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.
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.
But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
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.
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.
But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
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Just a note:
This is more than just the Lord's prayer. It contains the few verses before and after the Lord's prayer. Why did I do this? Well, for one thing, it was the passage that a preacher read before he preached a sermon on the Lord's Prayer. For another, it's a reminder. I loved the sermon on the Lord's Prayer that came after the reading of this passage. At the time it was preached, I really needed to hear the words that were in that sermon. What a privilege it is to begin the prayer with the words, "Our Father." What a wonderful God we serve and we are privileged -- and blessed -- to call Him "Our Father." It reminded me so much that I shouldn't expect God to serve me, I should be looking for more and more ways to serve HIM! Why is that so hard for me to get?
Another reminder of this sermon was where do we get our bread that we eat? Our daily bread? Do we really need to pray, "...and give us this day our daily bread..."? We do need to pray that. We don't deserve a thing that we have, yet God has richly blessed us with so much more than we can comprehend.
There are so many more reminders and reason why I love this sermon and this passage, but this is already getting too long. And I'm not sure you really want to read this...or you've read/heard the sermon.
