Matthew 6:6
Praying for
Treasure in Heaven

This verse is part of the Sermon on the Mount, which is Jesus’ largest recorded sermon, is highly structured, and gives a phenomenal insight into Jesus’ teaching.

Our verse is part of a section that starts with Matthew 6:1

Matthew 6:1 "Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

and ends with a conclusion in Matthew 6:19-21

Matthew 6:19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Jesus explains that we should not do good things for the purpose of being noticed by people. If our motivation for doing good is that we others to think well of us, then we already have our reward. But if we do them to look good in the eyes of God, then He will reward us, and our reward is ‘with our Father who is in heaven’. If we do many good things in order to look good in the eyes of God, then our reward will grow, because we are ‘storing up treasure for ourselves in heaven’.

What are some of these good things? Jesus mentions three specifically:

1. Giving to the poor
   
2. Praying
   
3. Fasting
   

For each of these three things, Jesus tells us to do them privately, not in public, so that only God sees it, and so that He will reward us openly.

The Greek word for reward is ‘apodidomi’ and means ‘to deliver, to pay off, to restore, to recompense’. It is often used in the context of financial transactions. See for example Matthew 18:18-34, where it is used 7 times, also Matthew 20:8 and Matthew 21:41. It is also used in these two key verses:

Matthew 16:27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.

Revelation 22: 12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.”

Jesus gives a watertight case that God will reward us in heaven for our good works here, as a financial transaction, and that the size of those rewards depends on our works. Yet I know of very few Christians who truly believe this, and live accordingly. As soon as you mention this teaching from Jesus, Christians will oppose you.

They will tell you that this is an impure motive to do good things. Its not, because Jesus Himself is commanding us to store up treasure for ourselves in heaven.

They will tell you that our salvation is by faith, not by works. I totally agree. We are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8) for the purpose of doing good works (Ephesian 2:10). It just so happens, as we saw above, that God promised He will reward us for these good works. So entrance into heaven is not the same as getting rewarded in heaven.

A final note. Jesus commanded His disciples to make other disciples, by ‘teaching them to obey all things that I have commended you’ (Matthew 28:20). That would therefore include the imperative to pray privately (for which God will reward you), and to store up treasure for yourself in heaven. Have you taught this to anyone? Give it a try. Its very rewarding.

Godspeed!