THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

Donations, Prayer and Fasting

Chapter 6: 1-18

The noun "Father" appears in eight of these verses, which tells us that our relationship with God should be the reason for the actions there described. They must be made with the approval of the Father, not to be seen and acclaimed in the world.

This passage of Scripture deals with three activities of practical godliness in the life of the citizen of the Kingdom of God: donations, prayer and fasting. Let us see:

Donations (vv. 1-4)

The believer must be charitable as he is entrusted with the riches that God gives him in this world, contributing:

to the well-being of his brothers in the faith,
for relief of his needy "neighbours", giving them reason to glorify God because of his generosity, and
to the Lord's work.

This is part of the "good deeds" expected from the sons of God and it confirms their new nature. These donations are to be made in secret so that others do not see them. The principle is "do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing" (v.3).

Hypocrites make an ostentation when donating, in order to receive acclamation from men, and this is their only reward because it is their only motivation. God does not reward hypocrisy. The reason for our charitable deeds is to please the Father, without seeking praise for ourselves. Therefore, they must be done in secret so as not to be seen and praised by men. Our Father who sees in secret will Himself reward us openly (v.4).

Prayer (vv. 9-15)

Personal prayers to God are to be made with the same discretion as of a son who speaks privately with his father.

The Lord Jesus again criticizes hypocrites for loving to pray standing where they can be seen and heard by crowds in public, to attract their attention and admiration. Their motive is to exalt themselves in front of an audience. The public attention they receive is their only reward.

We should pray quietly in our room, with the door closed, to be alone with our Father in secret. Our Father can see and listen to us, and He will reward us openly. He knows what we need before we ask, so we should not keep on using vain repetitions as the heathens do. Keep it simple.

The practice of using repetitions is pagan in origin, like the Hindu mantras: a syllable, a word or a verse is pronounced according to ritualistic and musical requirements, with a view to a magical purpose or to entering into a contemplative state. Prayers, repeated over and over again, have a similar effect and do not make any spiritual sense.

Even if our Father knows what we need, we are instructed to pray to admit our need and our dependence on the supply that comes from the Father. That is the basis of our communication with the Father, but He also gives us things in response to our prayer that He otherwise would not be giving us (James 4:2).

Then, the Lord Jesus tells us how we should pray: this is a basic model to help us in our prayers, never to be pronounced as a magic formula or repeated time after time as punishment or penance. It was not given us to memorize the words and repeat in a ritual, because it would then just become a formality without personal application: a vain repetition.

It starts with the words: "our Father, who art in heaven". The Lord Jesus said "my Father" because he was His only Son. We pray "our Father" because we are all adopted children of God, through faith in his Son. The Father is on His throne in Heavenly glory, but He hears the prayer of each of His children here on Earth: this is an incomprehensible wonder to us.

Our prayer must begin with worship and praise: "hallowed be your Name". If we are sincere when saying this, we will be working in our lives to sanctify the name of God, giving a living testimony of His great attributes to those who surround us.

We look forward to and pray for the coming of the Kingdom of God in the world. It is the Kingdom of the Messiah, when He will rule the world with a rod of iron during a thousand years, and the will of God will be obeyed on Earth as it is currently done in heaven. To pray for His coming, we should be doing our part for the growth of the work of God here.

After we pray for the work of God here, we pray for our own needs. The request "give us this day our daily bread” expresses our recognition that we depend on God for our needs, both physical and spiritual.

When we ask for forgiveness for our sins (infractions and omissions of the perfection required by our position of children of God), we must also have already forgiven those who became our debtors because they harmed us in any way. We should always remember the debt that God forgave us, which cost the precious blood of Christ, and is always much greater than any owed us by someone else. It is hard to maintain our communion with God if we do not obey His commandments by forgiving those who offend us.

Temptations come upon us, and the meaning of this prayer is for God not to allow us to fall into them. We manifest in this way that we recognize our weakness and dependence on His protection. The "evil" is the Evil One which attacks us, and we ask for our deliverance from him.

The last words "for thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen!" do not appear in some ancient manuscripts, although they are in the majority. Nevertheless, they are a reality that cheers our heart.

Fasting (vv. 16-18)

This was another form of religious hypocrisy at that time and the Lord Jesus was criticizing the effort of those who sought to acquire fame as a godly, by looking sad and putting on a disfigured face to seem they were fasting. Their purpose was to obtain the admiration of the people, and their reward was the compliments they received. Nowadays such hypocrites dress differently to the usual, adorn themselves with crosses, and use other guiles to call attention to themselves. It is ridiculous to try to look godly.

Those who really are godly do not seek applause. Godliness is to live in obedience to the wishes of God, expressed in His word, and not in pretending to be something we are not, to impress the public favourably.

The law of Moses established only one fasting, on the day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:29 -34), to which Lucas referred in Acts 27:9, "the Fast", but another four days of fasting apparently were introduced later to celebrate national disasters. There are many cases of private fasts mentioned, the most notable being those of Moses, Elijah, and of the Lord Jesus, all three lasting for forty days.

In the early Church, fasting was found together with prayer in times when God's guidance was requested for making important decisions. Fasting is therefore optional, together with prayer, to seek a more intense focus on a particular subject, leaving aside the satisfaction of physical requirements for greater dedication to spiritual needs.

R David Jones

1 "Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2 Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
3 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.

5 "And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.

8 "Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.

9 In this manner, therefore, pray: 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 forgive our debtors.

13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
14 "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

16 "Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
18 so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

Matthew chapter six, verses 1 to 18.