1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. 2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: 4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. {Matthew 6:1-8 KJV)

Everyone, including me, should take a real close look and understand the above passage from Matthew chapter six, piece by piece. I can only think of a few groups of people that, if they don’t hit the nail on the head following this, they are very, very close to complying to every aspect. I can only think of religious people in monasteries or churches geared as such. All others, that I can think of, shout it out loud. It’s like saying, “see how good I am doing this? No one can do it better than me. I’m the good guy and I’ll go to Heaven because you can’t do this” (Matthew 6:5).

Over the many years I have been alive and have gone to many churches, I have always found a call for funds. There are many special funds and I have seen a call of certain denominations of money and the giver must walk down the aisle to the front of the church to put that certain denomination in the plate. Everyone know who gave a hundred or fifty, etc. (Matthew 6:1-4)

I have friends that have told me about giving money to the people standing on corners that were asking for a handout. They have even told me how much they gave and how often. I do not have an aversion to giving alms to the needy but to brag about it is not a good thing nor is it my thing. It’s the same as shouting, “hey, it’s me. I did that”. And, believe it or not, I was like this before I knew about Matthew chapter six.

Let’s get back to Matthew 6:5 and add verse seven. Voices can be heard on radio, TV, church, street corners, everywhere. These loud voices are shouting all sorts of prayers and every bit is in violation of Matthew Chapter six, or so it seem. God don’t care for your excuse, just your action. Your actions say more than you intend them to show or mean. I believe in what you do, not what you say. You can attempt to get me to believe in what you say but actions are louder than words. Be very careful with what you do and say.

All I can say about the passage is, be careful, be mindful and pray that you get it right. In this, I can not help you, I can only make you aware. There will be many people that will tell you anything but, as an old, old saying state, “the proof is in the pudding.” In other words, don’t tell me, show me. Jesus did. He not only told you, He showed you as well as He died to show you much more.