Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18
1 "(But) take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
2 When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
3 But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing,
4 so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
5 "When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
6 But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
16 "When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
18 so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.
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These are good words for all of us to follow.
God is the object of our faith, and the only purpose of our love, prayer, and actions is to please God. The problem is, Satan can and will play off this. Deep in our minds we get concerned with what other people think of us. At the beginning, we even think that we care what others think because we want them to be able to see God in us. We want them to see us, so they can see God.
At that point, though, the focus can quickly move away from God and toward us. If we give Satan that opening, he will run through the hole every time. This is pride working. That's Satan's sin, and he knows how to use it.
So ... is this passage telling us that everything spiritual is to be done in secret? Clearly not. As we saw in Matthew 5, Christ told us to let our light shine, and that men will see the deeds we do and give our Father praise. His point here is that our focus needs to be entirely on God. If God wants someone else to get a message through us, it's up to Him to handle that, not us.
As Christ said to Peter at the end of John's gospel -- "you follow me." That's the call, nothing else.
