Solomon's Porch Christian Community

Hallowed Be Your Name

In my last article I talked about my personal struggle finding my way to a meaningful life of prayer. I kept at it, making tons of mistakes along the way, but God led me to the eventual enjoyment of a rich, full, and free personal relationship with Him. I found the path to prayer with God through Jesus’ teaching on prayer via what has come to be known as, “The Lord’s Prayer” found in Matthew 6:9-15.

 

[9] Pray then like this: “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, [12] and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. [13] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [14] For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, [15] but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

 

I first learned to approach God and enjoy Him as my Heavenly Father. The Gospel of Jesus must permeate our hearts and minds or else, as Martin Luther said, “the world, the flesh, and the Devil” will drive us from Him, which I believe is the sad state of many, many believer’s today. Many trust God for salvation in the future, but never learn to dwell in a “present faith” that continually reconciles them to God, moment by moment. In other words, they believe God will love them in the future, they have faith in that, but they are not sure God loves them in the present, especially in the moment of failure. Unless you come to see God as your Heavenly Father first, everything else about prayer will be illusive to you. God is either your Heavenly Father or He is a Heavenly Judge. You either believe He longs to be with you, and has opened His throne to your every approach, or you believe He wants to punish you, and the way of your approach is filled with the guilt of your shame. What does the Scripture say to you?

 

Hebrews 4:14-16

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

 

If you are now ready to press on in your prayer journey, trusting God fully as your Heavenly Father, then let us boldly go on and draw near to God, learning next to “hallow” His “name”. But first, I’d like to make a few suggestions on prayer in general.

 

1. Things you will need

a)    Bible

b)   Song book

c)    Pencil and paper

 

2. Choose a decent space fit for the occasion, if it can be managed

a)    Familiar place

b)   Private, so that you can comfortably converse with God

c)    Quiet, so you can be still and hear

 

3. Posture

a)    position of reverence

b)   comfortable enough so its not distracting to your mind

 

4. Silence

a)    rather than starting by talking, be quiet for a period

b)   push all distractions from your mind

c)    turn off your phone

d)   Use the pad and pencil to jot down stray thoughts that come to mind that might consume your time of silence

 

Now that you are in a quiet, private setting, sitting or kneeling in a posture demonstrating your reverence for God, with our phone off, and your Bible, song book, and pencil and pad before you, let’s get started hallowing the name of God.

 

Hallowing God takes Meditation

Choose a Scripture that expounds something about the nature and character of God to meditate on. I find these passages most often in the Psalms, prophets, and at the ends of the New Testament letters. A good way to build a personal archive of Scriptures to meditate on is when you are reading your Bible, or when you are listening to a sermon, and one of these great passages of the Scripture is pointed out to you, underline it, high light it, or jot it down some where.

 

How do you meditate on passage?

1. Read it aloud several times slowly, considering it as you read
2. Then read it several times silently, allowing the key words to lift themselves up to you
3. Ask your self, What is the Spirit saying to me? Then just listen
4. Jot down what you hear

 

Singing is a Great Way to Hallow God’s Name

Here is where privacy can really be key, and by key I mean “off key”. I can’t sing “a lick” as they say here in the south, but because I am in a private place I don’t really care, I can just sing out, and praise the Lord. Get your song book out, choose a few songs that really lift up the name and character of the Lord, and let them fly, sing with joy, sing with abandon, sing with your heart. It should be full, as you just spent the last few minutes considering the greatness of your Heavenly Father and the wonder of His attributes. Guess what? You just “hallowed the name of God”.

 

Prayer: Thy Kingdom Come is coming soon, so stay tuned to Solomon’s Porch.  Oh and tell your friends about us if this article has been helpful to you.

 

Soli Deo Glori