by Jen | Jul 15, 2025 | 5-15, DISO studies, Matthew 6
NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE.
Welcome back!
Last Week’s Work
COMPARISONS
Here’s how the Spirit guided me as I looked for comparisons:
- Jesus did not want his audience to pray as the hypocrites did—in public so people would see them. This type of prayer gains nothing but public attention (v5).
- Nor did He want them to pray as the Gentiles did—repeating empty phrases and many words (vv7-8). God doesn’t need ritual or long explanations—He already knows what we need (vv7-8).
- Instead, He instructed them to pray privately (v6), and he gave them a model for prayer: “pray then, like this” (v9). Here, I felt the Spirit prompt me to view like as meaning “similar to,” not “the same as.” In other words, I believe rather than instructing His followers to say those exact words, He wanted them to use this model: begin by addressing God as Father above all fathers and give Him the glory. Next, align their priorities with His: that His kingdom be established and His will be done on earth as in heaven (see v10 discussion, below). Then, finally, ask for what we need: provision, forgiveness, protection from evil.
- Next, I sensed an important distinction between petitioning God for what we want versus what we need in vv5-13. The only wants discussed are in the negative examples (the hypocrites’ desire to be seen by others, and the Gentiles’ use of lengthy appeals to get their way). But three needs are mentioned specifically: daily bread (v11), forgiveness (v12), and help fighting temptation/ evil (v13). I don’t think this means Jesus counseled against asking God for wants, though.
- In v10, His followers are instructed to ask that God’s will be worked out on earth the same way it is in heaven. At first, I worried how I’d know if I were doing that right; but then I realized the obligation isn’t to make God’s will happen our way, but to agree that’s the goal, and support it’s achievement His way.
- In v12, we ask that God forgive us only to extent we extend the same grace. As I read that, I realized the scales are already skewed: God has already forgiven me so much more than anyone has ever owed me! Even so, v15 makes it pretty clear if I’m not forgiving others everything, there’s really no point in asking God to forgive that for me!
Finally, though the word but often indicates contradiction, I don’t think its use in v13 does. Rather, I think it’s there as repetition: to emphasize the importance of our request that God protect us from temptation and other forms of evil.
CAUSES/MOTIVATIONS
I didn’t find any cause connectors in my focus verse (Matthew 6:13). I did notice two in verse 5, though: “… you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others (emphasis mine).”
In other words, Don’t be like the hypocrites because they love to stand and pray in [public places], [so] that others can see them. Their motivation for praying wasn’t to be heard by God, but to impress others.
In vv7-8, for appears three times as a connector, signaling two reasons Jesus’s followers should not imitate the Gentiles’ example: … for [because] they think they will be heard for [because of] their many words, and … for [because] your Father [already] knows what you need… Finally, in the last four verses of the study passage, I saw Jesus had a single reason for instructing His audience to pray for forgiveness and help against temptation and evil. It was … “for [because there’s a condition to forgiveness, which is:] if you forgive others, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others, neither will [you be forgiven]!
CONDITIONS/METHODS
Isn’t that last revelation of cause also an amazing segue into our conditions/methods discussion? God is so good like that! Though, again, I observe that God has already forgiven me so much more than I’ve ever even had a chance to forgive in others. How to reconcile this? I think it’s simply a matter that God’s love for us is so great, He can forgive even when we are not worthy of that forgiveness. All the more reason to give Him glory! Finally, in v13, it seems to me the prayer is about keeping the requestor from tempting and/or evil conditions. I’m looking forward to digging more deeply into this verse and really understanding what is meant there, since nothing I’ve uncovered so far clarifies what Jesus meant. I just can’t wrap my head around the idea that God would “lead us into” clearly bad things!
Dig-In Challenges
This week, I’ll start refining my understanding of this passage:
- PRAY. Of course!
- REFINE by skimming the book of Matthew to determine which of the following types of writing appears most often in it: instruction, law, letter, narrative, poetry, or prophecy. Then reread Matthew 6:5-15 to see what (if any) other types are in use. Note all the types you find on your Scripture study sheet or in your journal. Recognizing writing types helps us determine whether the author intended the text to be interpreted literally or have an alternative meaning the original audience would probably have understood.
- REFINE: Next, research the book’s historical context by referencing an Introduction to the book of Matthew. This can be found in most bound Bibles immediately before Matthew 1, or by checking out the ESV online. Introductions are written by Bible publishers and provide historical details like who wrote the book, to whom, and when. They often also contain a summary of the book’s content. As you read the intro, note any relevant or interesting facts. Based on what you discover there, how will you interpret Matthew 6:5-15?
- REFINE: Last, look up the meaning of a few key words and/or phrases from your study using an interlinear Bible tool. I like Biblehub.com’s Greek tool for this research. To use: Click the blue arrow to the left or right of the verse citation (“Matthew 6:1”) to scroll to the verse containing words you want to review, then click the number in the Strong’s column that corresponds to the English word or phrase you’re researching. Note anything the Spirit highlights in the information provided.
This “refining” step is more involved than the “mining” we did earlier, but I encourage you to use these tools and dig as much as you can this week. I pray the Spirit will bless your efforts, my friend!
GO TO WEEK 6 >
by Jen | Jul 8, 2025 | 5-15, DISO studies, Matthew 6
NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE.
Thank you for joining me here. As I write this, I’m praying for the families affected by the flood that recently devastated areas along the Guadalupe River in Texas, especially those who have lost loved ones. May they find comfort, help, and healing among us and from above.
Last Week’s Work
REPETITION
With the Spirit’s help, I noticed the repetition of the phrase when you pray, which highlighted three statements about praying I summarized thus: don’t be a hypocrite (v5), pray in private (v6), and don’t drone on and on (v7). I believe these statements were made to emphasize two aspects of God: He sees you when you pray privately and will reward you (v6); and he knows what you need before you ask him (v8).
Next, I noticed various forms of forgive in vv12, 14-15. These establish the principle that forgiveness will be granted to us in the same measure we grant it to others. It’s interesting that Matthew referred to what is being forgiven as debts (v12) in the prayer, then used the term trespasses in the follow-up statement after the prayer. Though these verses aren’t my primary focus in this study, I wonder about the use of such dissimilar English words. If I have time when I’m working through the Refine step, I’d like to see if there’s a literal difference in the original text and what that might mean.
Finally, I noticed several “not”s in this passage:
- Do not be like the hypocrites… (v5).
- Do not heap up phrases… (v7).
- Do not be like them (v8).
- Lead us not into temptation… (v13).
- If you do not forgive… (v15).
Of the five instances above, only the fourth, from my focus verse (v13), is part of the prayer pattern. The rest reflect Jesus’s teaching about the bad examples of the hypocrites and Gentiles, and the importance of treating others as you want God to treat you.
SPECIAL STATEMENTS
Seven Commands. Three of these are recorded in the first three bullets, above (do not be…, do not heap…, do not be…). Of the other four, three are in v6 (go into your room… shut the door…pray to your Father), and the last is in v9 (pray like this…).
One Prayer in vv9-13. But maybe not! Although it sounds like a prayer, and I’ve been praying almost those exact words for more than five decades in various church settings, this week the Spirit has really been drawing my attention to the phrase pray then like this… (v9, emphasis mine). More on that next week!
Two Promises. Your Father… will reward you when you pray privately (v6), and your heavenly Father will also forgive you when you forgive others (v14). Both of these are really good news!
Four Requests. These are all located within the prayer pattern: Give us this day our daily bread (v11), Forgive us our debts (v12), Lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil (v13). The first two seem straightforward, but the last two? I’ll be glad to get some clarity there!
Three Warnings about ineffectual prayers—Do not be like the hypocrites… they have received their reward (v5), Do not heap up empty phrases and do not be like [the Gentiles] (vv7-8)—and how forgiveness works in the kingdom of God: If you do not forgive others…, neither will your Father (v15).
LISTS
This may be a first in my studies: I noticed a list and a sub-list here! They are:
3-Step Prayer Procedure:
- Don’t grandstand (v5); pray in private (v6).
- Don’t try to wear God down with words (v7)
- Follow this 5-Step Prayer Pattern:
A – Honor God (v9).
B – Align your will with His (v10).
C – Mention your need (v11).
D – Ask for forgiveness (v12).
E – Ask for protection from the real enemy (v13).
Dig-In Challenges
This week, let’s wrap up Step 3 by:
- PRAYING: As always, start with the prayer we wrote for Step 1.
- MINING: Read through the passage again looking for comparisons in or related to your focus verses. Look for similarities using like or as, quantitative/qualitative comparisons using more or less, and/or contrasts.
- MINING: Next, look for causes or motives by focusing on key words or phrases I call cause connectors. In this chapter, look for the connectors for and that. Then check the text surrounding the connector for an action and the reason or explanation for that action. For example: in the sentence,
I went to the store because I was out of milk:
the action = I went to the store because the reason = I was out of milk.
NOTE A: for and that don’t always connect an action and a reason. To determine if they do in this passage, read the sentences containing these words replacing for with because, and that with so that or in order that. If the new sentence makes sense and means the same as the original, make a note of the action and its cause.
NOTE B: With all these connectors, you’ll find the action before the cause connector and the reason after it (like the example above).
- MINING: Finally, see if you can find any conditions/methods required for something to happen. For example, does the text say if or when a certain condition is met, some outcome will happen (e.g., whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith (Matt 21:22)? Or does the author describe a particular method by which something happens—for example, specific steps taken to achieve something, or more generally by or through attributes or actions (e.g., saved by grace, through faith (Eph 2:8)? Does he use any adverbs (-ly words) that describe how action was accomplished?
These exercises are more involved, I know, but I’m confident you can do this with the Holy Spirit! Don’t forget to check your How to Dig Into Scripture Ourselves guide, and you can always reach out to me at [email protected] if you have questions.
GO TO WEEK 5 >
by Jen | Jul 1, 2025 | 5-15, DISO studies, Matthew 6
NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE.
Happy Independence Day to my U.S. readers! Amid the hot dogs, potato salad, and fireworks, let us all pause and thank God for the durability of this democracy. May we always strive to be one nation, under God indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Amen!
Last Week’s Work
MY PERSONAL TREASURE
This time, as I prayed over my huh?s and wow!s from last week, I was drawn to the prayer’s final request: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil [or the evil one]” (v13), and I recorded these three thoughts:
- This is the last of the requests. I’ve mentioned before the primacy and recency learning principles: material presented first and last should be the most important because it’s easier for learners to recall that information.
- The choice of verb, lead, seems strange: does God actually lead us to temptation? I thought that was Satan’s job.
- And didn’t Jesus already deliver us on the cross?
So, in this study, I intend to focus on the phrasing in Matthew 6:13.
WHO (FIVE CHARACTERS)
This passage is part of a larger discourse by a character referenced only as I (v5), but Matthew identified Him earlier (in context at 4:17) as Jesus. Jesus refers to His audience as you/your throughout the passage. And they also seem to be a least part of the group referred to as our (v9), us (vv11-13), and we (v12)—with Jesus, I assume.
He also used your, as well as who in vv9-10, to refer to the Father character (v6). I think it’s interesting Jesus didn’t call Him God in this passage.
The last characters I noticed were the two bad examples: the hypocrites/they/their in v5 and Gentiles/they/their/them in vv7-8.
WHERE (FIVE LOCATIONS)
Jesus begins his instruction on prayer with a discussion of where one should pray: not in the synagogues or at the street corners, but alone and in your room with the door shut (v5). He does have good reasons for that though, and we’ll explore them more this coming week!
The other two locations present two contrasts (more on that in two weeks!): the Father is in heaven, and that’s where His will is done (vv9-10). But on earth, where this discourse took place, the audience is enjoined to pray for God’s will to be done (v10).
WHEN (THREE TIMEFRAMES)
By repeating the phrase when you pray (vv5,6,7), Jesus infers that prayer is something the audience already does, and he explains three important prayer techniques: don’t grandstand like the hypocrites, pray in private, and don’t heap up empty phrases like the Gentiles.
The second timeframe I noticed was in v8: Jesus says God already knows what you need before you ask for it. And last, in v11, I discovered Jesus’s prayer is intended to ask for bread daily. That makes me think prayer should be a regular, daily occurrence.
Dig-In Challenges
Here’s my plan for this week:
- PRAY the prayer I wrote last week before I study.
- MINE: Look for repeated words or phrases like(hint hint) when you pray in this passage; and check for synonyms or pronouns that might refer to emphasized concepts, too.
- MINE: Locate any special statements (blessings, commands, curses, prayers, promises, requests, and/or warnings) in the passage.
- MINE: Note any lists (3 or more similar items) mentioned in Matthew 6:5-15.
Remember, you can download this printable summary of the DISO process for more specific instructions. I hope you’ll check in with me next week!
GO TO WEEK 4 >
by Jen | Jun 24, 2025 | 5-15, DISO studies, Matthew 6
NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE.
Hi there!
Welcome back! As I write this, geopolitical events in the Middle East make me wonder (again!) if this is the conflict to end all conflicts, but only God knows that for sure. Even so, time is running out. In our last online study we saw eternal life comes only from belief in Jesus as the son of God (John 3:16-18). My friend, if you are on the fence about Jesus, I encourage you to seek whatever information you need to decide in your heart that He is God’s Son who died for you. When we pass from this earthly existence, it will be too late to choose Him as Savior (Luke 16:26; Hebrews 9:27-28).
Know also, your decision for Christ doesn’t mean you have to join a church or even go to church. But this earthly walk is so much better when we find a place of sanctuary where we can be with other Christians, learning and teaching among them. Church is simply a place—like this study, really—where you can go to learn more about Jesus and talk with members of the family of God. He will draw you to the right place for you if you let Him. Now, let’s dig in!
Last Week’s Work
MY PRAYER
For this study, I’m praying:
Lord, thank You for another chance to study prayer, and specifically, the prayer You gave us. Open my eyes, heart, and mind so I can: see what Your Spirit—my Helper—wants me to see, understand it as Matthew and his audience did, and make a plan to align with the principle I’ll discover here. In Jesus’s name I pray. Amen!
HUH? and WOW! MOMENTS
These are my questions and discoveries from surveying the passage:
HUH?s
- What does Matthew mean in v6, “… your Father who is in secret”?
- Do vv7-8 mean we shouldn’t pray long prayers?
- What does it mean to “hallow” the Father’s name (v9)?
- How do I know God’s will (v10)?
- Referencing the footnote to v13: “For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen:” what’s the origin of that phrase? Why was it left out of some manuscripts?
WOW!s
- Don’t pray in public to be seen by others if you want God to grant something beyond people’s attention (v5).
- Hypocrites (v5) and Gentiles (v7) weren’t effective prayer warriors.
- Verses 9-10 indicate actual petition should come after “hallowing” God’s name and submitting to His will.
- The only physical request mentioned is for food (v11).
- We will be forgiven to the extent we forgive others (v12, vv14-15).
- The final request is to not be tempted, but “delivered” from evil (v13).
Dig-In Challenges
If you’re studying this passage with me, listen to the Spirit this week, and choose a personal Huh? or Wow! to dig more deeply into. Going forward, I’ll refer to this as your personal treasure. It can be something you noticed in your study, one of the items I’ve listed above, or anything else the Holy Spirit has laid upon your heart as you think about this passage. As we study, we’ll consider everything in the chapter, but we’ll gradually narrow our focus to the verses that talk about our treasure.
- PRAY for the Spirit to direct your focus for the remainder of this study. In your journal, record the personal treasure He identifies, along with any verse(s) relating to it from the study text.
- MINE: Read Matthew 6:5-15, focusing on the setting (who’s involved, and where and when the action took place). Note anything the Spirit emphasizes about the characters involved, any locations mentioned, and any timeframes discussed.
I hope you’ll check in next week to see what the Spirit is showing me.
GO TO WEEK 3 >
by Jen | Jun 17, 2025 | 5-15, DISO studies, Introduction, Matthew 6
Hi! Thanks for joining me in this Digging into Scripture Ourselves (DISO) study of Matthew 6:5-15. I can’t wait to see what the Holy Spirit will reveal to us here!
If it seems we’ve studied this passage before, we have. This is the fourth of seven studies I’m calling Restoration. I explored the Lord’s Prayer five years ago (!) in this blog using my original “20 Questions” version of DISO. Unfortunately, the online version of those posts was destroyed a few years ago. Late last year I felt called to bring back the studies of widely recognized passages like this one. Rather than simply republishing those old posts, though, I sensed the Spirit leading me to study those verses again, this time leaning more on Him as we walk through the five steps of Praying, Surveying, Mining, Refining, and Aligning.
Let’s Study Matthew 6:5-15!
This week, I’ll begin by praying and surveying Matthew 6:5-15. If you want to study on your own with me, here’s what I recommend you have ready:
- A copy of Matthew 6:5-15, plus access to the entire Gospel of Matthew.
I like to refer often to the text I’m studying and sometimes make notes on it, so I copy the passage from https://www.blueletterbible.org, paste it into a word processing program like Google docs or MS Word, change the formatting to suit my preferences, and print it out. If you want to use the ESV translation, here’s a pdf of my Scripture study sheet with lots of room for doodles and notes.
- A study journal.
We’ll spend the next seven weeks immersed in and learning about Matthew 6:5-15. And the work we’ll do each week builds on what came before, so plan to record at least some highlights from your work over the coming weeks. I’m old-school and like the pen-and-paper method for journaling my studies, but it’s okay if that doesn’t work for you. If you don’t have time to write out or type your notes, consider dictating them into a notes app, or recording audio files, instead.
Or, you may decide to just read the posts I publish here. That’s good, too, because you’ll become familiar with the process and see how the Spirit speaks to my situation. You may find that’s enough to make it worth your while to keep checking in with me, even if you can’t dig into Matthew 6:5-15 yourself this time.
Dig-In Challenges
So, here’s how I’ll be studying this week:
- PRAY: I’ll be creating a prayer with which I’ll start each of my weekly study sessions. If you’ve studied with me before, you know I usually just adapt a previous prayer. Though I’ve almost memorized the bones of my prayer, I still write it in my study journal to remind me to pray it each time I open the notebook.
- SURVEY: Then I’ll read Matthew 6:5-15, noting anything that makes me say, “huh?” (as in, “I wonder what that means?”) or “wow” (as in, “that is so awesome!”). I’ll record these and later ask the Spirit to direct me to the one I should dig deepest into right now.
If you’d like more information about these steps, check out this printable summary of the process I’ll be using over the next eight weeks. Or, you can always reach out to me with your questions through my contact page or at [email protected].
I’m looking forward to sharing what I discover in this process with you, along with relevant snippets of my previous Lord’s Prayer study from 2020, so I hope you’ll keep checking in with me each week!
GO TO WEEK 2 >
by Jen | Jun 10, 2025 | 1-21, DISO studies, John 3
NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE.
Welcome back to the final post for our 2025 John 3:1-21 study!
Last Week’s Work
LESSON(S) LEARNED
As I went through my notes for this study, my attention landed on how it seems Jesus and Nicodemus are “talking past” each other: trading comments, but neither seems to pay much attention to what the other says.
Intellectually, I know that’s not so. Jesus, as God, loves Nicodemus. I can’t believe He’s purposefully trying to confuse or irritate him. In my review today, I noticed for the first time a subtle shift in their discussion at v7. Before, I just saw the declaration You must be born again as a summary of his statements in vv3 and 5. Now, though, I see he’s clarifying and personalizing the warning. As in, “you, Nicodemus, must be changed—transformed—to understand and be a part of God’s kingdom.” But there’s more to what He said there. In the English Standard Version of John 3:7, there’s a translation footnote indicating that word you is plural, so I think Jesus might have been referring to Nicodemus and other Pharisees, an elite group of Jewish religious leaders whom Jesus called out for hypocrisy (see Matthew 23). That also seems to be the case in vv11 and 12.
CONVICTION
Looking back over the last three studies I’ve done this year, I’m again convicted of wavering faith. In my Genesis 3 study, I resonated with Eve’s vulnerability to our enemy’s faith attacks, especially when I’m separated from God. And in Joshua 2, Rahab’s faith over her fear helped me see how my faith increases when I stay immersed in God’s Word (Romans 10:17). Now, as my husband and I inch closer to a deadline that won’t be met if God doesn’t move on our behalf, I am again reminded that “… faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not [yet] seen (Hebrews 11:1, emphasis mine).”
CORRECTION
In my cross-reference review of kingdom of God, the Spirit highlighted Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (emphasis mine).” That doesn’t necessarily mean God will do what we are asking of Him right now if we pass the “seek” test. If His answer to our prayer is “no,” it’s no. We’ll survive. We still pray “Lord, turn our fear to faith. May we always seek Your kingdom and Your righteousness above everything else in our lives. In Jesus’s name we pray. Amen.”
ACTION PLAN
The interesting thing about this situation is that my husband and I have already stepped out in faith. We believed we were being called to something and have invested time and money for it; investments we won’t get back if the plan doesn’t work out. The only thing left to do is to wait for the Lord (Psalm 27:14). But that is proving easier said than done!
Our Next Study
Next week we’ll start another study in the “blast from the past” series: The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:5-15). I hope you’ll join me for that one, too!
