Matthew 6:18 teaches that when you fast, the goal is to be seen by God rather than by people, and God notices what is done quietly. Jesus says this in the Sermon on the Mount, speaking to a crowd of ordinary listeners who were learning what their devotion should look like from the inside out.
So that you are not seen by men to be fasting, but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.
Matthew 6:18 (WEB)
What Matthew 6:18 Means
The verse begins with the purpose of fasting. Jesus is not forbidding fasting, which was a regular part of Jewish piety, but He is changing its audience. The phrase “not seen by men” points to the public display some people used to win admiration. What matters is that the hidden act is seen by “your Father who is in secret,” a way of saying that God is present even where no one else looks.
The final clause makes a promise: “your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.” The reward is not spelled out in detail here, and it would be a mistake to treat it as a formula that guarantees a specific result. What the verse does promise is that God takes notice of sincere devotion and responds to it in His own way and in His own time.
The Context of Matthew 6:18
Matthew’s Gospel is traditionally attributed to the apostle Matthew, a former tax collector, and it was written with a Jewish audience in view. The Sermon on the Mount, which runs through chapters 5 to 7, sets out the character Jesus expects from His followers, and chapter 6 deals with three practices people commonly used to show religious devotion: giving, praying and fasting.
The verses just before this one describe people who “disfigure their faces” to look pious, and the verses just after shift to storing up treasure in heaven rather than on earth. Read in that setting, the verse is about where a person’s real attention is placed. It is a call to let God, not public approval, be the one who sees and matters.
Key Phrases in Matthew 6:18
Psalm 139:1-2
1 The LORD, you have searched me, and you know me. 2 You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar.
(WEB)
This psalm celebrates a God who knows us completely, from the way we sit down to the way we rise up. It deepens the truth of Matthew 6:18 by showing that the Father who sees in secret is not a stranger watching from afar but the One who knows every private thought and motion.
Colossians 3:23-24
23 And whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord, and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.
(WEB)
Paul encourages believers to work wholeheartedly as serving the Lord rather than people. This passage echoes the call of Matthew 6:18 by reminding you that the true audience of your faithful work is God, and that He is the one who gives the lasting reward.
A Short Prayer From Matthew 6:18
Father, you see what no one else sees. Forgive me for the times I have wanted to be noticed more than I have wanted to be near You. Teach me to pray, fast and give in ways that rest on Your presence rather than on the approval of others. Let my heart be quiet before You, and let my faithfulness be real even when it goes unseen by anyone else. Thank you for seeing me in secret and for being faithful to reward those who seek You. Amen.
