We Continue Dan’s series of short posts going through the Lord’s prayer and learning to pray the way Jesus taught us to, into our own part of the mission in Great Yarmouth and beyond.
We’ve seen that Jesus taught us to begin our prayers with the encouragement that we are speaking to our Father. The second line in the Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6 then both confuses us and catches us off guard. It goes like this:
“Hallowed be your name”
So what are we asking for? Well, to say ‘hallowed be your name’ is essentially saying:
“May everyone see you for who you really are – and who you are is hallowed; holy”
So next we need to understand what ‘hallowed’ means. It’s the same as the world holy, and it describes God’s character of being totally, absolutely good and righteous in everything he does. Not only does it mean that there is no trace or shadow of sin or evil in God – it also means that he actively opposes all sin and evil.
Which would be terrifying for us, if not for Jesus.
The Bible – and our own experience – makes very clear that we live less than perfect lives. Romans 3:10-12 says that without God nobody is righteous. Nobody is holy – and if that’s the case then we’re forever separated from him. But in Jesus there is an answer. We can approach our holy God because Jesus died for us – and by his death we have been made holy, whether you feel like it or not.
2 Corinthians 5:21 “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
And so in Colossians 3:12, Paul can describe us as “God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved.” All at once, we see the enormous gift that allows us to know our perfect Father. We’re reminded we owe everything to him, and without him we’d be lost forever. We’re reminded that we can never treat sin lightly because it cost Jesus his life. And at the same time we’re reminded that so many are still separated from God. Father, may everyone see how holy you are, and how much we all need your forgiveness and love.
