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Matt 6:9b "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name."

 

I am going to spend a little time in what we commonly call the "Lord's Prayer." Actually, it wasn't His prayer at all. Jesus' prayer is found in John 17. This really should be called the disciples prayer because this is what Jesus used to teach His guys how to talk to God. In fact, it is also found in Luke 11 when the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. I think it is cool that the disciples were so open. They actually admitted that they did not know how to talk to God and that they needed help, so they asked Jesus to give them direction on how to approach the Father. And this is what He said in both passages:

 

First things first: "Our Father in heaven." There are a couple of things that stick out to me in these few words. First, the disciples were told, and we are told who we are addressing. Our Father.

 

When I think about my Dad I think about how faithful he was. How consistent he was. How he really worked hard to provide for us. How he wanted to have fun with us. I think about his wisdom in some of the things he did and said. I think about his love for us and how he really wanted the best for us. That was my dad.

 

Now, as I think about our Father in heaven, I too think about His faithfulness, His consistency, His provision, his wisdom, His love, His desire, but I think about so much more…His power, His sovereignty, His majesty, His righteousness, His perfection, His mercy, His grace, His knowledge, His control, His creation, His creative abilities, His sense of humor, His joy, His gentleness, His patience…I could go on. But this is my Father in heaven. When I come to Him I need to be reminded that He is my heavenly Father. He is the One who gave me spiritual life. He is the One who gave me physical life. He is the One who is watching over me and who loves me with a love that is so great that it is difficult to comprehend. This is my Father.

 

I have to remember where He is. He is in heaven. He is not relegated to this earth. He is not confined to His creation. He is in heaven where He oversees every aspect of all that goes on everywhere. I just read that the Keplar space telescope detected 1500 planets that were orbiting around many other suns. The thing is, the Keplar only took a picture of one little place in space. In reality, if it scanned the entire sky it might discover 400,000 planets in our Milky Way. Now there are estimated to be 100 billion galaxy's in the universe. Just multiply 400,000 times 100 billion and you get an idea of how massive God's creation is…and He is my Father, in heaven, overseeing it all.

 

Hallowed be your name. The word for hallowed means make holy, purify, consecrate, venerate, be holy. This word is only used two times in the NT, here and in Luke 11. There are similar words that mean holy, but his one only is used here and one other place. Why is that? Because I think Jesus was telling us two things. First, God is holy. Even though when we approach our Father and we think of all of the other character qualities He may have, this one quality is pointed out. This one quality is mentioned. This one quality is to be lifted up in prayer…His holiness. "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty." Three times it is mentioned. Why? Because God is holy. He is set apart. He is unlike any of us. He is so far beyond what we are like. He is holy. It should make us fall on our faces before Him.

 

The second reason is this. This word can also say: "Mentally consecrate your name." That is, work in my brain in such a way that I get a grasp of your holiness. If I did this, if I grabbed on to this, it would change my prayer life forever. His Name is holy. His person is holy. All that He represents is holy.

 

That is why Jesus said start with: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name." Start here.