“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” Matthew 6:9
Every petition of the Lord’s Prayer will be answered. So, when you frame your prayers around the Lord’s Prayer, you can always pray with confidence.
Each of the six petitions will be answered when our Lord returns and each has an answer that we can experience here and now. There’s a “now” answer and a “then” answer.
When Christ returns in power and glory, God’s name will be hallowed, honored, glorified, and exalted: “The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Hab. 2:14).
One day this world will be the home of righteousness. Never again will God’s name be blasphemed. God’s name will be honored on earth as it is in heaven. And all of God’s people will worship Him, love Him, honor Him, and adore Him—forever. Lord, hasten that day!
But how can this prayer be answered here and now in this world that despises God’s name? What is God’s answer to His name being blasphemed all day long? God tells us the answer: “Continually all the day my name is despised. Therefore my people shall know my name” (Isa. 52:5-6). God’s answer to a world that despises His name is a people who know His name.
“Hallowed be your name” is not a prayer for a change in God, but for a change in us. We’re not asking God to make Himself more holy. He is holy, holy, holy. His holiness is infinite, perfect, and complete. God cannot be more holy than He already is.
When we pray “Hallowed be your name,” we are asking God to raise up here on earth, people who know Him, love Him, and treasure Him more than life itself. So that in a world that despises and blasphemes God’s name, His name may still be honored.
Why does the world despise God’s name? How could you honor His name today?
