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.