Day Two
Matthew 6:9
Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Jesus did not begin by saying “My Father” but “Our Father.” That we pray “our” instead of “my” reminds us that even when we are praying privately rather than publicly, there is always a corporate aspect to prayer as God is a loving Father who cares for all His people. Praying like this can be helpful in guarding our hearts from becoming selfish. Certainly, we need to pray for ourselves, but we ought to be praying for others also and the fact that no singular pronouns are used in the Lord’s Prayer remind us to do that. It is always “our” and never “my.”
It is also important to know that we do not come before God as strangers because Jesus considers those who trust in Him as His brothers and sisters. In Ephesians 2:13 we read “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” Sin had ruined our relationship with God, but when by faith we trust Jesus as our Saviour we are able to come near to God and know Him not just as the Creator and Ruler of the universe, but also as a Father who loves and cares for His children. This is called adoption and it is one of the most wonderful doctrines of the Christian faith, that God is our Father because His Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us and make us sons and daughters.
A sad reality of the fallen world we live in is that many people have difficult and damaged relationships with their fathers and because of this they struggle to see God as a loving Father who will never hurt them or let them down. This can be a hard thing to do but we want to work from God downwards rather than from man upwards. What that means is that rather than imposing our tainted view of fatherhood onto God, we should instead take God as the perfect example of what fatherly love and care should be in this world. Maybe you feel very small and insignificant. You think this is a very big and busy world and God could never have time for you. But our God is never overwhelmed by other concerns and never too busy with other business. Jesus tells us that our Father knows our every need before we even ask Him. He is always there with a listening ear ready to hear our prayers.
When we pray, we are coming into God’s presence as children come before their father. We know that God is omnipresent, that He is present everywhere all the time, there is nowhere we can go where God is absent. “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?” (Psalm 139:7). We do not need to go to a church building when we want to pray. So, we are right in saying that God is always with us, however when we pray it is also true that we come into God’s presence in a special way, it is deliberate and focused for the purpose of talking with Him. We do not have to go to certain places or important buildings, nor do we need to use certain objects as if they were a lucky charm to help us grab God’s attention. We come as children to our Father, and we can come to Him anywhere and at any time. As we consider these wonderful truths, we ought to be moved to worship.
In praying for God’s name to be hallowed we are worshiping God and that is where prayer should begin. We cannot add any more glory to God’s name to make it more glorious than it already is, but in hallowing God’s name we do give to Him the glory, honour, and praise which He alone deserves. Furthermore, this part of the Lord’s Prayer expresses our desire that all the world should come to hallow God’s name also. That means we are praying for all creation to acknowledge the glory of God and praise His name. These are significant words of worship because everything else that follows in the Lord’s Prayer will flow from them. We need to have a high view of God because as J.I. Packer writes, “The vitality of prayer lies largely in the vision of God that prompts it.” If we have a cold and dull view of God, then we will pray cold and dull prayers. But if we truly hallow God’s name, if we acknowledge His glory, power, and majesty then that will be reflected in our prayers.