You Lord are the Treasure We Seek – Matthew 6

Jesus Christ described our eyes as the lamps of our bodies. Good eyes yield a body full of light.

“Please lead me Lord Jesus to focus on Your light. Please help me to do as David wrote in Psalm 34:5... to look to You and be radiant.”

“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. 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. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.” Matthew 6:1-4

In Mark 1:41-45, after healing a man of leprosy, “Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: ‘See that you don’t tell this to anyone.’” Jesus did not do miracles to impress people, He did them to help them because He loved them.

Jesus is still doing miracles in secret. There have been numerous times in my life when I prayed and He answered my prayer, but I did not notice it until days and in some cases years later.

Doing charitable deeds to gain attention for one’s self is not about love of God or others. Jesus said that the Heavenly Father rewards openly those who do their charitable deeds in secret.

“Heavenly Father, please fill us afresh with Your Holy Spirit so Your love leads our deeds.”

“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. 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. 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.” Matthew 6:5-7

Luke 5:16 says that Jesus “often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed. Mark 1:35 says, “In the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.” Jesus preferred closeness with the Father over public attention.

When we pray in secret, we demonstrate that we believe that God exists, that He listens and that He answers our prayers. In Luke 18:8, Jesus asked, “When the Son of Man comes, shall He find faith on the earth?” Faith in Him is the fruit that the Lord wants to harvest.

Jesus said not to pray using vain repetitions as though our personal vanity will gain God’s favor. God knows our thoughts. He meets many of our needs before we even ask Him to do so, so why would He need us to repeat a particular petition over and over again. It is better to ask and then, thank Him for hearing and answering our prayer in advance.

Jesus modeled for us short prayers. In John 11:41-42, before He resurrected Lazarus from the dead, He prayed, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” In Matthew 15:36, before He multiplied seven loaves and two fish to feed a hungry multitude, He simply, “gave thanks” to God His Father.

The Lord tells us In Hebrews 11:6 that the key element of prayer is faith in God. “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

“Therefore, do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. In this manner, therefore, pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your Name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.’” Matthew 6:8-13

“Our Father in heaven” is the One to whom we pray. He knows our needs. He is not an absent or neglectful Father. He is watching over us and enjoys helping us.

God’s Name is hallowed or sanctified, but we ask that His would hallow it. That we would love the Lord our God with all our hearts, minds, souls and strength, so much that His Name would be like honey on our lips.

In regards to the petition, “Hallowed be the Your Name,” Luther wrote, “God’s name is certainly holy in itself, but we pray in this petition that it may be kept holy among us also. God’s Name is kept holy when the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity, and we, as the children of God, also lead holy lives according to it. “Help us to do this, dear Father in heaven!”

In regards to the petition, “Your kingdom come,” Luther wrote, “The kingdom of God certainly comes by itself without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may come to us also. God’s kingdom comes when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead godly lives here in time and there in eternity.

In regards to the petition, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” Luther wrote, “The good and gracious will of God is done even without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may be done among us also. God’s will is done when He breaks and hinders every evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature, which do not want us to hallow God’s Name or let His kingdom come; and when He strengthens and keeps us firm in His Word and faith until we die.”

In regards to the petition, “Give us this day our daily bread,” Luther wrote, “God certainly gives daily bread to everyone without our prayers, even to all evil people, but we pray in this petition that God would lead us to realize this and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.”

We ask our Father to forgive our debts as we forgive others. Daily we breathe God’s air and walk on His earth. Our bodies, souls and everything around us were created by God. We owe God a debt to big to repay. Thus, we should forgive others the debts that are too big for them to repay.

In regards to the petition, “And lead us not into temptation,” Luther wrote, “God tempts no one. We pray in this petition that God would guard and keep us so that the devil, the world, and our sinful nature may not deceive us or mislead us into false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice. Although we are attacked by these things, we pray that we may finally overcome them and win the victory.” And I add, “By His grace!”

For, “Deliver us from evil,” Luther wrote, “We pray in this petition, in summary, that our Father in heaven would rescue us from every evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation, and finally, when our last hour comes, give us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this valley of sorrow to Himself in heaven.”

At the beginning of our prayer time, we stated who we were praying to and at the end we acknowledge to whom belongs the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever.

“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matthew 6:14-15

There is absolutely no other way to get to heaven apart from God’s forgiveness. Thus, we also need, in accordance with the words of Jesus, to forgive those who have transgressed against us. Forgiveness is good for us and for those who have sinned against us.

In Luke 23:34, Jesus forgave those who crucified Him. He said, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”

Acts 7:59-60 says, “They stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not charge them with this sin.’” Stephen forgave his murderers.

“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. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 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 6:16-18

In Matthew 4:2, Jesus was alone and in a wilderness when He fasted for forty days and nights.

Fasting in secret is a statement of faith to the Heavenly Father that we know He responds generously with those who deny themselves for the sake of His kingdom’s glory.

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21

Some of the treasures of heaven are God’s felt presence with us wherever we go. His love! His joy! His peace! Revelations from His Word about Him, about ourselves and about the world.

I have experienced losses of possessions and of loved ones, and God’s grace filled the void.

“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” Matthew 6:22-23

A soul that is filled with God’s light shines His blessings to those around it. The light originates with God. It is from God above. Ephesians 5:8 says, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.” 1 Thessalonians 5:5 says, “You are all sons of the light and sons of the day; we do not belong to the night or to the darkness.”

A soul that is filled with darkness, tends to absorb good things and convert them into darkness. Titus 1:15 says, “To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.”

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” Matthew 6:24

Jesus did not give to material possessions the glory that His Heavenly Father deserved. In John 4:34, Jesus told His disciples, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent Me and to complete His work.” In Luke 9:58, He told a would-be follower, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” In Matthew 26:38, Jesus told His disciples, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.” In Matthew 26:39, He fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” Jesus served God not things.

1 Peter 4:19 says, “Let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.”

“Therefore, I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you, by worrying, can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” Matthew 6:25-30

Here, our Lord Jesus assures us that people are more valuable to God than birds and flowers. Some people may love their pets and gardens more than anything else but God is not that way. He made clothes for Adam and Eve after they sinned. Wars and nuclear testing have done great harm to the environment, but God is still managing to meet our needs. Our Lord Jesus urges us to keep our faith in God’s faithfulness strong.

“Therefore, do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Matthew 6:31-34

Our Lord Jesus urges us to keep our eyes on God’s kingdom and His righteousness. God is well aware of our bodily needs. He ensures that birds and flowers are supplied with what they need and He promises to do the same for us. He doesn’t want us to be weighed down with concerns about survival.

In John 10:10, our Lord Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” 2 Corinthians 8:9 says, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.” In Luke 23:43, Jesus told the believing thief next to Him on a cross, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

God’s plans for us are out of this world. “Father, thank You for helping us to keep our eyes on You and on Your kingdom! You are the treasure that we seek.”