TEXT: Matthew 6:9 (KJV)
"After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name."
Matthew 6:9 (NLT)
"Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy."
GOD'S PRESENCE FILLS EVERYWHERE
God is our father. He is my father. He lives in heaven but fills everywhere with his presence. He is omnipresent. His throne is in heaven and the earth is his footstool. In this post, we shall look at "hallowed by thy name" in continuation of the mini series - More than a prayer.
GOD'S NAME IS HOLY
God is holy. He is perfect. Everything about the father is holy. Holiness is one of the attributes of our father in heaven. His name is holy. In fact, the Israelites do not pronounce the name of God because of their reverence for it. The original name of God is YHWH. This is pronounced as Yahweh. The name of the Lord must therefore by sanctified and kept holy by all who believe in him. "Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the LORD which hallow you" (Lev 22:32).
Profaning or calling the name of God in vain is a sin. "Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain (Ex 20:7). The sacredness of the name of God (YHWH) led the Israelites to use Adonai (My Lord) to call upon God. There are several other names that we call God by - majorly related to his attributes. El Shaddai refers to Him as the Almighty God.
GOD IS JEALOUS FOR HIS HOLY NAME
"Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name" (Ezekiel 39:25). God is jealous for his name. He therefore does a lot for his children because of his holy name. The Psalmist recognised this when he wrote in Psalms 79:9: "Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name's sake."
GOD'S NAME COMMANDS REVERENCE.
The name of God reflects the holiness of God. The name of God is above all other names. When you call the name of God, all other names bow in reverence to the holiness of the name of God. "For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God (Rom 14:11, Isa 45:23). Every believer must keep the name of God holy and call upon his name with utmost reverence. "...Let everyone that nameth the name of the Lord depart from iniquity" (2 Tim 2:19).
KEEP HIS NAME SACRED
"Hallowed by thy name," is a call to all believers to keep the holy name of God sacred. The Lord God has given us a name above all other names - Yeshua (Jesus) and because we bear the name of the Lord, we must keep ourselves holy in order not to defile the name of our father, which we bear. The name of God is holy.
PRAYER:
Father, help me to exalt your holy name all the days of my life in Jesus name.
DECREE: I bear the name of my father in heaven.
God bless you. Shalom.
