Matthew 6
The Passion Translation
Be real and be yourself
6 “Examine your motives to make sure you’re not showing off when you do your good deeds, only to be admired by others; otherwise, you will lose the reward of your heavenly Father. 2 So when you give to the poor, don’t announce it and make a show of it just to be seen by people, like the hypocrites in the streets and in the marketplace. They’ve already received their reward! 3 But when you demonstrate generosity, do it with pure motives and without drawing attention to yourself. 4 Give secretly and your Father, who sees all you do, will reward you openly.”
Prayer
5 “Whenever you pray, be sincere and not like the pretenders who love the attention they receive while praying before others in the meetings and on street corners. Believe me, they’ve already received in full their reward. 6 But whenever you pray, go into your innermost chamber and be alone with Father God, praying to him in secret. And your Father, who sees all you do, will reward you openly. 7 When you pray, there is no need to repeat empty phrases, praying like those who don’t know God, for they expect God to hear them because of their many words. 8 There is no need to imitate them, since your Father already knows what you need before you ask him.
9 Pray like this:
‘Our Father, dwelling in the heavenly realms, may the glory of your name be the center on which our lives turn. 10 Manifest your kingdom realm, and cause your every purpose to be fulfilled on earth, just as it is fulfilled in heaven. 11 We acknowledge you as our Provider of all we need each day. 12 Forgive us the wrongs we have done as we ourselves release forgiveness to those who have wronged us. 13 Rescue us every time we face tribulation and set us free from evil. For you are the King who rules with power and glory forever. Amen.
14 “And when you pray, make sure you forgive the faults of others so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you. 15 But if you withhold forgiveness from others, your Father withholds forgiveness from you.”
I took this from The Passion Translation. It's very straight forward and without all the Thou's and old english. Just very down to earth, simple and easy enough for a child to understand. Scripture speaks that the Father would have it to be easily understood in word and concept. (scripture below) I’m not knocking the other translations, because I use many to study from. But TPT is very good for today.
In praying it’s a great form to use the Lord’s Prayer. Just an example given from our Savior. Go to him, talk to him. He’s not angry. He loves you! He sent his son for us so that we would always have representation in heaven. The blood that was spilled was for the worlds sins past present and future! He’s got you! Whatever the need, he will hear you. He’s so personal, you can talk to him like your best bud.
He refers to us as his children;
“You are my dear children, and I write these things to you so that you won’t sin. But if anyone does sin, we continually have a forgiving Redeemer who is face-to-face with the Father: Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”
1 John 2:1-2 TPT
“The parents kept bringing their little children to Jesus so that he would lay his hands on them and bless them. But the disciples kept rebuking and scolding the people for doing it. When Jesus saw what was happening, he became indignant with his disciples and said to them, “Let all the little children come to me and never hinder them! Don’t you know that God’s kingdom realm exists for such as these? Listen to the truth I speak: Whoever does not open their arms to receive God’s kingdom like a teachable child will never enter it.” Then he embraced each child, and laying his hands on them, he lovingly blessed each one.”
Mark 10:13-16 TPT