Anchor My Faith

Hallowed Be Your Name

Scripture: Matthew 6:9-11, 13; Luke 11:2, 4

In the previous lesson progress was slow as we only covered “Our Father in heaven. With this lesson we will cover “hallowed be your name.”

^{Lk 11:2} “And he said to them, “When you pray, say: ^{Mt 6:9} 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 this day our daily bread, ^{Lk 11:4} and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. ^{Mt 6:13} And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.”’

We need to begin with the meaning of “hallow.” Merriam-Webster define hallow to mean to “make holy or set apart for holy use” and suggest synonyms of “bless, consecrate, sacralize and sanctify.” In a sermon by John Piper, found at this link, he says the following about the meaning of hallow: “The word hallo” means sanctify.” The same Greek word stands behind both English words. Jesus tells us to pray, “Let your name be sanctified.” Sanctify can mean make holy or treat as holy. When God sanctifies us, it means that he makes us holy. But when we sanctify God, it means that we treat him as holy.”

When we pray “hallowed be your name” we need to connect that with a life style that treats our Father as holy; we in essence are praying that God would help us live in a manner that treats him as holy. What can we learn from the Scriptures that will help us with this?

Looking at Numbers 20:12 ESV: “And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”’ we see the importance of believing in God and upholding God as holy in the eyes of people. Do we believe what God says in his word and demonstrate that belief through obedience? If not, then we do not hallow his name. Do we teach others to believe what God says?

Looking at Isaiah 8:12 – 13 ESV: 12 “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. 13 But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear and let him be your dread.” we see the role fear plays. Do we fear what men can do to us or do we fear God more? I see this in my study of persecution when believers fear denying Jesus more that they fear the suffering they will endure at the hands of men if they don’t deny him. Do we fear losing God’s approval as more dreadful than our suffering, and even the loss of our life, in remaining faithful before him? What we fear thus relates to our hallowing his name.

Looking at Leviticus 22:31 – 32 ESV: 31 “So you shall keep my commandments and do them: I am the Lord. 32 And you shall not profane my holy name, that I may be sanctified among the people of Israel. I am the Lord who sanctifies you,” we see the importance of obedience to God’s commandments. If we do not obey God, we profane his holy name. It is God who sanctifies us, who is at work in conforming us into the image of Jesus Christ, and it is our responsibility to sanctify God among the people through our obedience.

Conclusion

When we pray, “hallowed by your name”, we are praying about how we are to live among those around us and before God? We are to believe what he says and teach others to believe. We are to fear losing God’s approval more than we are to fear the consequences of what men might do to us for living a righteous and holy life; we are to be willing to suffer to honor his name. We are to keep his commandments and thus sanctify God. Are you praying “hallowed be your name” and yet not seeking to do so? If so, you profane his name and not hallow it!