1/11/2016 Matthew Chapter 6

Matthew Chapter 6 

1/11/2016 

#5: One of the major theme's in this verse is the idea of practicing righteousness. The passage talks about three acts of righteousness: giving (verse 2-4), praying (verse 5-15), and fasting (verses 16-18). Jesus expresses concern here with the motivation behind these acts. He goes into detail with each one but the idea is the same, your motivation behind doing these acts needs to be right. You can't do these things to bring glory to yourself or focus on yourself. You need to do them to glorify God and bring others closer to Him. 

#4: When praying it is important for you to realize why you are praying. A lot of the time people get caught up in asking for things from God and forget to actually praise God. Prayer time is not a time for you to give a list of demands to God. It is a time for you to honor God and talk to Him. God already knows what we need and want, He doesn't us to deliver a list to Him every time we pray. He wants us to take time to honor Him and the thank Him for the things He has made and the blessings He gives to you. Jesus gives us a great example of how to pray in this passage. Read it and model your prayers after His. Don't ever forget just how great and powerful God really is, prayer time is a time to praise Him and thank Him. 

#3: If you read the first few verses of this chapter and thought Jesus was telling you not go give to the needy then you were wrong. In verse 19 Jesus begins to talk about how we should not store up riches for our self here on earth. He tells us that if you hoard and store up earthly riches, they could be taken away or lost. Instead, we should focus on serving the Lord so we can build up heavenly riches that will last forever. He wants us to be generous with our money and time. He wants us to help others and those who are in need. Make the money you need to survive and pay your portion to God. Use some of that money to help those in need and God will bless you in your time on earth and in your time in heaven. 

#2: In verse 25 Jesus gives a simple command but this command is one that many people have a hard time following. He tells us not to worry but it is in our nature to worry about things. How will I make enough money to do live, to eat, to put clothes on myself and my kids, to pay rent? These are just a few of the things that people worry about but Jesus tells us here that we should not worry about these things because God will provide for us. He tells us that birds don't worry about what to eat or where to live, God provides them with what they need and we are no different. God will always give us what we need to survive, all we need to do is honor Him and have faith in Him. So stop worrying and start praying and thanking God for what you have and use what you have to glorify His name. If you do this God will always provide for you and take care of you! 

#1:   A breakdown of the Lord's Prayer. 

(V9) Our Father in heaven, hallowed by your name. : This verse brings attention to the holiness of God. Jesus is not saying that God will be holy, He is saying that God is already holy. It is good to acknowledge God's holiness in your own prayers. 

(V10) your kingdom come, and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven: When He says your kingdom come, Jesus is not saying that the kingdom is to come, the kingdom is already here! He is saying that the kingdom will come more and more completely until the final full consummation. 

(V11) Give us this day our daily bread: This is Christ asking God to provide and meet our daily needs such as food, clothes, a roof over our head. 

(V12) And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors: Here we are calling for forgiveness of our own personal sins. We are asking God to forgive us. This is not a one-way street, we need to forgive others who hurt us if we expect God to forgive us for hurting Him. 

(V13) And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.: This is a tricky request because it may imply to some that God is tempting us but that is not what it is saying. Here it says lead us not into trials that are too deep for us to handle. God does not tempt his followers, He may give us trials but He will not tempt us with sin. Some think the deliver us from evil at the end means literally "God deliver us from Satan". Others think it means "God deliver us from evil situations and temptations. Either way, it is always good to ask for God's help when handling tough and tempting situations.