Seek First His Kingdom

Jesus teaches about the kingdom of God. God sees everything and God will reward those that receive what Jesus Christ has done for us and turn their lives to do righteousness and justice. In this world though, there is “the evil one” in Matthew 6:13 so Jesus instructed us to pray to “Our Father who is in heaven” in Matthew 6:9. And we are to ask him for what we need in our life, “our daily bread” in Matthew 6:11. Then, as we live our lives, we are to “seek first his kingdom and righteousness” in Matthew 6:33 and to “store up for yourselves treasures in heaven” in Matthew 6:20. Our place in God’s kingdom begins right here, right now as we receive what Jesus has come to bring us in Matthew 6:14 For if you forgive people their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

Your Father Who Sees In Secret Will Reward You

Matthew 6:1–4

Whenever You Pray

Matthew 6:5–8

Pray This Way

Matthew 6:9–15
Jesus continues his instruction for prayer by telling us to honor the name of the Lord, the one who is “Our Father”, the one who “is in heaven” in Matthew 6:9. And while He is in heaven, Jesus tells us to ask for God’s kingdom to come, to arrive, to be here on earth and to ask for people to be intent on doing his will “as it is in heaven” in Matthew 9:10. There is a recognition in this prayer that there is another kingdom operating in the earth, that there is another will operating and though God has all power and all ability, He has given us the will to choose between them.

Then Jesus says to ask for three things:

“our daily bread” in Matthew 6:11, because the provision is from the Lord.
“forgive us our debts” in Matthew 6:12, because we fall short and offenses come.
“deliver us from the evil one” in Matthew 6:13, because he seeks to destroy

We have access to God if we will choose Him and Jesus wants us to understand that the “evil one” is a thief, a destroyer as he said in

John 10:10 The thief comes only so that he can steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

Whenever You Fast

Matthew 6:16–18

Store Up Treasures In Heaven

Matthew 6:19–24
We know the way of the world, things run down, they break down, and there are those that simply take what they want as Jesus describes in Matthew 6:19. But Jesus isn’t saying don’t try to live, he just said pray for your daily bread, pray for the provision you need to live and it says in

Psalm 128:2 You will indeed eat of the labor of your hands; you will be happy and it will be well with you.

and having possessions in this world and enjoying the work of life is called the gift of God in

Ecclesiastes 5:19 To every man whom God has given wealth, and possessions, he has also given him the ability to eat from them, to receive his reward and to find enjoyment in his toil; these things are the gift of God.

so Jesus isn’t saying don’t work and he isn’t saying to live in poverty or the ascetic life some propose, what he is saying is there is something more than seeking wealth in the earth. He is saying what is spoken of in

1 Timothy 6:9–10 But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and a trap and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge those people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all evil, by which some, because they desire it, have gone astray from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.

What Jesus is saying is that

1 Timothy 6:6 But godliness with contentment is a great means of gain.