Prayer: Hallowed be Your Name

Be Blessed and Inspired
Sep 12
5 min read

Welcome to another devotion based on "Come to the Father: Drawing Near to God Through Prayer and Scripture."

In this devotion I’d like to share a bit of encouragement based on week two, titled Worship.

The first line of the Lord’s prayer is, “Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be Your Name.”

Hallowed, in the original Greek means: make holy, treat as holy, set apart as holy, sanctify, hallow, purify, consecrate, dedicate.

Synonyms: sacred, holy, blessed, consecrated, revered, divine, esteemed, acclaimed, celebrated, famed, glorious, honored, elevated, venerated, worshipped, worthy, honorable.

To hallow God’s Name means that we acknowledge Him as worthy of praise above all else.

When I hear the word hallow, I think of the story of the burning bush in Exodus 3:5, when Moses stood before the LORD on hallowed ground. “God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” I think of Mary who exalted the Lord with her praise in Luke 1:47, the NIV says, “My soul glorifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,” other versions use phrases such as magnify the Lord, praise the Lord, exalt the Lord, proclaim the greatness of the Lord.”

Psalm 145:1, “I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever.”

To hallow the Lord’s name, is to revere and worship Him with the highest honor.

God alone is worthy to be praised—that is an irrefutable fact. But not everyone acknowledges that truth and reality. Yet Scripture assures us that someday every eye will see Him and every knee will indeed bow before Him as King.

God is holy regardless of our conception. He desires though that everyone come to this realization. He continually reveals His glory to all of mankind; He continually reaches out and shows us His love and kindness. His holiness is indisputable, but each of us is responsible for our confession of this truth. Someday every knee will bow, every heart will be humbled before Him. His glory and holiness will be acknowledged throughout all of heaven and earth!

God’s glory is indescribable and indisputable. May we exalt and magnify His name with our words and actions. He alone deserves all praise. He reigns from on high yet bends down low to meet us. May worship and gratitude fill our hearts and overflow through our humble obedience, surrender, and service to the Lord.

The holiness of the Lord is beyond human comprehension and adequate description. All of Heaven worships in wonder around God’s throne. They sing and proclaim praises to the Father and Jesus Christ the Son. Angels, saints, and all of creation join in. We are invited to enter the chorus being sung, adding our voices to the anthem already going on. The Lord is radiant, glorious and righteous reigning from His Throne Room. What an extraordinary vision to behold! May our lives be filled with awe and wonder, reverence and praise, humility and surrender. All to Jesus Name! Amen.

Here are three passages of Scripture to emphasize God’s hallowed name:

Isaiah 45:5-6, “I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, ⁶so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting people may know there is none besides me. I am the Lord, and there is no other.”

Revelation 1:12-18, “I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, ¹³and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. ¹⁴The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. ¹⁵His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. ¹⁶In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. ¹⁷When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. ¹⁸I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”

Revelation 5:11-14, “Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. ¹²In a loud voice they were saying: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” ¹³Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” ¹⁴The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.”

Worship is a proper and powerful expression in response to the majesty of God; it is a privilege we are invited to participate in.

Worship glorifies the Lord, it puts Him on the throne of our lives; it pushes back the darkness, and it strengthens our spirits by changing our perspective. Our praises silence the foe and establish a stronghold against the enemy.

As I considered this lesson, a line from a sonnet by Elizabeth Barrett Browning popped in my head; you may be familiar with it or think just I’m silly. It goes like this: “How do I love thee, let me count the ways.” But with our theme of worship on my mind, my variation became, “Why do I worship thee, let me count the whys.”

The reasons we worship are countless and endless. But over the past week we reflected on seven very significant reasons why the Lord alone deserves our worship and praise.

God is Creator; God is Eternal; God is Holy; God is Love; God is Merciful; God is Worthy; and God is Mighty.

His attributes and character are evident throughout the Bible, yet most they are most clearly visible in the book of Revelation. We see God reigning from Heaven above with angels, creatures, and God’s children surrounding His throne singing night and day.

“‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.”