THE HABIT LOOP IN THE BIBLE

Jesus tackles the possible pitfall of three ostensibly good habits during his Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6: 

• Giving to the needy (6:2)
• Praying (6:5)
• Fasting (6:16)

All three fall under the umbrella of "practicing your righteousness in front of others" and the pitfall lurks in the motivation.

His warning is interesting in light of what Charles Duhigg calls the "habit loop" in The Power of Habit:

(Charles Duhigg, The Power of Habit page 19)

Here's Jesus's warning: "Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your father in heaven." (Matt 6:1)

Ultimately, the question Jesus poses for each of these righteous routines - charity, prayer, or fasting - is this: What motivates you? Duhigg and Jesus employ the same term: What reward will this habit bring you?

Jesus frames it as an audience dichotomy: you either perform your righteous acts for other people or for God. 

If you seek to be raised in the estimation of people around you, then when that happens, it will be all you get.

On the other hand, if your desire is to obey and to please the Lord, then "your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you" (Matt 6:4, 6, and 18).

It is interesting that Jesus does not elaborate one bit on what sort of reward God bestows on those who give and pray and fast in private. Or when he bestows these rewards. 

In the present moment, then, our reward should be the knowledge that we are pleasing God. 

(But many of us have a hard time imagining anything we do actually pleases God, don't we?)