We are not saying, “Lord, your name is hallowed!” We are saying, “Lord, cause your name to be hallowed!” That is, cause your word to be believed, cause your displeasure to be feared, cause your commandments to be obeyed, and cause yourself to be glorified. And so our question becomes, what does it mean to treat God as holy? So Jesus is teaching us to pray that God would cause his name to be treated as holy. But when we sanctify God, it means that we treat him as holy. When God sanctifies us, it means that he makes us holy. Jesus tells us to pray, “Let your name be sanctified.” Now, the word “sanctify “can mean make holy or treat as holy. The same Greek word stands behind both English words. There is enormous power in letting God be who he is. Jesus was encouraging his friends to bring their hearts into line with the jealousy of God to hallow his name. God wills to make great things the consequence of our prayers when our prayers are the consequence of his great purposes. The point is that prayer is God’s way of bringing our own priorities into line with his. As Kierkkegaard put it: “The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.” And in this case, he has every intention to cause his name to be hallowed. It’s importsnt to realise that it’s not a declaration but a request.Īlso, as we all know (deep down), prayer does not move God to do things he is disinclined to do.
And the more you know God, the more confident you are in his ability to sort things out (and the less likely you are to get flummoxed under pressure).Īnd the very first petition of the Lord’s Prayer is this: that the Lord “hallow” his own name. The thing is, that “ Those who know your name put their trust in you.” (Psalm 9:10) To know God’s “name” is to know his character. It’s obviously a crucial point, albeit one that we often miss. From start to finish, Genesis to Revelation, the Bible emphasises the name of God.
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