Day eight's morning reading covers charitable deeds, prayer and fasting. Here are a few interesting notes:
It is interesting to note that the common thread woven throughout this set of verses is public versus private. God desires for us to worship Him in spirit and in truth because we love Him, not so that men will see what we are doing and grant us earthly praise.
We are to publicly proclaim the name of Christ, however, we are not to let everyone know every good deed we do for earthly gain. As I wrote previously, God looks at our inward motivations not just the outward actions.
In vv. 9-13 Christ says we should pray in this way; He does not say we are to pray that exact prayer. In fact, in v. 7 Christ forbids meaningless repetition; once again it goes back to the intrinsic desires and motivations of one's heart. It is not just the outward prayer, but the heart of the one praying that God cares about.
In vv. 16-18 Christ treats fasting as if it should be a normal, natural part of one's spiritual life.
