Matthew 6:9-13 “In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Pastor J. Vernon McGee in his booklet “Let Us Pray” unpacks what we call “The Lord’s Prayer. In it, he turns to the last great statement made in the introduction of the prayer”: “Hallowed be Your Name.” More correctly translated from the Greek, it should read, “Let Your name be made holy.” The name of God stands for all that God is. That means all that God is – all that God stands for – is in His name.
The name of God (Yahweh) was so reverent, so sacred to the nation of Israel, they dared not even pronounce it. Today, there is such a familiarity with the name of God, even in conservative circles, that ought not to be. We’ve become too accustomed with the things that are sacred and holy, and we need to be very careful in this. Certainly, it’s tragic when someone takes God’s name in vain, using it in a meaningless or profane manner, but more tragic is the blasphemy of the sanctuary. I remember one church member asking me how I thought of Jesus Christ. She told me that she best thought of him as her friend (John. 15:13-15). I replied: Holy Lord. We brush against holy and sacred things so constantly in the church that they can become commonplace. And you who come to the church worship service and Bible studies – you do well to be reverent in His presence in the house of worship dedicated to Him. God deliver us from treating as commonplace the things that are sacred before You!
How can we make God’s name holy? Can we add to that which is already infinitely holy? Certainly not. Then what did our Lord mean by the statement, “Hallowed be Your name?” He meant that by our lives we are to make God’s name holy. Two men in the book of Genesis: one was a disgrace to the name of Gods and the other commended the name of God. Everywhere that Abraham went, he built an alter to God. And the Canaanites found him to be honest. Surely, the name of God, who Abraham worshipped, was made holy because of the life of Abraham. But, two things always marked the path over which Jacob had gone – he built an alter and he defrauded someone. The first part of Jacob’s life held only dishonor and God told him that he could not continue conducting himself in the manner, for the name of God must be made holy.
McGee appeals: My friend, let us go to the top of yonder mountain where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount – we need to go there. We must have men and women who name the name of God and whose lives correspond to it. We must be willing to stake the eternal destiny of our soul upon the accuracy of the Bible, believing the Word of God with all our heart. We cannot profess to know of God but blaspheme that name in our living. Go to the mountain and listen as God reveal His will.
We are not saved by the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), but you and I can make His name holy by reading it and abiding therein. I know that it is a ministry of condemnation, but it will cause us to flee to Jesus Christ for refuge, for salvation, deliverance, and power; and we will become God’s child by faith in Jesus Christ that we might be enabled to make His name holy in our living. Are you hallowing God’s name in your daily life?
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