Category Archives: Lord’s Prayer

Hallowed Be Your Name

Song at Midnight Posted on by

Hello, and welcome to another blessing Sunday. Traveling with me on this path are
Abbie Johnson Taylor
and
Lynda Lambert who shared the idea with me.

A church w/stained glass windows, a large cross, & tall spiral.

Matt 6:9: This, then, is how you should pray: “’Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, (NIV)

Last week I discussed the first part of this verse, and today I’ll be talking about the second part–“Hallowed be your name. The definition of hallowed is holy, sacred, revered, respected, honored. The above-pictured church is humanity’s attempt to honor God’s name, and there are so many magnificent churches throughout the world.

Somehow, though, I have this niggling feeling that wasn’t what Jesus had in mind. I’m not saying He rejects these beautiful churches–far from it–but I don’t believe it was a priority of His.

John 13:34-35 NIV says:

34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Paul, in 1 Corinthians 6:19 says:

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;”

The point being is each and every person who calls Jesus their Lord and savior is His church because He lives in us. Our daily lives are our feeble attempt to honor Him. I think God feels His name is more honored by those who obey His commandments than by all the statuary and stained glass contained in the world. For my part I feel my life is pretty mundaine. But it’s precisely there where I can hallow His name. I don’t know who to attribute it to, but there’s a saying that each of us might be the only Jesus someone ever sees. I, for my part, try to take that seriously. Do I measure up? Of course not! That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try. I am convinced that there are so many acts performed by people who’ve touched other people’s lives profoundly but who are totally unaware of their impact. I think heaven will have lots of surprises like that for us.

Father, help me honor your name every day this week by how I reflect Your light and love. Amen.

The Blessing of a Heavenly Father

Song at Midnight Posted on by

Hello, and welcome to another blessing Sunday. Traveling with me on this path are
Lynda Lambert who shared the idea with me
and
Abbie Johnson Taylor

God on His throne Surrounded by Many Children

We say it every Sunday in church. We say it at weddings and funerals. It’s a prayer many have learned from earliest childhood. It spills forth from our lips with almost no thought required. Yet its importance can’t be overstated, for it’s the only time Jesus taught His disciples–which includes us–to pray. It’s what many call “the Lord’s prayer”, though I would say that designation is more suited to the prayer in John 17. But what do I know?

For the next however many Sundays it takes, I’m going to write my thoughts on this prayer. So much has been written regarding it already that I really wonder if I have anything to contribute on the subject that hasn’t been said previously. Then again, sometimes it only takes someone saying something in a different way to catch someone’s attention. So here we go–let’s rock and roll!

Matthew 6 9-13 contains the text.

9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
11 
Give us today our daily bread.
12 
And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 
And lead us not into temptation,[a]
    but deliver us from the evil one.[b]’

Footnotes
a. Matthew 6:13 The Greek for temptation can also mean testing.
b. Matthew 6:13 Or from evil; some late manuscripts one, / for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

I’m going to focus attention today on just four words: “Our father in heaven.”

My first thought when I look at this passage is that this thing called Christianity is supposed to be communal. More than just a community, we’re a family, headed by a heavenly Father who loves each and every one of us so much that He sent His only Son to die on a cross so that we could be forgiven and live with Him eternally. Instead of the 613 commandments of the Torah, Christians are given but one:

John 13:34-35

34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Sometimes I wonder what would happen if every Christian took that seriously. I think there’d be a lot less misery on this earth–less hunger, less murder, less adultery, less war, and greater love, joy, and peace.

We are members of a great family–our ancestors in the faith who’ve gone before us, our brothers and sisters who share this world with us, and future generations who will walk this earth when we are long since gone. What we have in common is that we’re all loved dearly by our heavenly father.

The word father, as I mentioned in my post on Father’s Day, can be frought. But God our Father is everything a father should be and nothing he should not.

John 1:12 NRSV tells us:

“But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God,”

Lord please help me to take seriously every day the call you’ve put on my life. Help me to love those you’ve put on my path even half as much as You do, enable me to do your will. In Jesus’s name. Amen.