The Lord’s Prayer
5-11-2011 Vol. 4 Part 5
Psalm 34:11-22 NKJV Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. Who is the man who desires life, And loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil, And your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry. The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all. He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken. Evil shall slay the wicked, And those who hate the righteous shall be condemned. The LORD redeems the soul of His servants, And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned. Father God you are an awesome God and words can’t describe you. Send your Spirit to teach us how to pray in a fashion that pleases you and gives you all the Glory. In Jesus name we pray! Amen!
Hallowed Be Thy Name
The word hallowed is maintained in most Bibles, due to its meaning of reverence. Webster has this to say:
HAL'LOW, v.t. [L. calleo, to be able.] 1. To make holy; to consecrate; to set apart for holy or religious use. Exodus 28:29; 1 Kings 8. 2. To devote to holy or religious exercises; to treat as sacred. Hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein. Jeremiah 17:22. 3. To reverence; to honor as sacred. Hallowed be thy name.
HAL'LOWED, pp. Consecrated to a sacred use, or to religious exercises; treated as sacred; reverenced.
In essence Jesus is teaching us to acknowledge and give praise to God for who He is before we go to Him with our requests. How many times do we start out with our prayers/request instead of praising and thanking God for all that he has done for us? I know I have been guilty of this. It is that old sin nature that gets in the way and we think about our self first and what we want. Could this type of habit get in the way of God answering our prayers???
When we go to church aren’t the services always started out with praise and worship hymns? Have you ever thought about this and that it models the Lord’s Prayer? It does, doesn’t it. But wait, what about this? Some churches have their choirs/musicians in the back, some in the front, and some on the side of the church. Some churches even have a highly raise platform/stage for the choir/musicians. Some churches applaud after each hymn and some don’t. We have to stop and think about why we are applauding. Is it the performers or is it because of the words of the hymn that has touched our spirit and we are applauding what Jesus has done for us? I pray and hope it is because the hymn has touched us and the applause is for what the lyrics stated, whether the lyrics are giving praise to God or because of what God or Jesus has done for us. So the next time you are in church and there is an applause after a hymn, stop and think why you are applauding. Is the applause for God or man? We want to give God all the glory not man.
When the Lord’s Prayer states “Hallowed Be Thy Name”, does that mean we are making God more holy than what He already is? No, we are only acknowledging who He is, how righteous, holy, exalted, glorious, merciful, loving, etc. We can’t raise God up any higher than He already is. He is above all. He is the creator of all things. He is the Alpha and the Omega. Revelation 1:8 NLT "I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end," says the Lord God. "I am the One who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One." All of His names, from his personal name, Yahweh, to the names which describe His actions and character, reveal who He is. It is who God is that we hallow, when we hallow His name.
God has many names, in the Old Testament there are eight compound names that were used to call upon.
Jehovah Tsidkenu | The Lord Our Righteousness | For Sinners |
Jehovah M’Kaddesh | The Lord Who Sanctifies | For Holiness |
Jehovah Shalom | The Lord Who Is Our Peace | For Anxiety |
Jehovah Shammah | The Lord Is There, He Never Leaves Us | For Loneliness |
Jehovah Rophe | The Lord Who Heals | For Healing |
Jehovah Jireh | The Lord Will Provide | For Needs |
Jehovah Nissi | The Lord My Banner | For Heavenly Assurance |
Jehovah Rohi | The Lord Who Is My Shepherd | For Life Guidance |
Can our human minds comprehend who God is and how great he is? Just the Trinity alone is difficult to wrap our minds around. In the New Testament God revealed himself through Jesus Christ. How many names does Jesus have? Each name that was used represents something. Here is just a few; Bread of Life, Living Water, The Way, The Truth, The Life, Lamb of God, Rose of Sharon, The Door, etc. Each name gives a picture of who God is.
Jesus tells us we should Hallow God’s name, meaning reverence. When you hear someone say the Lord’s Prayer at church and then you bump into that same someone on the street and they use God’s name in a blasphemous way, you know they are only saying the Lord’s Prayer without meaning a single word of it. They are praying like the hypocrites in vain, just like Jesus warned us not to pray.
We Hallow God’s name by the way we act. If we act holy and upright on the weekend during church or church activities, but the rest of the week our actions are completely the opposite then who are we fooling. God know our heart and to hallow Him we need to relinquish our life to Him. We need to say to God my life is your life; let me live in such a way, let me walk in such a way, let me do my business dealings in such a way, let me conduct myself on my trips in such a way, let me interact with my family in such a way, let me be a good neighbor in such a way, etc. When people see you conduct your life in a fashion like this, they will say you are a person that reveres God.
We also revere God’s name by recognizing His presence in our lives. When we live our lives with God always in the fore front we bring glory to his name. David stated this in Psalm 16:8 NKJV I have set the LORD always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. If we include God in everything we do before hand, things go much smoother instead of trying to do them on our own.
Let me see if I can explain why worship to God is so important and the benefits that come as a result of heartfelt worship. Let’s take our relationship with our spouses for an example. What is your reaction to your spouse when everything between the two of you is going good and a lot of sharing both ways is happening? If he/she asks for something the other spouse is willing to honor the wish and vice-versa. If either tells how wonderful the other is and gives compliments, the recipient responds with answering the requests and with kindness. The same holds true in the work place. If a particular person you have to work with is always pleasant to be around and they ask you for help, you will probably be more than happy to help the person. What happens when you are around someone that is normally a grouch and they only think about themselves and don’t have anything good to say about anyone or anything? When they ask for help their co-worker may tell them to go take a hike.
Do you think honest sincere worship to God may result in more of our prayers answered? If we start our prayers out with them all being about me…me…me, do you think God listens as closely compared to if we started with praising Him? After all he did take on a human form, Jesus, and we know Jesus had feelings, compassion, sorry, anger, etc. God is suppose to be number one in our lives, so isn’t it fitting that when we go to God with prayer we should give Him praise, thanks, and all the glory before we get to our problems?
In thinking back over the years, I have to admit that since I’ve become one of his children I have had more prayers answered in recent times than before. In worshipping God more, my life has changed. When I include God in things I need to do around home, things get done much easier and with much less fatigue. When I include God with work tasks, the tasks go much easier and with less frustration and anxiety. When I worship God my fears are forgotten, I’m in his hands and have great peace knowing He is in control and will protect and provide. When I’m troubled at times and take it to the Lord and worship Him or pick up the Bible and do some reading the thing that was troubling me fades away. Worshipping God cleanses my spirit and refreshes me. Worship, Praise, and Hallowing Gods name, is a critical part if spiritual warfare, because Satan hates worship. Worship helps with putting on our armor daily in the battle with the world that belongs to Satan. Ephesians 6:11-13 NLT Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.
Perhaps the greatest thing worship does is prepare us for eternity. When we’ve spent our life worshipping the Lord on earth, it is a simple transition to “hallow His name” forever in heaven.
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God!
Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth,
Unless you are Born Again, you cannot enter into Heaven, the Kingdom of God."
Bill
Last Week’s Trivia: Do you think God can guide animals to do his will?
Answer: 1 Samuel 6:6-16 NLT Don't be stubborn and rebellious as Pharaoh and the Egyptians were. By the time God was finished with them, they were eager to let Israel go. 7 "Now build a new cart, and find two cows that have just given birth to calves. Make sure the cows have never been yoked to a cart. Hitch the cows to the cart, but shut their calves away from them in a pen. 8 Put the Ark of the LORD on the cart, and beside it place a chest containing the gold rats and gold tumors you are sending as a guilt offering. Then let the cows go wherever they want. 9 If they cross the border of our land and go to Beth-shemesh, we will know it was the LORD who brought this great disaster upon us. If they don't, we will know it was not His hand that caused the plague. It came simply by chance." 10 So these instructions were carried out. Two cows were hitched to the cart, and their newborn calves were shut up in a pen. 11 Then the Ark of the LORD and the chest containing the gold rats and gold tumors were placed on the cart. 12 And sure enough, without veering off in other directions, the cows went straight along the road toward Beth-shemesh, lowing as they went. The Philistine rulers followed them as far as the border of Beth-shemesh. 13 The people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley, and when they saw the Ark, they were overjoyed! 14 The cart came into the field of a man named Joshua and stopped beside a large rock. So the people broke up the wood of the cart for a fire and killed the cows and sacrificed them to the LORD as a burnt offering. 15 Several men of the tribe of Levi lifted the Ark of the LORD and the chest containing the gold rats and gold tumors from the cart and placed them on the large rock. Many sacrifices and burnt offerings were offered to the LORD that day by the people of Beth-shemesh. 16 The five Philistine rulers watched all this and then returned to Ekron that same day.
This week’s Trivia: How did the death of Absalom actually happen? By neck or hair?
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