Jesus Said To Pray Like This – Part 2 of 7
A Deeper Look At The Lord’s Prayer Series
Matthew 6:9-13
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,for ever. Amen.
Hallowed Be Thy Name
Matthew 6:9
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Prayer should amaze us, some of the things God tells us to pray for that is.
I mean if God is sovereign over all things and knows all things (He does) and is good (He is), then us making requests from God seems unnecessary (they aren’t).
Yet we see all through scripture that devout men and women of God prayed. Not only thanking God in prayer but making requests for things that seem to be what God would already want.
Here are a couple of examples of what I’m talking about.
Matthew 9:37-38
Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. ‘
Example 1
This is Jesus telling his disciples to pray for something that he wants to happen, for the Gospel message to go forth throughout the world through those who would take it to the world.
This is obviously in the wheelhouse of the abilities of our Sovereign God, to raise up laborers to carry out this task or else Jesus wouldn’t say to pray for it. It is obviously something He wants to happen, yet rather than just doing it Jesus says to pray for it in order that it will happen.
Example 2
Ephesians 6:18-19
praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel,
This is Paul telling the Ephesian church to pray for him to speak boldly on behalf of the Gospel when it’s obvious that it is already God’s will that Paul speak boldly on behalf of the Gospel.
Prayer is not just man’s way of getting God’s will on earth but God’s way of getting God’s will on earth.
This is one of the great mysteries- that God ordains that the prayers of His saints bring about His own will.
“often as I pray the thought comes to mind that the thing we pray for has already been decided one way or the other, this is no good reason to cease praying, however. The event or thing certainly has been decided, even before the foundation of the world. One of the factors, however, that really causes it to happen may be the very prayer that we are now offering.” -C.S. Lewis
In the first part of this prayer we looked at who it is we are to pray to “Our Father in heaven” and we found out that God wants us to come to him like a child coming to his good Father.
In this part of the same verse, we are going to see a balance of the way we are to come to him because not only are we to come to him like a child coming to its father but we are to also recognize Him as The Almighty God and that His name is to be hallowed.
So What Is It To Hallow The Name Of God?
…Hallowed be thy name.
Hallowed Means Sanctified, Set Apart or Holy
This may surprise you but what Jesus is saying here is to pray this as a petition not just make a declaration.
What does God’s word say in order to figure out what it means to make God’s name hallowed?
Let’s look at the story of Moses striking the rock when he was supposed to just speak to the rock.
Numbers 20:12
And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”
To make the name of God hallowed is to believe in Him.
Isaiah 8:13
But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
To make the name of God hallowed is to fear Him.
Leviticus 22:31-32
Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do them: I am the LORD. Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the LORD which hallow you,
To Hallow the name of God is to obey Him, to keep His commandments.
Leviticus 10:3
Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD has said, Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified. “‘And Aaron held his peace.
To make the name of God hallowed is to glorify Him.
This is not a deceleration of God’s Holiness, it is a petition for God to set apart His name and make it be regarded as Holy.
When We Pray That God’s Name Be Hallowed Let’s Look At 4 Ways We Should Be Thinking About That Happening.
Praying That God’s Name Be Hallowed In My Life
Romans 12:1
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
God wants us to present everything we are as a living sacrifice to Him. Why?
1 Peter
you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Because we are a Holy priesthood we are called to serve God for His glory.
1 Corinthians 10:31
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
No matter what it is we do, no matter how grand or menial the task, we should do it unto the Glory of God.
“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.” —Martin Luther King Jr.
Everything we do should bring glory to God, If it can’t bring glory to God we shouldn’t do it.
How does doing all this bring glory to God?
Matthew 5:14-16
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
When others see the evidence of God in our lives they too may give glory to God.
By believing God, Fearing God, walking in obedience to God, and glorifying God we Hallow God’s name, and when we pray this we are asking God to cause these things in our lives.
2nd way we should be thinking when we ask God to hallow His name.
Praying That God’s Name Be Hallowed In My Family
1 Corinthians 7:14
For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.
By God working in us to have His name Hallowed the effects are multiplied through others.
One way this is done is by God working through us to show himself to our families.
How I wish I would have prayed this more and lived this out better in my family through prayer and family devotions when my children were young. I have always had a habit of spending most of my Bible reading and prayer time early in the morning before anyone else in my family were out of bed instead of doing this with them so that they could witness it and be a part of it.
I specifically remember one time one of my daughters coming into the living room while I was down on my knees praying early in the morning when she was very young. I didn’t know she was there and had seen me doing this and she later mentioned it to me as though it was something strange to her. While I am glad she witnessed it, I am sad that seeing her dad in this position praying to God was strange to her because it is something that should have been ordinary to her.
3rd way we should be thinking when we ask God to hallow His name.
Praying That God’s Name Be Hallowed In Community
God carries this way out through His church.
Ephesians 5:25-27
…Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
Romans 15:5-7
May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
When we gather together, we come together with one voice to glorify the God of heaven.
We do this because we believe, because we have a proper fear of God, because we want to be obedient to Him, and we do it to Glorify our God.
This Hallows the name of God.
4th way we should be thinking when we pray that God would hallow His name.
Praying That God’s Name Be Hallowed In The World
This is done through missions and evangelism.
Romans 1:5
Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations.
2 Corinthians 4:14-15
knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
The Hallowing of God’s name is multiplied by more people giving glory to His name, so it should be our prayer that more people get saved, not just for their own good but for God’s glory.
Revelation 15:4
“Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed. “
God has already declared that it will be so, people from all nations will worship him, yet God wants us to pray for missions and give to missions and go on a mission to carry out the thing he says will happen.
Don’t we want to be part of God’s glorious plan, If you are a true Christian you will be part of that plan.
When we take the gospel into the streets, throughout our Nation, and into the world, people believe, Godly fear comes into their hearts, obedience takes root, and glory to God happens. This hallows the name of God.
What Changes In Our Prayers From This Petition To Make His Name Hallowed?
Remember that we are working through this model prayer, and this model prayer teaches us an outline of prayer. This outline gives us an idea of the kinds of things that should be running through our minds when we are praying.
We first seen what kinds of things we should be thinking when we open our prayers calling God our Father. In this petition we see the kinds of things that should be going through our minds when we ask God to make His name Holy, Set Apart, Sanctified.
Now that we see what those things are I don’t think we can pray them flippantly. We now realize that when we pray that God would make His name Holy, we are asking Him to invade us, our families, our church, and our world with radical belief, fear, obedience, and glory.
It is impossible to take that lightly!
Revelation 4:11
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created. “