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Jesus now turns his attention to the implications of the kingdom of God for piety. The passage begins with a general warning regarding practicing piety with an eye toward human recognition and approval (v.1). Jesus then expands upon this warning by discussing three forms of piety that were especially prominent in Judaism: almsgiving (vv.2-4), prayer (vv.5-15), and fasting (vv.16-18).
The structure of these three passages is strikingly uniform. Each begins with the negative admonition, “Do not look somber as the hypocrites do,” who perform acts of piety in order to receive praise from humans. Jesus gives the reason for this admonition: Those who practice piety for the praise of humans can expect no reward from the heavenly Father. Jesus then contrasts the negative admonition with a positive command: Disciples should be careful to perform their pious acts in private, for only in so doing can they be sure that God will see and reward.
By repeating the same elements in all three examples, Jesus emphasizes the following points. First, although disciples are to perform acts of piety, they should realize that such acts are not automatically pleasing to God. The value of such acts is linked to motive. Second, the only appropriate motivation is the desire to win the approval of God and to glorify him. These acts must be done with God, rather than humans, in mind. To practice acts of piety with the intention of receiving human praise necessarily involves hypocrisy or contradiction between outward appearance and inner motive. Third, the desire to receive praise from humans will result in loss of reward from God. Fourth, because the temptation to perform pious acts for human applause is so great, disciples must do all they can to avoid giving occasion to such temptation.
Jesus' discussion about prayer in 6:7-15 is different in both form and content from the surrounding material. Here Jesus warns against the practice of the Gentiles (v.7) rather than the practice of hypocrites. This passage has not so much to do with the motive of prayer as with the attitude of prayer.
Effective prayer requires faith in God (6:7-8) as well as forgiveness of others (vv.14-15). Persons who refuse to forgive others cannot expect God to heed their pleas for forgiveness. The Lord’s Prayer (vv.9-13) models the two characteristics of effective prayer just mentioned. It also indicates that prayer should be characterized by recognition of the holiness of God, profound desire to see the will of God accomplished, dependence on God for all things, and simplicity.