Matthew 6 goes after a religious habit that still thrives: doing good partly because someone might notice. Jesus takes three honorable practices, giving, prayer, and fasting, and strips away the performance around them. He is not attacking devotion. He is attacking the urge to turn devotion into theater.
That makes this chapter uncomfortable in the best way. It asks whether we still want to do what is right when the room is empty, the phone is silent, and nobody is building our reputation for us. Then Jesus turns from hidden righteousness to hidden trust. He speaks about money, worry, daily bread, and the Father’s care. The result is one of the clearest chapters in scripture on the inner life of discipleship.
How to give charity in secret according to Jesus
Jesus starts with alms, or charitable giving, and He goes straight for motive. The problem is not public generosity by itself. The problem is giving “to be seen of men.” He describes hypocrites sounding a trumpet before themselves, which is almost funny until you realize how modern it feels. Public virtue has always had good marketing.
Then comes the sharper command: do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. That is vivid on purpose. Charity should be so clean of self-congratulation that even the giver is not dwelling on how noble the act was. Help the person. Stop polishing your halo.
“That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.”
This matters for Latter-day Saints because we do a lot of good together. Fast offerings, service projects, ministering, meal trains, temple work, welfare help. Community matters. But Moroni 7 still warns that a gift given with the wrong intent is spiritually hollow. Jesus says the same thing here. If the real reward you wanted was admiration, then admiration was your payment. End of transaction.
One practical test is simple: would I still do this if nobody could trace it back to me? If the answer is no, Matthew 6 has found the nerve.
What does Matthew 6 teach about the Lord’s Prayer?
Jesus then turns to prayer, and again the warning is about performance. He does not praise the people who love being seen praying. He tells disciples to go into their closet, shut the door, and pray to the Father in secret. The point is not that public prayer is always bad. Jesus Himself prayed in public settings. The point is that prayer is communion, not stagecraft.
Then He gives the pattern we call the Lord’s Prayer. He says, “After this manner therefore pray ye,” which means He is giving more than a script. He is showing us the shape of a God-centered prayer.
- Start with the Father and His holiness.
- Ask for His kingdom and His will before your own agenda.
- Then bring daily needs, forgiveness, and protection.
That order is not accidental. Prayer begins with God, not with panic. It starts with worship, then surrender, then petition.
“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.”
There is something deeply steadying here. Jesus teaches us to ask for daily bread, not ten years of guaranteed control. He teaches us to seek forgiveness while also forgiving others. He teaches us to ask for deliverance from evil because discipleship happens in a real moral fight.
If you want a companion piece, Matthew 5 and the heart of true discipleship fits naturally here. Matthew 5 goes after the inner roots of righteousness. Matthew 6 shows what that inner life looks like when it prays, gives, and trusts.
What does the Bible teach about fasting in secret?
Jesus treats fasting the same way He treated giving and prayer. Do not make a show of it. Do not walk around advertising your sacrifice with a tragic face and a spiritual costume. Wash your face. Anoint your head. In other words, do the fast without turning yourself into the press release.
That hits especially hard in a culture where nearly everything gets posted, announced, framed, or converted into personal branding. Secret fasting pushes the soul the other direction. It makes room for hunger without applause.
For Latter-day Saints, fasting is tied to prayer, humility, and care for the poor. Fast Sunday is not a starvation performance. It is a way of bringing body and spirit into submission before God while blessing other people through fast offerings. Jesus is not draining fasting of meaning. He is protecting it from vanity.
Private devotion is hard because it denies the ego easy fuel. That is exactly why it matters.
Where your treasure is there will your heart be meaning
After giving, prayer, and fasting, Jesus shifts into treasure. It sounds like a new topic, but it is really the same one. What do you value most? What owns your attention? What are you building your life around?
Earthly treasure has problems. Moth gets it. Rust gets it. Thieves get it. Even when none of those happen, death still gets the final turn. Jesus is not saying material things are evil. He is saying they make terrible gods.
Then He says the line that keeps finding people centuries later: where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Notice the direction. Your heart follows your treasure. If you want to know what you worship, look at what gets your best energy, your first money, your strongest emotional reaction, and your longest mental replay.
That makes this chapter painfully practical. Treasure is not only cash. It can be status, control, appearance, comfort, influence, or the little kingdom of self. And Jesus refuses the fantasy of divided allegiance: no man can serve two masters. He names mammon as the rival. Wealth becomes more than a possession when it starts giving orders.
This section also echoes D&C 3 and when failure doesn’t end the work, where fear of man distorts obedience. Matthew 6 adds another pressure point. Fear of lack can distort obedience too.
How to stop worrying and trust God Matthew 6
The last part of the chapter is one of the gentlest and hardest teachings Jesus ever gave. He tells people not to take anxious thought for food, drink, or clothing. Then He points them to birds and lilies. The birds are fed. The lilies are clothed more beautifully than Solomon. Your Father knows you need these things.
This does not mean budgeting is bad, planning is faithless, or depression and anxiety are solved by one Bible verse. Cheap readings of this passage can become cruel. Jesus is not mocking people who feel burdened. He is exposing the futility of worshiping worry as though it can save us.
Anxiety feels productive because it keeps the mind busy. Jesus says it cannot add a cubit to stature. It cannot secure tomorrow. It cannot act as a second god. All it can do is colonize today.
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
This is the center of the chapter. Seek first the kingdom. Not eventually. Not after the bills calm down, the kids settle, the career stabilizes, and the future becomes predictable. First.
- Pray before scrolling.
- Pay tithing and give offerings before treating generosity as optional.
- Read scripture before letting the day tell you what matters.
- Handle today’s duties without dragging tomorrow’s imaginary disasters into them.
Jesus closes with a line that sounds almost blunt: sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Each day has enough trouble already. Borrowing more from tomorrow is a bad deal.
If Matthew 4 showed Christ resisting temptation in the wilderness, as seen in Matthew 4 and the wilderness before the work, Matthew 6 shows what trust looks like after temptation has been faced. A disciple does not stop needing bread, money, or shelter. A disciple just stops pretending those things are the master.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean to let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth?
Jesus is teaching radical privacy in giving. The image means charity should be so free of self-display that even the giver is not turning it into a private pride project. The point is to help, not to build an identity around being helpful.
Is the Lord’s Prayer meant to be repeated or used as a pattern?
It can be used both ways, but Jesus introduces it as a pattern. He is showing disciples how to pray: begin with the Father, honor His name, seek His will, ask for daily needs, seek forgiveness, and ask for protection from evil.
What does it mean that we cannot serve God and mammon?
It means wealth cannot be a side lord in a faithful life. Money is a useful servant but a brutal master. When security, status, and possessions begin directing our choices, mammon has started acting like a god.
How can I seek first the kingdom of God in daily life?
Put God first in actual practice, not just in stated values. Pray first, give first, repent quickly, keep covenants, and make decisions by spiritual priority before convenience. Matthew 6 is deeply practical that way.
What did Jesus mean by sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof?
He means each day already carries enough trouble without importing tomorrow’s fear into it. Handle today’s assignments faithfully and leave tomorrow in God’s hands until tomorrow arrives.
Matthew 6 asks a very clean question: who is your audience, and who is your master? Once that gets settled, giving gets quieter, prayer gets truer, fasting gets cleaner, and worry starts losing some of its grip.