What if Jesus is concentrating the primary focus of the second half of the Sermon on the Mount to finances? If He is, then what is He trying to convey? If you may give me the liberty, allow me to put forth my twist to Matthew chapter 6.

The difference noted is between receiving a reward and receiving payment. When a person gives out of the goodness of their heart, they receive a reward. The one who gives not to be noticed by men also receives a repayment of the gift from the Father as Jesus’s words say, “…and your Father who sees in secret will repay you” (Matt. 6:4b, NASB). And not just what we give, but when we pray the same applies as, “…and your Father who sees in secret will repay you” (Matt. 6:6b, NASB). So I ask a question, how many people spend a great portion of their prayer time asking for their needs and/or wants to be met? Whether the prayer is for material items or not, it is financially based focus on the prayer. I add the want section to need because we often stretch our need in today’s society. We need a house for our family to live in. Does this house need to be 2500 square feet on an acre of land and filled with the latest technology? We find a way to stretch our needs into wants and justify it as a need.

Here in this opportunity of our focus on prayer Jesus emphasizes the importance of focusing our time of prayer on our Father and His Kingdom. The most important part of praying is worshiping our Lord and our God. When we are focused on Him, He will provide for our need, so simply asking for what we need today is all we need to do. Though we really don’t need to even ask as Jesus says our Father already knows we need these things. This is living by faith. God will provide today what I need today when my focus is on Him. We request to be delivered from evil and kept from temptation. This is the temptation to return to how our society acts in seeking to provide for ourselves; seeking to put tomorrow’s bread in the cabinet. We forget that the manna was to be consumed that day and not stored for the next day, except on the Lord’s day (Exodus 16:4-5). We must look at how God ended verse 4 by saying, “…that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction” (Ex. 16:4b). It is all about obedience to hearing His voice. It is about where our focus is. Is our focus on the Father, or ourselves?

Jesus says, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you” (Matt. 6:33, NASB). This is the entire focus of the sixth chapter of Matthew in this Sermon on the Mount. When we seek to meet our own needs; we give incorrectly, we pray incorrectly, we fast incorrectly, we worry about the fullness of our cabinets and closets, and then we fall entrapped by life’s needs. So when we give, we give to the Lord alone. When we pray, we pray to the Lord alone. When we fast, we fast for the face of God alone. When we focus on God alone, the needs we have today will be met today. Our need of finance changes when our entire focus is on God. It is then that our faith continues to increase as we are obedient to the words of our Lord and Savior.

I desire to live by faith, and faith alone!