Matthew 6:5

Plain English Version

Jesus said, “Don’t pray like those people that want everyone to think they are good, even though they are not good. They like to stand up and pray in the meeting houses and on the busy street corners, so that lots of people can see them praying. They want to hear people say, ‘That’s a good person.’ But listen, that is all those people will get. God will not give them anything good for doing that.”

Cross References

Matthew 6:1

Jesus kept on teaching the people. He said, “If you only do good things so that people will see you and think you are good, God will not do good to you. Instead, you have to do good things and keep them secret. Then your father in heaven will do good things for you.

Matthew 6:16

Jesus kept on teaching the people. Some of those people used to stop eating for a while, so they can think about God and respect him. Jesus said, “Whenever you stop eating for a while, make sure you look the same as you always look. You know, there are some people that want everyone to think they are good, even though they are not good. Whenever they stop eating food to respect God, they want everyone to know what they are doing, so they let their faces get dirty, and they try to look sad. They want people to say, ‘That’s a good person.’ But listen, that is all those people will get. God will not give them anything good for doing that. Don’t be like them.

Matthew 6:2

You know, there are some people that want everyone to think they are good, even though they are not good. So whenever they give something to help a poor person, they do it in front of the meeting house or on a busy street, so that people will see it and say that they are good. But listen, that is all those people will get. God will not give them anything good for doing that. Don’t be like them.

Matthew 9:38

So you have to ask God to send more workers out to tell everyone about me, just like the farmer has to ask for more workers for his crop.”

Mark 11:25

And whenever you pray, first think about this. If somebody did a wrong thing to you, you have to let it go. Don’t think about payback. If you let it go, then God will let go of all the wrong things you have done too. He will say you are not guilty, and he will not do payback. So before you pray to God, you have to let go of all the wrong things that people did to you.”

Mark 12:38

Jesus kept on teaching the people. He said, “Look out for those Jewish law teachers. They think they are great. They wear real good clothes so that people will think they are important. They like people to say hello to them whenever they go shopping.

Luke 11:43

Yes, God will make trouble for you Pharisee mob. You try to get people to think you are important. Whenever you go to a meeting house, you want the good seats that are for important people. And whenever you walk around the shopping places, you want people to respect you and say hello to you in a good way.

Luke 18:1

Jesus told his followers a picture story to teach them to keep on praying to God, and never give up.

Luke 18:13

But the tax man was sorry for the bad things he did. He felt shame, so he did not stand close to the other people. He looked down at the ground, and he hit himself on his chest. He said, ‘I’m sorry, God. I know I did bad things. Please feel sorry for me and don’t punish me.’ ”

John 16:24

You haven’t asked God for that sort of thing before, so ask him, and you will get whatever you ask for. Then you will be really happy.”

Ephesians 6:18

And always pray in the way that God’s spirit leads you. Pray about every problem, and pray in all sorts of ways, and ask God for whatever you need. So always keep on praying for all God’s people.

1 Thessalonians 5:17

Be ready to pray to God at any time. –

James 4:6

And remember that God is really good to us. His book says this too, “God is against people that think they are great, but he is good to people that know they are not great.”