In Matthew 6, Jesus discusses our motives for living out our faith. He stresses that it should not be done just to impress others or so that they will think highly of us. He says not to do our acts of righteousness before others, to be seen by them. He says that if being seen by others is our motive for religious activities, then we cannot expect any reward any heaven. The acclaim that we receive from others, which is sure to be brief, would be our only reward. The Expositor's Bible Commentary says that Jesus is focusing on the three main acts of Jewish piety: alms-giving, prayer, and fasting.

Jesus said not to advertise our giving to the needy by blowing trumpets. This is most likely a figure of speech, since it would be very strange to see somebody actually blowing a trumpet as they give to someone in need. When Jesus warned not to do "as the hypocrites do," he was referring to the scribes, chief priests, and Pharisees. When they gave to the poor or gave their tithe in the Temple, it was very important to them that others see them giving. The Pharisees tended to be wealthy, which meant that they usually gave large amounts to the Temple. But they wanted people to be impressed with how much they were giving. Although it is important that we also give our offerings in church, it should never be to show others how religious we are or make a show of how much we gave to the church. The matter should be kept between the giver and God. According to Jesus, the giver can then expect a heavenly reward. The heavenly rewards last for all eternity, whereas acclaim from others is very brief and will surely soon be forgotten.

*There is no contradiction with Matthew 5:14-16, where disciples are told to let their light shine before men so that they may see their good deeds. The motive is for men to praise the Heavenly Father. Righteous conduct under kingdom norms must be visible so that God may be glorified.

In verse 5, Jesus again talks about the issue of doing our acts in order to impress others. He told his listeners not to be like the hypocrites, who stand on the street corners or in the synagogues and pray in order to show others how religious they are. We do know that the Pharisees did actually have a habit of standing in street corners, and they prayed long and loudly so that others would be impressed by their piety. Jesus said that, instead, we should go to our room, close the door, and offer our prayers to God. Then we will be rewarded. This does not mean that we give up our heavenly reward by praying with someone else in the room, over the phone, in small groups, or even in church. Again, the issue here is the motive. Jesus also said where two or three are gathered in his name he is there among them. Praying with someone else can be a powerful experience and should be encouraged, but it must be done out of love for God and out of love for the person for whom we are praying.

In verse 7, Jesus said that we should not keep on babbling like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. If there is a lot on our minds and it takes a long time to discuss it with God, that's fine. There is no problem with that. But making long prayers, particularly in public, because we think that will make it more likely that God will hear us is the wrong motive. In verse 8, Jesus said that God knows what we need before we ask him. But that doesn't mean that there isn't a need to ask. Scripture also says that we do not have because we do not ask. Again, there is no contradiction here. Parents are aware of the needs of their children, but they still want their children to come to them with their needs. Okay, a kid going to mom or dad with a different need every two seconds can get tiring, but that isn't the point. God never tires of us coming to him with our needs.

Jesus gave a model for how we should pray in verses 9-13, which we usually call "The Lord's Prayer." Verse 9 quotes Jesus as saying, "This, then, is how you should pray." It is interesting to note that when Jesus gave the Lord's Prayer, he wasn't actually praying at that moment, but giving us a model to follow. It begins by praising God when Jesus said, "Hallowed be your name." Merriam-Webster's dictionary says that "hallowed" means either "to make holy or set apart for holy use" or "to venerate greatly."

Asking that God's kingdom will come can have two meanings. It can mean Jesus' promised Second Coming or it can refer to God's rule in our lives individually. The former will most certainly happen, and it is certainly our hope that the latter will also happen in each and every person. God's desires are already carried out in heaven, and we want that to be the case on earth as well.

Verses 9 and 10 concern themselves mainly with God's desires. Verses 11 through 13 turn to our requests to God. It is only right that we put God's desires before our own. It is interesting, however, that by putting God's desires first we find our own needs met in the process. We can't forget that God loves us and has promised to take care of us.

By asking for our daily bread, this isn't simply referring to food. It means supplying our day-to-day needs. We can certainly bring anything that is on our minds to God, and we know that he will listen. God wants to hear our requests, whether it's a huge life-changing decision or a simple day-to-day need.

In verse 12, we are taught to ask forgiveness for our sins. It says that we are asking God to forgive us just as we forgive those who have sinned against us. Jesus said we need to forgive everyone everything we have against them or God wouldn't forgive us. That is a really big deal! We can't afford to hold onto our grudges.

In verse 13, we are taught to ask that we would not be led into temptation, but that we would be delivered from the evil one. We all have to deal with temptation, which is certain to come, but I have wondered at times if we would have to endure less of it by asking God that we not be led into temptation. However, we know that by persevering through temptation, God also uses that to develop our character and make us more like his Son.

In verse 14, Jesus said that if we forgive others when they sin against us, God would forgive us. But if we don't forgive others for their sins, then God won't forgive us for our sins, either. Whenever God asks us to forgive someone, we need to remember that God has already forgiven us a lot more than what he's asking of us.

Verses 16 through 18 talk about the issue of fasting and why we fast. The Pharisees made their faces pale and disfigured to make it obvious to everyone that they were fasting. Jesus said they cannot expect any reward for their fast, because they were doing it as a show for others, not out of love for God or love for other people. Jesus said that if we fast but keep it a secret, then God would reward us. Scripture doesn't give us a lot of information about how to begin or end a fast, but there are a number of resources which can be helpful. Richard Foster's book, "Celebration of Discipline," has a very good chapter on fasting and is a very good resource on practicing Christian spiritual disciplines in general. Arthur Wallis also has written a good book on the subject called, "God's Chosen Fast." Jesus said that when our fasting is in secret, God would reward us.

According to the cultural and historical notes of the NIV Archaeological Study Bible, the Pharisees made a practice of fasting twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays. This goes far beyond what Scripture required, since the Old Testament only commanded people to fast one day per year, which was on the Day of Atonement. The Day of Atonement is also known as Yom Kippur (which is Hebrew for "day of atonement"). The early church practiced fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays. In the 18th century, John Wesley sought to revive the practice of fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays. In fact, he wouldn't ordain any man who didn't fast on those days.  

In verses 19-24, Jesus talks about laying up for ourselves treasures in heaven. He has just named three ways that we can do that: by giving to the needy and to the church, by being faithful in prayer, and by fasting. Jesus urged us to store up for ourselves treasures in heaven, where our rewards cannot be stolen and will not decay. Jesus said where our treasure is, there our hearts will be also. Where we store up our treasure shows whether our hearts are focused on heaven or here on earth. Making conscious choices to lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven will also draw our hearts in that direction. Christian martyr Jim Elliott said, "He is no fool who gives away what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."

Jesus said that they eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. If your eyes are bad (meaning they are full of sin, not because of some vision problem), then your whole body will be full of darkness. If your eye is radiating darkness, that is sure to be a very dark place indeed. He said that no one can serve two masters. Our loyalty will be drawn towards one or the other. We have to choose whether we will serve the God of Israel or some false god here on earth.
 

*= Denotes taken from Expositor's Bible Commentary