“Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name”

Hallowed be thy name.

This part of the Lord’s prayer always felt like a formality to me, as if someone was writing a letter with the opening words:

“Dear John, to whom I write this letter, what a great name John is,”

It’s okay to laugh, right? 

I can’t tell you how many times I fast-forwarded through the first line of the LORD’s prayer in my head, only to slow down for what I thought were the real ideas: “Your will be done… give us this day our daily bread… forgive us our trespasses… lead us not into temptation…” 

Those parts of the prayer made a little more sense to me. 

But it occurred to me just the other day…

When praying, God wants his name to be ‘hallowed’, i.e. to be kept holy. Yes, he wants us to call him Father, but he also wants his name to be revered, honoured, and set apart. 

But why? 

At the very least, it sure sounds like a theologically safe idea to do so. Right?

But is there more to keeping the Lord’s name holy? 

I think there is – and I would suggest it has to do with our own journey towards holiness.

As we pray and uphold God’s name as holy, we become holy.
As we pray and set God’s name apart from all other names, we become set apart. 

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

Did you catch that? 
If my people, who are called by my name…

Who are the LORDs’ people?
The LORDs’ people are the ones who call upon the name of the LORD.

If the LORDs’ name then is not set apart from any other name, then how should the LORDs’ people be set apart from any other people?

There is a name that has been hallowed. 
There is a name that has been set “above all other names” (Philippians 2:9).

Does that mean there are also people who are above all other people?

I don’t think so. Let’s keep reading:

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves…”

This is not a group of people who consider themselves superior to others.
This is not a group of people who think they are better than others. 

This is a group of people who call upon the name of the LORD and humble themselves. They pray and seek the LORD’s face, turning from their wicked ways in order that the LORD may forgive them and heal their land.  

I think I might have some work to do.

I need to set apart the LORD’s name from any other name that invites itself to be lord of my life. 

I need to examine myself to see if I have exalted anything else as lord.

comfort? pleasure? acceptance? wealth? fame? security? maybe.

I don’t think any of those things I just listed are inherently wicked. I just think it might be a wicked-bad idea if any of those lords are currently captaining my soul.

Captains usually have a strong sense of where they are headed. Where am I headed? Probably a good question to ask myself.

It’s been a while since I checked in with the Captain.
It’s been a while since I checked in with the CAPTAIN, also.

This might call for a course correction. 
This might call for a turn.

LORD. Take the wheel.