08/24/2020
We listened as Jesus taught His disciples to pray, and then we memorized that prayer, and now recite it. We call it the Lord’s Prayer, and it has become the greatest gem in our treasure of all prayers, but do we concentrate on the words we pray, or are they simply the words that children commit to memory, and adults chant and sing routinely in worship? We say “Father in Heaven”, but do we dwell on what it means when we say hallowed be your name?
“Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.”
Matthew 6:9 ESV
When Jesus taught this prayer, the first thing He taught us was to identify God the Father as the object of our prayer, and then He told us not to hallow God’s name, but to treat it as hallowed... He told us to exclaim that His name was hallowed. This sounds like we are splitting hairs, but God’s name is hallowed without us praying the first word. We can call Him what He is, but we cannot make Him anything greater. We can deny Him, but we can’t take away anything from Him. Hallowed means to be Holy, or Consecrated, and to this characteristic of God we can’t add a speck of dust. We can praise and worship Him because He is hallowed, but our words are simply an acknowledgement of who He eternally was, and is, and is to be.
“Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.””
Revelation 15:4 ESV
Calling God our Father is an incredible act of love as we acknowledge His role as such, but if we were to never mention Him in this way, would He be any less our Heavenly Father? We call out “God”, but if we never believed that He was God, that wouldn’t diminish Him in the least... He would still be God, and our lack of acknowledgement regarding who He is wouldn’t change that fact in the least. Denying God Does not diminish Him... I diminishes us.
“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.”
Isaiah 40:28 ESV
By way of example... Pi is the circumference of a circle divided by its diameter, and it is an infinite decimal number that never repeats itself in a pattern. Because of this, Pi is usually rounded to a certain number of digits, like 3.14. Our understanding of God is a lot like this... we can study His word, and seek Him forever, but we can never reach a full understanding of who he is without compromise... We can pretend we understand Him by rounding His characteristics up or down, but in fact, the complexity of God is infinite. So, like Pi, we can say something like “He is 3.14”, but that is not who He is in His entirety. We are simply trying to quantify the unquantifiable, and regardless of how we deny Him His entirety, or convince ourselves that we know Him completely, He remains, and is unfathomable.
“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”
Romans 11:33-36 ESV
So we pray the Lord’s Prayer, and we call His name Hallowed. Today let’s take pause, and understand what we are saying when we speak this word Hallowed in regards to Him. We are recognizing Him as Holy beyond our ability to understand, and acknowledging Him as eternally consecrated. Though we might want to contribute to the Holiness of God by our praise and worship, He alone is Holy, and if we are in any way made to be Holy it is by His gift to us. We have nothing to give Him that He has not already given to us... Hallowed be His Name!
Prayer:
Father, thank you for allowing us to seek you each day, and for giving us the ability to understand bits and pieces of you as we recognize more of the infinite characteristics that you are comprised of. We calculate, and attempt to resolve the mystery that is who you are, but try as we might, you remain unfathomable. You are the truth, light, and the Word that was spoken at creation, and we are but your creation. Help us Father to believe in you more, and increase our faith with each lesson you teach. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you who alone is Holy. Praised be your name as we call you Hallowed, and Great are you who is God Everlasting. We sing your name and cannot add to who you are, we worship you and cannot increase your righteousness, and we pray without ceasing, but can never pray enough. All glory is yours Father, and though we can exemplify it, we can’t add to it in the least. Hear our prayers, and find us pleasing Father. Pour out your grace upon us Lord, and wash us clean of sin with the blood of your Son Jesus. Call us your children, and welcome us to your table forevermore. Hear us worship and praise you for eternity as we seek to know you in your entirety.
“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”
Psalm 90:2 ESV
Rich Forbes