Gloria Lee's Bible Study on The Gospel of Matthew Part 8

Matthew 6 is one of the most practical and searching passages in all of Scripture. Jesus addresses three disciplines that every believer is called to practice: giving, prayer, and fasting. But His focus is not on the practices themselves. It is on the motive behind them. Are you doing good things to be seen by others, or are you doing them as genuine acts of worship before God? Jesus warns that when public recognition becomes the goal, that recognition is the only reward a person will receive. He calls His followers to give quietly, pray privately, and fast without drawing attention to themselves. God sees what is done in secret, and He rewards it. The Lord's Prayer is unpacked as a model, not a script. It covers every dimension of a healthy prayer life: relationship with God as Father, reverence for His name, submission to His will, dependence on His provision, the receiving and extending of forgiveness, and asking for protection from temptation and evil. Jesus also speaks plainly about money. Earthly treasure is temporary. No matter how much people accumulate, studies consistently show that people believe they need about twice what they currently have to feel satisfied. The cycle never ends. Jesus cuts through it with a simple truth: where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. You cannot serve both God and money. Finally, Jesus addresses worry. He points to birds and wildflowers as evidence of God's faithful provision and reminds His followers that their heavenly Father already knows their needs. The solution to anxiety is not willpower. It is a reorientation of life around seeking first the kingdom of God. Topics covered include: the danger of religious hypocrisy, how to give biblically, how to pray according to Jesus, the meaning of the Lord's Prayer, biblical fasting, storing treasure in heaven, overcoming worry and anxiety, seeking the kingdom of God, and the impossibility of serving two masters. Keywords: Matthew 6, Sermon on the Mount, how to pray, Lord's Prayer explained, biblical giving, Christian fasting, seek first the kingdom of God, overcoming worry, anxiety and faith, serving God and money, treasures in heaven, motives in Christianity, Jesus teaching on prayer, hypocrites in the Bible, Christian discipleship, spiritual disciplines, forgiveness in the Bible.