Prayer- Hallowed Be Your Name

"Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be Your name."

Over the last couple of thousands years, this phrase has been repeated by millions of people. I've said it a bunch myself. Maybe you have too. But have we really understood what it means to pray that God's name would be hallowed? And should we really be asking God to do something that we don't understand?

HALLOW DEFINED
Here's Mr. Webster's take on this semi-obscure word:

Main Entry: hal·low
Pronunciation: 'ha-(")lO
Function: transitive verb
Etymology: Middle English halowen, from Old English hAlgian, from hAlig holy -- more at HOLY
1 : to make holy or set apart for holy use
2 : to respect greatly : VENERATE
synonym see DEVOTE

WHY PRAY ABOUT "GOD'S NAME"?
God seems pretty bent on protecting the honor of His name. So much so that one of the ten commandments speaks about this- and offers a warning to those who would dishonor God's name. Does that seem a little extreme? Maybe. But keep in mind that God's name is pretty much all His people had to relate to. They weren't supposed to make idols or create images to represent Him. Apparently, the Jewish people understood what God was shooting for here, because they used "the name of the Lord" and "the Lord" interchangeably.

So for our purposes, asking that God's name would be hallowed means praying that God would be honored, respected or worshiped. But how do we pray that way? Remember, our goal isn't to recite one line over and over, but to allow these concepts to shape our conversations with God.

ONE IDEA - THREE APPROACHES
Let me suggest a few different directions we might go with the admonition to hallow God's name.

GENERALLY- Our Father In Heaven, May You Be Given The Honor You Are Due
As the Creator of all that we see (and all that we don't), God deserves to be worshiped and respected by every creature, every object, every molecule. We can pray that this would happen. That God would make Himself known and that people would respond to the work of the Spirit in and around them. Essentially we're saying- God you deserve this, make it happen.

PERSONALLY- Our Father In Heaven, May You Be Honored In Every Part of My Life
Most Americans are looking for purpose. We want to live for something. We want to make our lives count. A recent survey found that 77% of the people polled said that having a clear purpose for their lives was really important to them. This number rose to 90% among people who identified themselves as Christians. Although we might want something more specific (like, I was meant to be a fireman, or a teacher, or a rock star) living with a core purpose of honoring God is a good place to start. What if we stared praying each day that every part of our lives would honor God and be pleasing to Him? Maybe our work, sex lives, finances, relationships, care for creation, use of our talents, etc. would all improve if our overarching goal was to steward each of these areas so that we put a smile on God's face.

ACTIVELY- Our Father In Heaven, I want to honor and worship right now.
We constantly need to be stretching our idea of "worship". By default many of Jesus' people equate worship with the gatherings at church or the music we sing/play during those gatherings. Prayer gives us an opportunity to actively worship- especially if we take time to adore God for who He is and thank Him for what He has done. This can be as easy as talking about the parts of God's character/identity that we are reminded of in the moment (Ex: God, I look at that sunset and know that you are the Great Artist) or thanking Him for all of the good He has brought into our lives on a given day. (Thank you that the car was fixable, the kids are over their colds and that I can go to the grocery store whenever we run out of food.)

REFLECTING
Q: Last week we were invited to pursue intimacy with God as we prayed "Our Father". This week we focused more on reverence as we "Hallow His Name". Which one comes more naturally for you? Why? Which do you need to do more right now?

Q: Do you "hallow God's name" regularly when you pray? If so, how do you go about that?

Q: Devout Jews in the Old Testament refused to write or pronounce God's formal name (Yahweh) out of respect. Similarly, some Jewish people today write "G-d" instead of "God". What do you think of their attempts to honor the name of God? Do you do anything similar out of respect for God? (Ex. Capitalizing His Name)

Action: Practice a bit of adoration. Thank God for some part of His nature or character that you were reminded of this week. (Ex. You are patient)

Action: Practice thanksgiving. Hallow God's Name for the blessings of the past day or week.

Action: Read Psalm 148 out loud as a way to pray that God would be worshiped by all of His Creation.

Prayer- Our Father In Heaven

A few weeks back my wife and I received a new tv as a housewarming gift. After we got over the shock, we started to unpack it. Our new set is a little more advanced than our last, so I looked for the manual to learn about setting it up. I was greeted by 74 pages of instructions. "Really?", I thought, "It takes 74 pages to learn how to plug in a tv?" Just as I was about call it quits I found the "quick-start" guide. 11 pages with big pictures. Just my speed. Had the tv set up in 5 minutes.

Looking back, I was frustrated because I didn't want to learn about my tv. I wanted to watch my tv. And I've been wondering if a lot of us have the same disappointing experience when it comes to God. We don't want to just acquire information about Him- we want to know Him. Thus our latest teaching series was born.

For the next 7 weeks we'll be using the Lord's Prayer as a quick-start guide to help us have meaningful conversations with God. Although many are familiar with the words of the Lord's prayer, I wonder if we really appreciate what they represent. God (if you believe Jesus is God) is teaching us how to talk to Him. In a clear and concise way. As tired as we can get of listening to people's opinions about God or of having to dig for direct, simple answers to our questions about faith- you'd think we'd grab hold of Jesus' words here and wear them out. That's our goal over the next couple of months anyway. We won't simply be reciting the Lord's prayer over and over. Instead, we'll talk through each phrase and ask ourselves why Jesus taught it to us.

OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN
For example, why does Jesus tell us to start this way? Is this just a formality? Is this Jesus' version of our own pat greetings (Hey man, buddy, dude, girlfriend, playa, etc.)? Or is the choice of wording important to this process? One way to think through this question is to ask why Jesus made prayer a regular part of His life. He had no sin to confess, and seemed much better positioned than we are to make it through life on His own. Probably something about being God in the flesh. Yet Jesus prayed more than most/all of us. Why? He wanted to continue His relationship with His Father. As Jesus teaches us to pray, He urges us to ground our prayer in relationship

VENDING MACHINES
Lately our 4 year old has discovered vending machines. The old fashioned kind where you pop in a quarter, turn the nob and get some gum that peters out in 30 seconds, a tacky temporary tattoo or a toy that will be lost before days end. In fact, our daughter is so intrigued by this exchange that she's started suggesting that we drop by stores and restaurants that have them. Ah, the power of commerce and greed. But am I so different? Don't I treat God like a spiritual vending machine? Isn't prayer just the currency I insert into the slot so I can turn the handle and expect God to spit out whatever I am asking for? No? Ok, when was the last time I prayed just because I was thinking of God and wanted to check in- without needing something. Hmmmmm? You too? Maybe this is why Jesus tells us to start praying with an acknowledgment that God is our Parent. Yes, He'll encourage us to ask for what we and others need later. But, without a relational focus, prayer might become just another business transaction.

REFLECT

• Do I really want a relationship with God? Or something else?
  
• Does the way I pray reflect that?
• If not, why not?
  
• Why do you think Jesus tells us to think of God as a spiritual Parent?
• Check out Matthew 6:1-8 and note the things Jesus says about "your Father" (ex. "your Father sees what you do in private"- God pays attn to us). Which statement speaks most strongly to you today?

PRAY

• Have a conversation with God about your desire or lack of desire for a relationship with Him. Celebrate, confess, ask for help, etc.
• Start each prayer this week with some words that acknowledge the relationship between you and God.
• Rewrite the first line of Jesus’ prayer- putting your own words around the idea that God is your Parent.

Our Turning Points

For the last couple of months we've looked at and talked about the stories of people in the scriptures who changed direction after meeting with Jesus. Now, it's time to shift gears and talk about OUR stories. Are you approaching, in the middle of, or just coming through a turning point with God? If so, we'd love to hear about it. Just use the comments feature.

If you need a little inspiration, here are some questions to jump start your thinking:

• How is your relationship with God changing direction?
• What has God been up to in your life?
• How have you been trying to respond to what God is doing?
• Have you come to some new realizations about faith and life and acted on them?
• Have you tried anything new to help you be a better follower of Jesus?
• Are you leaving something behind for Jesus' sake?
• Picking something else up?
• Making commitments to God or others?
• Surrendering an area of your life that you've been holding back from God?

Turning Points: RECAP

This weekend we took a look back at the different ways people changed direction when they encountered Jesus. (You can find detailed notes for each teaching conversation in the previous posts on this blog.) We also spent some time talking about what we learned and/or found ourselves wondering about on this 7 week journey. Below is a list of the questions we provided our discussion groups. Feel free to use these on your own or with some friends. And, as always, feel free to use the comments feature to share your perspective.

REFLECT:

• Of the people whose stories we’ve heard in the last 7 weeks, whom do you relate the most to and why?

• Whose journey do you relate the least to and why?

• Whose story is most inspiring to you? Comforting to you?

• What common threads or themes did you notice in these stories about how people change direction with God?

• Each of the turning points we’ve studied involved not just a good moment or experience with God- but the invitation to keep on living in a new way. Which do you think is harder- making a decision to seek after God or choosing to continue on afterwards?

• What part(s) does God seem to play in our Turning Points?

• What part(s) do we play in our own Turning Points?

• What (if anything) have the last 7 weeks taught us about the role we might be asked to play in the lives of other people as they approach and move through Turning Points?

• What questions did this series of teaching conversations raise for you? What have you wondered or thought more about over the last 7 weeks?

• What questions did this series answer for you? What are you taking with you from these teachings?

• Describe a turning point in your relationship with God.

• Talk about your most recent turning point.

• Where are you at now? Approaching a turning point? In the middle of one? Recently though one? Something else?