Matthew 6:9
Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.”
When we come to God as our Heavenly Father it corrects our inclination to diminish his character or power or love. And by asking Him to make his name great we are repenting of our desire to make our own name great. Even more, this is a request to participate in the glorification of God’s name. We are not merely saying, “God, go and do your thing.” We are his children. We bear the family name. When we pray, “Hallow your name” we are saying do this through us; do this in our lives. In fact, as children of God and as subjects of God’s kingdom every request we make of God is one we must be willing to participate in to whatever extent we are able. Of course we ask him to do things that are beyond our abilities, but our hearts yearn to be part of God’s answer. So when we pray “hallowed be your name” we are asking God to make our lives living declarations of his glory, his goodness, his power.
And when we pray “hallowed be your name” we are saying that the greatest good in every situation is the glory of God. We are saying, “Come what may, be obviously and unignorably glorious.” This is the banner over the whole Lord’s prayer, the wrap-around reality that is true in every request that follows. Hallow your name by bringing your kingdom, by doing your will, by giving our daily bread, by leading us, by delivering us from evil, by forgiving us our debts. Hallow your name in our lives as we submit to you, depend on you, follow you, and receive your goodness. Above all and in all, Father, glorify your name.
I originally wrote this post for my church, Immanuel Nashville, in our Daily Pulse email. If you want encouragement from God’s word delivered Monday thru Friday to your inbox, I encourage you to subscribe.
