who do we impress? matthew 6:1-18

Matthew 6:1-18

By David Turner

www. BibleStudies-Online.com

Impress Others!

The World Says: “If you’ve got it, why hide

it? Go ahead and flaunt it.”

Impress Others!



If you’ve got the body, show it!

Impress Others!




If you’ve got the brains, let everyone

know it!

Impress Others!





know it!

If you’ve got money, spend it so

everyone knows you’re loaded.

Impress Others!





know it!

If you’ve got money, spend it so

everyone knows you’re loaded.

If you’ve got talent, tell us about it.

Christians don’t do this? Right?

Does everyone have to know what and

to whom we give?



to whom we give?

Christians aren’t Spiritual smug.



to whom we give?

Express Spiritual smugness.

Elaborate prayers



to whom we give?


Elaborate prayers

Brag about how much we serve.



to whom we give?


Elaborate prayers


Brag about how we have built the church.



to whom we give?


Elaborate prayers



Let everyone know about how much we

pray, study our Bible, how spiritual we are.


Does everyone have to know what and to whom we give?


Elaborate prayers



Let everyone know about how much we pray, study our Bible, how spiritual we are.

Do we only associate with spiritual Christians like us?

Matthew 6:1–18 (ESV)

6 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before

other people in order to be seen by them, for then

you will have no reward from your Father who is in

heaven.

Give Without Applause!


2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet

before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and

in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I

say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when

you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know

what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may

be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will

reward you.


2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet

before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and

in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I

say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when

you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know

what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may

be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will

reward you.

Don’t seek applause when giving!

•Not to everyone around you.

•Not even to the one receiving the gift.

Pray Without Pride!


5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the

hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the

synagogues and at the street corners, that they may

be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have

received their reward.

Pray upward, not outward!


6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the

door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And

your Father who sees in secret will reward you.





•Prayer doesn’t have to be loud to be heard.






•Prayer doesn’t have to be eloquent.







•Prayer isn’t gossip.








•Prayer isn’t a means to promote an agenda.









•Private prayer is no less effective than public prayer.










•The prayer of one person with a right relationship is

more effective than a community with a poor relationship.












•Mountain Top prayer is no more effective than closet

prayer.












•Mountain Top prayer is no more effective than closet

prayer.

•You don’t need to broadcast all your prayers. God

answers prayer, not people.


7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty

phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they

will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like

them, for your Father knows what you need before

you ask him.

•Repetition and Nagging is manipulative prayer.

•He responds to the relationship, motivation, and

responsible nature of the prayer of the one praying,

not the repetitiveness.

Pray with Humility!


9 Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

10 Your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread,

12 and forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our

debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

14 For if you forgive others

their trespasses, your

heavenly Father will also

forgive you, 15 but if you do

not forgive others their

trespasses, neither will your

Father forgive your

trespasses.

Fasting is Prayer.

Fast Upward, not Outward.

16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the

hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their

fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they

have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint

your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may

not be seen by others but by your Father who is in

secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward

you.

16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the

hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their

fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they

have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint

your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may

not be seen by others but by your Father who is in

secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward

you.

Prayer is reaching out after the unseen; fasting is letting go of all

that is seen and temporal. Fasting helps express, deepen, confirm

the resolution that we are ready to sacrifice anything, even

ourselves to attain what we seek for the kingdom of God.

Andrew Murray

Real prayer is communion with God, so that

there will be common thoughts between His

mind and ours. What is needed is for Him to fill

our hearts with His thoughts, and then His

desires will become our desires flowing back to

Him.

A. W. Pink

Prayer is not so much an act as it is an attitude -

an attitude of dependency, dependency upon

God.

A. W Pink

“My worth to God in public is what I

am in private.”

Oswald Chambers (1874–1917)