God made us in his image - meaning, he created us to be his imagers just as Jesus was. “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’” Matthew wrote the words of Jesus teaching us to pray in chapter 6, verses 9-13. Each has an associated reputation or standing-a name. Every president who lived in our respective lifetimes. Albert Einstein, Superman, and even Darth Vader. On the flip side, the same thing with any number of other historical and fictional characters. We even use her name as a description of others. Make a name for yourself.”Įven now, when you hear someone’s name-do we really think of it only as a name, or do we relate it to who and what they are? If I say "Mother Theresa", what comes to your mind? We each certainly conjure up more than her image. Here in the physical world, we each at some point in our lives want to “make a name for ourselves.” When I was growing up, my dad always encouraged me to “go out there and do something great. Which of those are we to hallow? I believe it is God himself we are to glorify.
What does hallowed be thy name mean? I believe that it isn’t just God’s actual name that Jesus referred to-as I have pointed out, God has many names. The great I AM.īut I think there is something more that we may be missing. He is not “the man upstairs” or “the big guy.” He is, always has been, and always will be the “Most High God” El-Shaddai, Jehovah, Adonai. Indeed, I believe that Jesus was teaching us that we must not take God’s name lightly. But whether Heiser is correct or not, and I believe he is, this only serves to magnify the importance of God’s name being hallowed-holy and set apart above all others. Our Father is the King of Kings Lord of Lords Lord of Hosts. (He particularly notes Psalm 82, where “elohim” is used in the plural in the original Hebrew). In his book, The Unseen Realm, Michael Heiser makes a very strong case that there are indeed other, lesser, elohim in the spiritual world, who are below God.
His name is to be worshipped by his creation above all other gods and authorities, as the one, true God. Unmistakably, that name is holy-set apart above all others. Thus, we are clearly not wrong to glorify God’s holy name. And then as it spreads, as sinners are converted, as churches are planted, as churches grow, the name and the fame of God is hallowed through lives of faith and godliness. Now I am far from a theologian, but I dug a bit deeper and did some research.Īnd so, when the Christian prays, "Hallowed be your name," it's a desire for the name of God and the fame of God to be known worldwide, to be known globally in the life of a Christian, brightly in the life of the local church. Now, it is quite easy to Google hallowed or hallow and find that it means “to make holy or sacred, to sanctify or consecrate, to venerate.” I think that we can all agree that is clearly our impression when we recite the word. When it is used, typically it is in conjunction with a cliché or old adage-“hallowed halls.” But do we think that is what Jesus was teaching us when he taught the Lord’s prayer-to equate the name of God with a building that is old and admired, or had been important at some point in history and has a good reputation? No, me neither. For the life of me, I sure cannot remember when I might have used that in normal conversation. Let’s face it, “hallowed” is not a word we exactly use in our daily lives. What does hallowed by thy name mean? Let's explore that question in this article. Sometimes, we commit something to memory before we fully understand its meaning. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. Yet so many of us learn to say it by habitual repetition. Mary had a little lamb, Star light, star bright, Now I lay me down to sleep-but wait, that last one isn’t a poem or a song-it’s a prayer. What does hallowed be thy name mean? When we were kids, we all learned and memorized poems and songs that we just mechanically recited.
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