Jesus continued to teach the Lord’s Prayer saying from Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4:
Hallowed be thy name
This is to honour God’s name as our heavenly father. To hallow God’s name is to show reverence to him not only as God but as a good and loving father. It means to show honest and true respect. It is an unqualified acceptance of who God is. We hallow God’s name by being mindful and conscious not to dent or denigrate his image.
Hallowing God’s name requires us to disengage or not to engage in or encourage any foolish talk about God. It is an abomination to associate with foolish or silly jokes about God. We hallow God’s name when we speak the truth of him and also adore him in the beauty of his holiness.
Hallowing God’s name means God is holy and special above all names and must be respected as such. The bible says “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain, Exodus 20:7; Deuteronomy 5:23. We should not worship him in vain, Malachi 3:14. This refers to lip service and not from the heart. Hallowing God’s name means we must worship him in spirit and in truth, John 4:23-24.
We recite these words, “hallowed be thy name” without giving them the deserving thought. We are not honest with our utterances in prayer. If we do not hallow God’s name, we only present our vows and prayers to him in deceit. God cannot be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap, Galatians 6:7. There is also nothing hidden from God that will not be revealed, Matthew 10:26; Luke 12:2. God knows the secrets of our hearts, 1 Corinthians 14:25. God also judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus, Romans 2:16. These are the thoughts Jesus wants us to reflect on in prayer.
Jesus wants us to pray with reverence to God’s name for whom and what he is with sincerity and purity of heart, thought and conscience. This is because on the Day of Judgment, men will render account for every careless word they utter, Matthew 12:36. Empty reverence is a demonstration of lukewarm attitude and for such a character God will spew you out of his mouth, Revelation 3:16.
We must say the words “hallowed be thy name” in prayer with meaning and commitment. They are not words for fun but for a purpose. It is very worrying how we have deceived and continue to deceive God with our lip service yet fail to see such deception as sin. Paul says let no one deceive you with empty words, Ephesians 5:6. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us, 1 John 1:8. Jesus’ short prayer is short physically but rather tall spiritually.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, we thank you for opening our understanding to the Lord’s Prayer. Awaken our relationship to enable us to hallow the precious name of our heavenly father as we ought to do. Thank you Jesus, Amen!!
