Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Matthew 6:1-7
Rabbi Yeshua’s teachings, particularly in this segment of the Sermon on the Mount, delve profoundly into the essence of spiritual practice and its external manifestation. He emphatically stresses the importance of sincerity in our spiritual actions, underscoring that spirituality should not be a display for the sake of others’ admiration but a private communion with God.
When Yeshua advises secretly giving to the needy, he highlights the value of genuine charity. Giving is not for self-aggrandizement or public accolades but springs from a heartfelt desire to help. When you advertise your religious practices, such as charitable acts or giving to the needy, on social media, the recognition and admiration from others become your immediate reward. However, Yeshua teaches a different approach to giving. He advocates for discreetness in acts of charity, suggesting that when you give in secret, without seeking public acknowledgment, your reward will still come, however, from God, who gives good gifts.
When such acts are performed silently, without seeking acknowledgment, they resonate with true spiritual virtue. This principle extends to prayer. Yeshua contrasts the often superficial act of public prayer, sometimes done for show, with the depth and sincerity of private prayer. Prayer, in its most authentic form, is an intimate dialogue with God, not a public performance. It’s in these quiet, unseen moments that one’s true spiritual character is both formed and revealed.
The essence of Yeshua’s message is our inner consciousness, where true spiritual work occurs. Our thoughts and beliefs shape our experiences and realities in this sacred space. It is a realm of absolute privacy where no one else can intrude or influence. Our dominion in our mind is absolute; here, we decide which thoughts to nurture and which to discard.
When frequently communicating with God in prayer, our habitual thinking takes shape and slowly manifests in our physical reality. Prayer is a wonderful opportunity to remind ourselves we are loved and taken care of. We must guard our thoughts against evil with care, realizing that they are the seeds that will grow into the conditions and circumstances of our lives. By aligning our thoughts with God’s through prayer, we can shape a reality that reflects these qualities.
Yeshua’s teachings particularly highlight the profound difference between external displays of piety and the internal cultivation of a sincere spiritual life. His insights delve deeply into the essence of what it means to live a life of genuine faith and compassion beyond the superficial religious acts often mistaken for true spirituality.
Yeshua’s teachings in these verses revolutionize the understanding of religious observance, moving it away from a focus on external practices and validation and towards an emphasis on internal sincerity and spiritual authenticity. He invites his listeners to engage in the process of self-examination, challenging them to reflect on the motivations behind their acts of piety. By doing so, he redirects the focus of spiritual life from the public domain, where it is often subject to vanity and hypocrisy, to the private realm, where genuine transformation and communion can occur.
Prayer
Yeshua clearly connects religiosity with hypocrisy, highlighting that hypocrisy occurs when there’s a disparity between one’s words and the intentions of the heart. For Yeshua, religiosity was merely an external display intended to impress people and God. Many are familiar with individuals whose prayers resonate like refined gold, precious stones, and fine pearls, yet their hearts and characters—essentially, the way they conduct their daily lives—are deeply flawed.
Growing up in Israel, the stark contrast always struck me. I observed every Yom Kippur how many, myself included, dressed in white, attended the synagogue, sang, prayed, and behaved respectfully for a single day, but almost immediately afterward, people would revert back to cursing, being rude and unkind. This inconsistency between our words in prayer and our everyday speech, as though God is oblivious, forgetful, or inattentive, represents hypocrisy in God’s view. Of course, none of us are perfect, but living in dissonance between our prayers and our behavior is not sustainable. We must ensure that we live out our prayers.
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Matthew 6:8
The English term “babbling,” or “Battalogew” in Greek, is sometimes defined as a repetition or jumbling of sounds or expressions lacking content or meaning. In the religions of the Far East, prayers often revolve around “Om,” involving sounds, words, or mantras quickly repeated numerous times, intended to induce a trance state in our mind, meaning a partial disconnection from the surroundings.
This practice is not exclusive to the Far East; it’s also found among Native Americans, African tribes, and other pagan idol worshippers. Yeshua teaches that, unlike the customs of these nations, which involve meaningless and repetitive sounds and voices, God, who created the world with words, has also given us the ability to express ourselves through words. Therefore, when we can, He expects us to use words to express ourselves in prayer. The meaning of this is significant; we are not trying to impress an unknown, unrelatable entity but speaking with a God who understands us and with whom we can logically communicate.
However, Yeshua also said, “For they think they will be heard because of their many words,” suggesting prayer is much more than merely using words. The pagan nations prayed lengthy prayers to their idols: “They called on the name of Baal from morning till noon, saying, ‘Baal, answer us!‘” (1 Kings 18:26). If you ever read an ancient pagan prayer, you might find them quite impressive and creative, often employing lofty words in an attempt to flatter the gods. But not everyone is skilled and creative with their tongue. As far as Yeshua is concerned, prayer doesn’t need to be lengthy or filled with sophisticated words crafted by a wordsmith. In fact, Yeshua’s prayers, as documented in the New Testament, were often short and to the point, sometimes barely a sentence long: “Father, glorify your name!” (John 12:28).
Contrary to popular belief, God is more interested in you than the “quality” (or quantity) of your words. It’s about your heart, not the number of words or how eloquently they are spoken to Him. Yeshua also emphasizes the importance of sincerity and intention in prayer, cautioning against empty repetitions and meaningless words. This guidance is rooted in the understanding that God, being omnipresent, already knows our needs and desires before we express them. Thus, the act of prayer becomes not a petition to inform or persuade God but rather an exercise in aligning our consciousness with God’s eternal presence, will, and truth.
Yeshua’s teachings do not discourage us from praying about specific needs or challenges. Instead, they guide us to approach prayer with a focus on internal transformation rather than external requests. It is a misconception to think that we should only pray for general harmony. While such prayers have their place, they can sometimes be too broad and may not address the specific areas in our lives where we seek change or improvement. Asking for improvement in our lives means much more than asking for a better car and salary; it means seeking a change in character, attitude, and heart.
When we pray, as Yeshua teaches, we do not request the creation of goodness, as goodness is already an eternal aspect of God’s omnipresence and will. Instead, our prayers serve to manifest this inherent goodness in our lives through our personal realization and understanding of God’s will. This is why we must “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33), and goodness will be added to us.
When we encounter a deficiency, be it material, like money or a house, or emotional, such as companionship or peace, our prayers should address this sense of scarcity within us. For instance, we might contemplate what personal growth or changes are necessary to attract a partner or what understanding is required to manage our finances better. By filling this internal vacuum, we bring ourselves into harmony with the reality of God’s omnipresence and plentifulness. This realignment, consequently, leads to the fulfillment of our needs in the tangible world. This doesn’t occur as a direct response to a request as if God is a slot machine, but rather as the natural consequence of our transformed inner condition through external experiences.
This process involves internalizing and embodying the spiritual principles we seek, thereby attracting corresponding experiences in our physical reality. I know this might sound like over-spiritualization, so allow me to give an example: when we pray for wisdom, we are not merely seeking the infusion of new information from an external source into our mind. Instead, we are making ourselves available to new experiences through which we gain wisdom. Consider King Solomon as an example. He asked for wisdom, which he gained through numerous experiences, leading him to the most profound conclusion and the core of wisdom: “Everything you were taught can be put into a few words: Respect and obey God! This is what life is all about.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13, CEV)
In this view, prayer is a transformative experience where we shift our perspective and start perceiving and interacting with life through a lens of enlightened discernment and deeper spiritual comprehension.
In essence, Yeshua’s teachings on prayer guide us toward a deeper understanding of prayer as a transformative process. Prayer is not a vending machine or forcing God’s hands but about changing ourselves from within, aligning our desires with God’s will, and understanding that all good things already exist in God’s omnipresence. Our task is to bring these into our lived experience through our conscious realization and embodiment of spiritual truths. We “seek first the Kingdom” by walking in the Way of loving others, being kind, forgiving, just, peaceful, joyful, generous, patient, humble, compassionate, etc., and await God’s blessings to be added.
This approach to prayer is both practical and deeply spiritual, rooted in the profound wisdom that when we change our inner world according to Yeshua’s Kingdom, the outer world follows suit. If we face problems in our marriage, asking God to fix it akin to asking Him to operate on our hearts. This implies that in certain situations, such as when seeking wisdom through prayer, we may be inviting experiences that are less than comfortable but through which we learn, mature, and grow. As the famous adage goes: “No pain, no gain.”
The Lord’s Prayer
This, then, is how you should 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 today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Matthew 6:9-15
“Pray like this” suggests a template or approach, not a script for rote repetition like a parrot. God is not an aloof dictator but our Father in heaven – a personal, loving Father eager to hear our genuine voice. Imagine if your child communicated with you solely through mantras or others’ scripted words. That’s not what God is after.
“Hallowed be your name,” where ‘holy‘ in Hebrew conveys ‘distinct,’ ‘unique,’ or ‘set apart.’ Yeshua teaches us to pray for God’s name to be distinguished from other deities. It’s a powerful reminder that we are ambassadors of God. If we consistently exhibit anger and judgment, we project an image of a wrathful, judgmental God. Conversely, if we embody forgiveness, generosity, kindness, love, and warmth, we portray God as a loving, forgiving, caring, and kind Father.
“Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” reflects the aspiration for God’s reign of righteousness to manifest on earth. Unlike some earthly realms, Yeshua’s kingdom is characterized by nurturing truth, grace, righteousness, peace, and joy (Romans 14). We are encouraged to actively participate in realizing God’s kingdom on earth, advocating for and living out the values of justice, peace, and mercy, known in Judaism as “TIKKUN OLAM.”
When we pray this way, we’re not aiming at external changes but internal transformation, seeking to become agents of these divine qualities in our daily lives. In the Kingdom, we’re called to be more than just petitioners for justice, peace, and mercy; we are to embody these virtues, bringing a touch of the heavenly kingdom to our earthly interactions, demonstrating that the kingdom of God is indeed at hand.
“Give us today our daily bread” calls for the essential sustenance required for survival. Here, we’re asking God to meet our basic needs. Reflecting on the Israelites in Exodus 16:4, God provided just enough daily bread, fostering dependence and faith. However, when Israel wanted more, like meat, they received it only after asking, echoing James 4:2: “You do not have because you do not ask God.“
In modern Western society, whereas many got accustomed to daily feasts, this verse prompts us to consider those less fortunate. Are we grateful for our abundance, and do we help those in need? In this verse, we are reminded to appreciate these gifts from our Heavenly Father and to extend them to those who struggle to make ends meet.
“Forgive us our sins, as we also forgive those who sin against us” emphasizes the reciprocal nature of forgiveness. We often seek to preach God’s kindness and grace to the world, yet we do not always practice it in action. Here, we are called to extend God’s grace to others who wrong us. This is a humbling reminder that we are not superior to others.
Forgiveness, both given and received, is a foundational aspect of our faith, highlighting our shared human imperfections and the need for mercy in our interactions. If you have decided to forgive someone, but they, in return, choose to reject your offer, does that mean you will retract your forgiveness? If you do, it implies that your forgiveness is conditional and transactional rather than unconditional and relational.
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” is a plea for divine intervention in our daily struggles against temptation and evil. It recognizes our susceptibility to inner moral failings and the presence of external harmful influences around us. By asking for God’s guidance and protection, this prayer wakes our conscience up, helping us to reflect on our dependence on God to avoid situations that lead to sin and to be shielded from malevolent forces. It is an acknowledgment of the need for God’s hand in steering us away from moral pitfalls and preserving our spiritual integrity. It is an acknowledgment of God’s grace.
“For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” concludes the prayer not only with a note of gratitude and praise but also as a profound reminder that all belongs to God and rests in His hands. This acknowledgment of God’s omniscience and omnipotence reassures us against living in constant worry and panic. Regardless of the trials we face in this world, including the loss of all possessions or even facing our own mortality, there is a steadfast hope in eternal life. This hope, deeply rooted in the love of God and manifested in Christ, offers solace in even the most challenging circumstances. The assurance is that nothing in creation can sever us from the love of God: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Yeshua our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39).
The Lord’s Prayer, in its entirety, not only models our communication with God but also serves as a blueprint for aligning our lives with His divine will and purposes. It calls us to cultivate a genuine bond with God, moving beyond mere ritual and formality. It impressively underlines our role in realizing God’s kingdom on Earth, our reliance on Him for daily sustenance, the imperative of forgiveness, the necessity of divine guidance through the Holy Spirit, and the recognition of God’s supreme authority and majesty.
Fasting
When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Matthew 6:16-18
In Rabbi Yeshua’s teachings regarding fasting, a well-established custom in Judaism, we find a profound understanding of the practice’s true essence and purpose. Yeshua addresses fasting not as a mere physical discipline but as an opportunity for deep spiritual transformation. He emphasizes that fasting, like prayer, should not be a public display of piety but a private act of devotion between an individual and God. In Judaism, fasting is not about abstention from food as an attempt to force the hand of God but involves a conscious decision to self-inspection and refrain from selfish thoughts. This spiritual exercise of fasting underscores the practice as a means of purifying one’s mind and soul, not just the body. This form of fasting helps detach our thoughts from daily issues, like cooking, offering an opportunity to find inner peace and get mental clarity, a benefit of fasting recognized by modern science.
In first-century Israel, people wouldn’t necessarily wash every day, and oils—perfumes—were saved for more exceptional occasions like holidays and celebrations. Here, Rabbi Yeshua’s advice to wash and perfume during fasting symbolizes hiding the fast and maintaining a normal appearance to the outside world while engaging in this deeply, perhaps also tormenting, personal spiritual journey. This teaching is a metaphor for keeping our spiritual disciplines discreet and personal, emphasizing that the true reward of such practices comes not from external validation but from internal growth and connection with God.
The repetition in verse 18, mirroring the sentiments of verse 6, signifies the paramount importance of this teaching. It highlights that the transformation sought through fasting and prayer is an inward spiritual journey. This journey is deeply personal and hidden from public view, emphasizing the intimate relationship between an individual and God. Perhaps the logic behind hiding our fast is to avoid putting pressure on others or not to cause them to operate out of the wrong motives, being felt emotionally or spiritually manipulated into religious actions.
In summary, Yeshua’s teachings on prayer and fasting offer a holistic approach that transcends traditional practices. This can be encapsulated in the idea that we must first seek the Kingdom of God—seek to reform ourselves—in order for fasting to become successful and useful. Not all, but most types of prayer and fasting are acts of mental and spiritual discipline, focusing on inner transformation rather than outward shifts. The true measure of spiritual progress is the internal change of heart and alignment with God’s will rather than the outward appearance of religious devotion. In that sense, prayer and fasting are meant not to change God’s heart but to transform your own, and a truly spiritual person is one whose heart has been transformed.
This article is part of the book, “The Kingdom of Yeshua: Christ’s Timeless Wisdom to Revive Your Spiritual Life.”
