where your treasure is, there your heart will be also

Matthew 6

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

² “So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. ³ But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

⁵ “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. ⁶ But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

⁷ “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. ⁸ So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

⁹ “Pray, then, in this way:

¹⁴ For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions...

¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; ²¹ for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

In today's text, from the daily reading in the One Year Bible, in Matthew 6, Jesus continues His foundational teachings. He begins by addressing the motive behind our actions, pointing out that if we do things for the attention and acclaim of men then no matter how good the act it's righteousness is lost. The reward for that action is the attention and acclaim of men.  Verse 21 is actually addressing money or wealth, but it holds a key to everything Jesus is teaching here.  for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. God judges the heart. He sees beyond the external to the motivation. It is not that we should not give to a public cause or even that it is wrong to recieve a reciept and record of our tithes and offerings for tax purposes. It is a matter of the motivation behind our giving. Will we continue to give our tithe if we can no longer deduct our charitable contrubution? Are we willing to secretly and quietly meet a need of some one without them or anyone else knowing we are the source. God judges our heart. 1 Corithians 11:31 says  But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged.  

The same standard that applies to our actions is also applied to prayer. Here again it really is not that we should not pray in public. I believe the world could use a lot more public prayer. Also, there is power in the spoken word as we saw with the creation account, when God spoke things into being.  It is the question of the heart and motivation of the prayer(what is said) and the prayer(the one who is praying). Prayer is communication with God. It is not a performance to be judged or critiqued. We are to pray believing as Jesus says in Matthew 21:

21And Jesus answered and said to them, "Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' it will happen. 22"And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

If we want to move the mountains that are hindering us in our lives we need to speak to them not just think about it. To me that's exciting, if I'm talking to a mountain I'm going to get loud!

It is not our eloquence or the length of our prayers which makes them effective. Jesus says do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. ⁸ So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.     One of the most effective prayers we see in the Bible is found in Matthew 14:30, when Peter is walking on water. But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!"  Three simple words spoken by Peter. The result is in verse 31, Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him...

Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. Jesus gives us a model for prayer. If we merely repeat those lines of the Lord's Prayer they can become "meaningless repetition". Jesus says pray this way not pray these exact words.  

‘Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.   Acknowledge who it is you are communicating with and give Him the praise and honor that is due Him.
 ‘Your kingdom come.
Your will be done, 
On earth as it is in heaven.  Submit your will to the will of God, even as you pray expecting great things. What could be better than for God's kingdom to come into any and every circumstance and situation in your life.
 ‘Give us this day our daily bread.  We are told that we should not worry about tomorrow, that each day will have cares of it's own. We should seek God's provision for today's needs. 
 ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. Jesus teaches the importance of living in forgiveness. Mark 11:25 says "Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions.

 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’ If we remain in Christ and acknowledging God's kingdom, His power and His glory, then no evil or temptation can harm us. 

 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; ²¹ for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.   God judges our heart. In everything we do we should do it so as to store up treasures in heaven. The psalmist says, Delight yourself in the Lord;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.(Psalm 37:4)

May our hearts truly delight in Him.