Table of Contents
- The Sermon on the Mount contains messages for me.
- Our motives for doing good works
- I can pray to my Heavenly Father as Jesus did.
- Heavenly Father will hear and answer me when I pray.
- I can seek eternal treasures instead of earthly treasures.
- Righteous Judgement
- I should treat others the way I want to be treated.
- I can build on a strong foundation by following Jesus.
- Additional Resources
Matthew CHAPTER 6 Jesus continues the Sermon on the Mount—He teaches the disciples the Lord’s Prayer—They are commanded to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
Matthew CHAPTER 7 Jesus concludes the Sermon on the Mount—He commands, Judge not; ask of God; beware of false prophets—He promises salvation to those who do the will of the Father.
The Sermon on the Mount contains messages for me.
Come, Follow Me—For Primary: New Testament 2023 “Matthew 6–7” These chapters have many messages that could apply to the children you teach. Read them with the children in mind. What stands out to you?
- Remind the children that they have been learning about what Jesus taught during the Sermon on the Mount. What truths can they remember learning about last week?
- Write on the board some phrases from the Sermon on the Mount and some other phrases that are not from the scriptures. Invite the children to identify which phrases come from the Sermon on the Mount. Ask them to share what they learn from these teachings.
See The Red Crystal for phrases that can be printed and used for the above and below activity.
- Select several verses from Matthew 6–7 that you feel will be meaningful to the children. Write the scripture references on cards, and hide them throughout the room. Let the children find them, read the verses, and explain why these teachings are important to them.
- Share one of your favorite passages from Matthew 6–7, and explain why you like it. If the children have a passage they like, invite them to share why they like it and what they learn from it.
- Sing with the children a song about the Savior and His teachings, such as “I’m Trying to Be like Jesus” (Children’s Songbook, 78–79). Stop the song when you come to a phrase that relates to a principle taught in Matthew 6–7. Help the children make connections to things they are learning from these chapters.
Our motives for doing good works
New Testament Seminary Student Manual (2023) “Matthew 6:1–18”
Think about the following statement: Gustavo fixed his neighbor’s fence.
- What do you think about Gustavo?
Would your opinion change if Gustavo fixed the fence because he broke it in a fit of rage? What if he fixed it as part of a service project that his mom made him attend? What if he fixed it because he didn’t want his neighbor’s dog coming into his yard or because he was trying to impress his neighbor’s daughter? Or what if he simply wanted to be kind?
- Why are our motives important?
We read in Matthew 6 that the Savior continued His Sermon on the Mount and taught about motives for doing good works. To help you think about the reasons you do good works such as ministering, serving others, praying, and attending [church], do the following activity.
Create a three-column chart in your study journal. Fill out the top of the chart as follows:
| What are three good works you have done in the past week? (List one per row.) | What were your reasons for doing them? | How did you feel after you did these good works? |
Read Matthew 6:1–6, 16–18, looking for what the Savior taught about our motives for our righteous acts. The word alms refers to “acts of religious devotion” ( verse 1, footnote b), such as giving to the poor. The word hypocrites refers to those who are “pretenders” ( verse 2, footnote a).
- How would you summarize what the Savior taught?
It is important to understand that public prayer is not wrong simply because it is not done “in secret” ( Matthew 6:6). Prayer and other religious practices can be performed publicly if they are performed with sincerity, devotion, and a desire to glorify God. This is also true in regard to fasting. The phrases “sad countenance” and “they disfigure their faces” in Matthew 6:16 refer to individuals in Jesus’s time who made outward displays of their fasting to draw attention to themselves.
I can pray to my Heavenly Father as Jesus did.
Come, Follow Me—For Primary: New Testament 2023 “Matthew 6–7” Children can learn to pray by listening to others’ prayers. How can you help them learn from Jesus Christ’s prayer in these verses?
- Review Jesus’s teachings about prayer found in Matthew 6:5–13. You might use “Chapter 20: Jesus Teaches about Prayer” (in New Testament Stories, 51–52, or the corresponding video on ChurchofJesusChrist.org).
Friend March 2019 “Jesus Taught about Prayer” Jesus taught the steps of prayer in the Sermon on the Mount” Video
Friend October 2020 “Jesus Taught Us How to Pray”
- Use this week’s activity page to help the children remember the different parts of prayer.
Friend February 2017 “The Lord’s Prayer” Jesus taught his disciples to pray. This link includes an explanation for what the words in the Lord’s Prayer mean. It also includes an activity idea for making a mobile of the things that should be included in a prayer.
Friend February 2022 “Jade Says a Prayer” The steps Jade follows to say her prayer. (Activity: Find some of the things Jade is thankful for in the picture.)
Friend June 2016 “Caleb’s Bedtime Prayer” Caleb learns what to pray for.
Friend March 1985 “Sharing Time: What Shall I Say When I Pray?” Cut out the words and picture. Glue each title on separate piece of colored paper. Decide where you think each picture belongs—is it something you are grateful for, or is it something you might ask a blessing for? Some pictures may go either place. Glue each picture under title you have chosen. Add your own drawings as you think of other things.
- To help the children think about what they might say when they pray, you could ask them how they would finish sentences like these: “We thank Thee for …” and “We ask Thee for …” Let the children draw pictures of things they might give thanks for or ask for in a prayer.
- Trace each child’s hand on a piece of paper. Talk about what we should do with our hands and arms while we pray. On each tracing, write something we do to show reverence when we pray (for example, bowing our heads, closing our eyes, and so on).
Friend July 2018 “Arturo’s Family Prayer” Choose which picture shows respect and reverence for Heavenly Father during prayer.
- Sing a song about prayer with the children, such as “We Bow Our Heads” (Children’s Songbook, 25), and bear your testimony of the power of prayer. Invite the children to share their experiences with prayer.
Heavenly Father will hear and answer me when I pray.
Come, Follow Me—For Primary: New Testament 2023 “Matthew 6–7” As you study Matthew 6:5–13; 7:7–11, what do you feel the children need to understand about prayer?
- Invite the children to read Matthew 6:9–13 out loud and then list things the Savior said in His prayer. How can we follow His example when we pray?
Friend February 2017 “The Lord’s Prayer” Jesus taught his disciples to pray. This link includes an explanation for what the words in the Lord’s Prayer mean. It also includes an activity idea for making a mobile of the things that should be included in a prayer.
New Testament Coloring Book “Sermon on the Mount”
“Lesson 11: Jesus Christ Teaches about Prayer,” Primary 7: New Testament Write on separate pieces of paper several situations, similar to the ones in the following list, that the children might find themselves in (or you could tell them the situations). Ask the children to each come up and choose a piece of paper. Have them talk about how they would feel in the situation and what they would do.
- You have fallen off a bike and hurt your leg. No one is around and you don’t know if you can walk home.
- You have a fever and an upset stomach. Your parents have done everything they can to make you feel better, but you are still very sick.
- You have an assignment due in school tomorrow. You’ve worked hard on it, but it’s not as good as you want it to be and you don’t know how to fix it.
- You have been outside playing and when you come home no one is there. You are frightened because you don’t know where your family has gone.
- Your grandparents gave you some money for your birthday, and now it isn’t where you thought you put it.
- You are sitting outside after dark and you notice how beautiful the stars look.
- You are helping your family grow a garden, and you notice that the plants are getting bigger and the vegetables and fruit are getting ripe.
Explain that we can pray to Heavenly Father for help with any problem that troubles us, to share our feelings with him, or to express our gratitude. Heavenly Father will always hear our sincere prayers.
- Sing a song about prayer with the children, such as “Did You Think to Pray?” (Hymns, no. 140). Help the children search the lyrics to find reasons we pray and blessings that come from prayer.
- Help the children memorize Matthew 7:7 by playing a game like the following: One child recites the first word or phrase from the verse and then tosses a ball to another child, who then recites the next word or phrase.
- Act out Matthew 7:9–10 with the children using simple props. Ask the children to share what this teaches them about prayer.
Friend January 2017 “Will Heavenly Father Answer My Prayers” Heavenly Father will answer our prayers in the way that is best and we need to have faith and trust in Him.
- Share an experience in which your prayers were answered.
Friend January 2021 “Jaechan’s First Day” Jaechan was excited to start school. But after his mom dropped him off at the gate, he got lost in the school halls and couldn’t find his classroom. He was scared and said a prayer asking for his mom to come find him. A few minutes later his mom came around the corner. She had a feeling she should check to make sure he made it to class okay.
“Lesson 11: Jesus Christ Teaches about Prayer,” Primary 7: New Testament Tell the children that thee, thou, thy, and thine are special words we use to refer to God in our prayers. These words show our respect and love for him. Have a child read Matthew 6:9–13 and have the other children raise their hands whenever they hear one of these prayer words. Do the same thing with the song, “I Thank Thee, Dear Father,” (Children’s Songbook,p. 7).
Matthew 6:7 What does it mean to use “vain repetitions” in prayer?
People often understand “vain repetitions” to mean repeating the same words over and over again. However, the word vain can describe something that has no value. Using “vain repetitions” in prayer can mean praying without sincere, heartfelt feeling (see Alma 31:12–23).
I can seek eternal treasures instead of earthly treasures.
Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families: New Testament 2023 “Matthew 6-7”
Come, Follow Me—For Primary: New Testament 2023 “Matthew 6–7” How will you help the children you teach place greater value on eternal things than on worldly things?
Matthew 6:19–24. In these verses, the Savior used the word treasures to mean what we value greatly, and eye to symbolize our focus in life.
- Bring a “treasure” box filled with objects or pictures that represent things the world values—for example, money or toys. Read Matthew 6:19–21 together, and then ask the children to help you think of heavenly treasures that could replace the worldly items in the box.
Friend January 2017 “The Next Level” Max takes a week off from playing games and he learns new things, spends time with his family, serves, and feels the Spirit.
Friend October 2016 Which is laying up treasures in heaven.
- Invite the children to name or draw some things they could do to “lay up … treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:20).
Righteous Judgement
Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families: New Testament 2023 “Matthew 6-7”
In Matthew 7:1, the Savior may seem to be saying we should never judge, but in other scriptures (including other verses in this chapter), He gives us instructions about how to judge. If that seems puzzling, the Joseph Smith Translation of this verse might help: “Judge not unrighteously, that ye be not judged; but judge righteous judgment” (in Matthew 7:1, footnote a). What do you find in Matthew 7:1–5, along with the rest of the chapter, that helps you know how to “judge righteous judgment”?
To visualize the teachings in these verses, your family could find a mote (a tiny wood fragment) and a beam (a large piece of wood). What does comparing the two teach us about judging others? If you’d like to explore this topic further, you could use some of the resources in “Judging Others” (Gospel Topics, topics.ChurchofJesusChrist.org).
New Testament Seminary Student Manual (2023) “Matthew 7:1–5”
Read Matthew 7:2–5, looking for other teachings about judging. In verse 3, the Savior referred to a sliver of wood as a mote (see footnote b) and a large piece of wood as a beam (see footnote c).
Why would it be difficult for someone with a beam in their eye to remove a mote from someone else’s eye?
Friend June 2016 Parable about seeing a weed in someone else’s yard but not seeing all the weeds in own yard.
I should treat others the way I want to be treated.
Come, Follow Me—For Primary: New Testament 2023 “Matthew 6–7” Jesus’s teaching in Matthew 7:12—also known as the Golden Rule—provides a simple guide for how to treat others. What will help the children you teach live by this principle?
- Read Matthew 7:12, and paraphrase it in simple words that the children can understand. Help the children think of several ways to complete a sentence like the following: “I like it when others_______ for me.” After each sentence, invite them to repeat with you, “So I should______ for others.”
The below video isn’t produced by the church, but it has some examples of the golden rule. Watching it without the volume on and discussing each picture might be a good way to show some examples.
- Sing with the children a song that you feel reinforces Matthew 7:12, such as “Jesus Said Love Everyone” (Children’s Songbook, 61). Make up simple actions to accompany the song. Ask the children what they learn about how we should treat others from the Savior’s example.
- Invite the children to list kind things their parents or other family members do for them. Read Matthew 7:12, and invite the children to name kind things they can do for their families.
Latter Day Kids “Love One Another” Lesson ideas
I can build on a strong foundation by following Jesus.
Come, Follow Me—For Primary: New Testament 2023 “Matthew 6–7” Using the Savior’s parable about building a house on sand or on a rock can be a memorable way to teach children about the importance of acting on what we learn.
The Wise Man and the Foolish Man Explain that “the wise man built his house upon the rock” means that wise man built his life upon the teachings of Jesus. The foolish man didn’t and his house (life) fell apart in the storms of life. Discussion Ideas: What things in our life are like the rain and wind? How does following Jesus’s teachings protect us and make our faith strong as a house built on a rock? Song: “The Wise Man and the Foolish Man” (Children’s Songbook, 281) Scripture: Matthew 7:24–29
Friend March 2015 “The Wise Man and the Foolish Man”
Rock Art: Choose a smooth rock. With a marker or paint, write “Jesus Christ” on it. Talk about why it’s so important to build our lives on His teachings. Keep the rock in a place where you can see it often.
- Sing with the children “The Wise Man and the Foolish Man” (Children’s Songbook, 281), and use actions to go along with the words.
- Use Matthew 7:24–27 to teach about the differences between the wise man and the foolish man. Invite the children to pretend they are building a house. How can we be like the wise man?
- Let the children draw pictures of the parable of the wise man and the foolish man.
Friend March 2018 “Food and Fun: Wisdom Rocks” Put a wise thought or scripture on a rock to inspire you.
Come, Follow Me—For Sunday School: New Testament 2023 “Matthew 6–7” To visualize this parable, class members could work together to build a strong foundation using blocks, cups, or other materials and then test the strength of their foundations. Perhaps they could also label their building materials with things they can do to apply the Savior’s teachings. How could doing these things help us withstand the storms of life?
Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families: New Testament 2023 “Matthew 6-7”
To help your family better understand the Savior’s parable of the wise man and the foolish man, you could let them pour water on sand and then on a rock. How can we build our spiritual foundations on a rock?
- “Sharing Time: Build Upon My Rock” (August 2004 Liahona and Friend)
Includes a printable door hanger. - “Sharing Time: Build upon My Rock” (February 1991 Friend)
Includes instructions for a paper craft about the story of the wise man and the foolish man. - Scripture Figures: “The Wise Man and the Foolish Man” (July 1999 Friend)
Additional Resources
