Hallowed by Thy name

In the 1985 movie version of "Anne of Green Gables," as an orphan, young Anne is mistakenly placed with Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert.

Marilla is a kind, but stern lady, but also has a deep faith in the Lord. Young Anne has no Christian upbringing, which is of great concern to Marilla. So the first night Anne is taught to pray. She gives it a try:

"I'll do my best. Dear gracious heavenly Father, I thank you for everything. As for the things I especially want, they're so numerous it would take a great deal of time to mention them all. So, I'll just mention the two most important: please let me stay at Green Gables; please make me beautiful when I grow up. I remain yours respectfully, Anne Shirley-with an e."

Anne asks, "Did I do all right?". Finally Ms. Cuthbert replies, "Yes, if you were addressing a business letter to the catalog store."

I think we can all sympathize with the temptation to pray like that. It is vital to have the right understanding of how we approach God through prayer. We approach our loving heavenly Father with confidence, but also with humility, recognizing that what we ask is always on God's terms.

Picking up from my last article, we are walking slowly through the Lord's Prayer found in Matthew chapter 6. When we take the time to look at each phrase and each petition from Jesus' teaching on prayer, we can learn how to focus on prayer that draws us closer to God and closer to being in God's will.

We looked at coming before God as "Our Father in Heaven", together with that in verse 9 is "Hallowed be Your Name", or "May Your Name be kept holy." Following Jesus' example of prayer we are invited to call God, "Our Father". But there is nothing casual about this.

Instead, the God we pray to is holy...and the very first request or petition is focused on honoring and upholding God's name. Through prayer we can come to the Lord boldly and confidently, because of the access we only have through Jesus Christ.

The Lord's Prayer teaches us that God's holiness requires that my requests are on God's terms. Through prayer, because of Jesus Christ, we can come before Our Father with confidence. However, through our words and our worship we bow before a holy God. We uphold God's holy name by recognizing that what I pray is not making a deal with God, or even placing conditions upon the Lord. My prayer is on God's terms.

How do we live this out? Scripture teaches us to be aligned with God's purposes and will. Our prayers need to be directed at bringing glory to God and falling in step with God's plans. Keeping God's name holy teaches us to focus on God's will when we pray in the name of Jesus. How amazing that God, in His holiness, hears our prayers.