Matthew 6:9–34

⁹So when you pray, you should pray like this:

‘Our Father in heaven,

may your name always be kept holy.

¹⁰May your kingdom come

and what you want be done,

here on earth as it is in heaven.

¹¹Give us the food we need for each day.

¹²Forgive us for our sins,

just as we have forgiven those who sinned against us.

¹³And do not cause us to be tempted,

but save us from the Evil One.’ The kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours forever. Amen. ⁿ

¹⁴Yes, if you forgive others for their sins, your Father in heaven will also forgive you for your sins. ¹⁵But if you don’t forgive others, your Father in heaven will not forgive your sins.

Jesus Teaches About Worship

¹⁶“When you fast, ⁿ don’t put on a sad face like the hypocrites. They make their faces look sad to show people they are fasting. I tell you the truth, those hypocrites already have their full reward. ¹⁷So when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. ¹⁸Then people will not know that you are fasting, but your Father, whom you cannot see, will see you. Your Father sees what is done in secret, and he will reward you.

God Is More Important than Money

¹⁹“Don’t store treasures for yourselves here on earth where moths and rust will destroy them and thieves can break in and steal them. ²⁰But store your treasures in heaven where they cannot be destroyed by moths or rust and where thieves cannot break in and steal them. ²¹Your heart will be where your treasure is.

²²“The eye is a light for the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. ²³But if your eyes are evil, your whole body will be full of darkness. And if the only light you have is really darkness, then you have the worst darkness.

²⁴“No one can serve two masters. The person will hate one master and love the other, or will follow one master and refuse to follow the other. You cannot serve both God and worldly riches.

Don’t Worry

²⁵“So I tell you, don’t worry about the food or drink you need to live, or about the clothes you need for your body. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothes. ²⁶Look at the birds in the air. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, but your heavenly Father feeds them. And you know that you are worth much more than the birds. ²⁷You cannot add any time to your life by worrying about it.

²⁸“And why do you worry about clothes? Look at how the lilies in the field grow. They don’t work or make clothes for themselves. ²⁹But I tell you that even Solomon with his riches was not dressed as beautifully as one of these flowers. ³⁰God clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today but tomorrow is thrown into the fire. So you can be even more sure that God will clothe you. Don’t have so little faith! ³¹Don’t worry and say, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ ³²The people who don’t know God keep trying to get these things, and your Father in heaven knows you need them. ³³Seek first God’s kingdom and what God wants. Then all your other needs will be met as well. ³⁴So don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will have its own worries. Each day has enough trouble of its own.