts. If you take it upon yourself to get reward from others... well, that is the only measly reward you are going to get.
You might not have realized that you look for validation from others. God always has your best interest in heart. If people could validate you, He would instruct you to go to them... but they cannot make you feel self-worth. God can help you build self-worth if you ask Him to.
You might not have realized that you look for validation from others. God always has your best interest in heart. If people could validate you, He would instruct you to go to them... but they cannot make you feel self-worth. God can help you build self-worth if you ask Him to.
(6:2) Don't make a show of yourself. If you are doing a good deed for the right, selfless reason, you do not need to alert people that it is about to take place. For example, there is a new "pay it forward" trend in the United States where you pay for the order of the person behind you. Sweet enough, right? But immediately racing to your social media account to tell the world you did it erases any points you might have gained.
(6:3) This means not to pat yourself on the back. Do not let others praise you for your acts but also do not become conceited and proud of yourself for doing something good - because again, you did it for yourself. Selfish.
(6:4) Your reward will be inconceivably precious if you are a selfless person. If you can do a good act without the concrete, immediate promise of reward, you probably did that deed out of the goodness of your heart. If you aren't looking for a reward you get rewarded. You can't really fake this. You either do good things selfishly or you do good things selflessly and no matter how good of a sweet-talker you are, God knows for certain which is true in your heart. (Luke 16:15 and Psalm 139:2)
(6:4-6) Be discreet. Do not make a show of yourself. When you have something important on your mind, talk to God about it, let Him help you find clarity. You will find clarity in a private setting... God's advice is always beneficial to you. If you are putting on a show, you are not focused on the true task.
(6:7) Do not spend any amount of time on a meaningless or repetitive chant. It wastes your time and God's. If you don't have any meaningful, honest thoughts to share they don't fill that space with none sense. If you have been having a difficult time overcoming something, speak to God specifically about that.
Have a conversation. When you pray about something that has been troubling you, God often opens your mind to new solutions or ways of interpreting or overcoming the problem. A solution you overlook becomes apparent or you wake the next day with more courage or optimism than you had the day before. Your prayer starts to become introspection or extrospection, you become wiser in the situation because you asked for a tool to fix the problem.
(6:8-13) I always begin my prayers with this prayer. It covers a lot of ground in a concise manner. You identify who you are speaking to: your Father in heaven, God. Always be clear about who you are putting your faith in so that you remember who to thank when you are rewarded. The second and third verses exhibit your trust that He is there and will always come for you, that he keeps watch of and establishes Earth.
Do not overlook the metaphor of asking him for bread. Remember in Chapter 4, Jesus tells Satan that man does not live by bread alone but by the bread of God. God is your sustenance, by thanking Him for bread, you are thanking him for guidance and support, love and forgiveness. Without God, even an abundance of actual bread cannot sustain you.
In this prayer you ask Him to forgive the actions you have done which are less than favorable and you go even further to ask for forgiveness for the people who have been less than favorable with you. You ask for mercy for yourself but include a selfless request for God to show the same forgiveness with your enemies as he does with you. We all fall short... we are all worthy of forgiveness if we are truly apologetic.
You ask for strength against what challenges us or tempts us away from being good. You ask for courage against working for all that Satan exemplifies.
You end the prayer accepting that God is the ultimate, has been the ultimate and will always be. Trust and focused faith.
After this prayer (or before it) include anything else you want to discuss! And when you recite this prayer or any prayer in your head, emphasize your words... put weight and meaning behind them. If you are just rattling off a prayer to get credit... you aren't doing yourself or God a favor. Again, you would be wasting your time and His. Think of prayer as a really sacred time. Even though you can pray in the shower or while driving or doing a myriad of other tasks, let the prayer be your main focus, your priority in those spare moments. The floor is yours, use that opportunity to your advantage. You have God's complete attention, give Him yours in return.
(6:14-15) The kindness and forgiveness you give others will be given back to you in equal measure. If you want an abundance of forgiveness and kindness, you purchase that blessing but giving the same to others. If you do not forgive do not expect to be forgiven. Hypocrites are not rewarded.
(6:16-18) The subject of fasting again arises (Chapter 4 with Jesus). This is similar to praying and doing good deeds, if you are doing it for God, let only God be aware of it. If you are doing it for reward from mere men, go ahead and make a show of yourself - but it won't get you very far. Some religions around the world today make a public display of fasting. It is completely contradictory to the scripture they claim to follow - one has to wonder if this error was intentionally made by those who are like-minded to Satan: twisting scripture to trick people! Always read the actual words of the Bible and interpret them for yourself instead of taking anyone's word for anything. God wants you to fast in secret... even if you have to go to extra lengths to disguise your fast, do that before you let someone else catch on. Messing up sometimes does not make you a bad person, but being ignorant of something you say you believe in is a really quick way to confuse your entire life. Know what you stand for and why.
But why? Why does God want you to fast in secret? Again it is a private moment between you and God. Usually you are showing God you will sacrifice something you are really attached to for Him. It is a way to express love. But it's a BIG expression and takes intelligence and commitment. Do not get sick trying to fast and do not try to fast if you don't have your full heart behind it.
(6:19-20) You might have heard this a lot but maybe you never thought about it or maybe you are scared to trust that God will take care of you. Procuring wealth and material (cars, houses, clothes, bags, fame) will never bring you comfort. It will never last and it earns you nothing after you die. You literally inherit nothingness when your life on Earth was dedicated to nothingness. You show God that meaningless things are what matter to you and so He gives you what you want. God reminds you that material treasure is always vulnerable to thieves and a myriad of other things - you will never feel stable or safe. You will always feel like what you have can slip through your fingers... you become desperate to keep it at all costs (sometimes at the cost of your soul) because you think it is what makes you whole.
Putting your treasures in heaven are your good works toward others. Humanity is meaning. It is everything. When you show God that you are a lover and sustain-er of humanity, of everything of meaning, you inherit everything. It is yours, protected and eternal... just waiting for you to arrive!
(6:21) Whatever you dedicate your soul to becomes your meaning. If your treasure is wealth, you have given your soul to an inanimate, meaningless thing. If your treasure is all that God stands for... your heart remains with Him.
(6:22-23) Your eye is a metaphor for your perception. If you are caustic and pessimistic in your perception of people and things are are different from how you are, you will always see those things in a negative light. Let your perception be open and objective. If you look for good you will find it, or will at least find a way to foster or create good. Good intention goes forever and accomplishes many things. Let your eye (your perception) always interpret a circumstance in a forgiving and patient way. Much of what frustrates us or scares us is only frustrating or scary because we do not understand it well enough. Wisdom and knowledge are healing... always give them reign over your thoughts.
(6:24) Do not try to pretend with God that you love both Him and money. You cannot possibly put your faith in comfort in both. Which one do you believe with protect you? God or money? Make up your mind because if you trust God, you might have to give up the method you currently are using to make that money.
(6:25) This verse, to me, is especially relevant to 2015. We are a generation of worriers. We are material consumers. We dedicate our entire lives to consuming better clothing, cars, houses, jewelry... etc. We always desire more and more and more and never awake to the fact that it is an endless cycle, an abyss really, of unhappiness. God is imploring you to think this: Isn't life MORE important than these meaningless things? Why have we placed such a value on what does not matter at all.
(6:26) God says, consider the birds for example. They aren't constantly worrying about anything, not even food, and yet their species prevails through the years. God loves the birds but he especially loves humans for their ability to think and let those thoughts bring them to kindness - if he feeds the birds, why wouldn't he feed you?
I think of this verse metaphorically as well. If you have God you do not need to worry about your life because your life is just one small, short part of what your life with Him is. Always keep the bigger picture in mind. He does not want to watch you suffer, the only people who suffer are those who reject His help (he has made it very clear how to earn His help!) Worry about others' well-being and he will take care of yours.
(6:27) And furthermore, even if you are intent on continuing to worry despite all of that, worrying is not progressive or result-yielding. You spend time being stressed and then that time is gone and nothing is accomplished except the detriment of your mental/physical health.
(6:28-32) God takes care of the things that he gives life to. Birds. Flowers. Humans. All of it. If you are worrying, you are not trusting God. Develop your trust with Him so that you can stop worrying. He knows what you need better than you do - trust Him to take care of it.
(6:33) Readjust your focus. Direct your every intention in life toward all that God stands for and everything will naturally develop in your favor.
(6:34) Dedicate yourself to making the present moment better. Give the immediate situation your focus and intelligence and do not cloud it with worry. Be solution-oriented. Do not bog down the present moment with thoughts of what could happen the next day or week or year. If you are vigilant and smart in your day-to-day, the future will yield positive results.
