Lord, Teach us to Pray

Once, Jesus disciples approached Him and asked that He teach them to pray. Jesus responded by teaching them the Lord's Prayer. There is much to learn in and about the Lord's Prayer. That's what we are continuing to do, looking at and learning from the Lord's Prayer.

"Hallowed be your name,"
So many times I've prayed these words. But what do they really mean? What is God's name and how can it be hallowed?
Let's start by looking at God's name. His name is all we know about him and his person, his words and his works. And that brings us to God's Word. For it is only in his
Word that God shows us his name. Only Scripture tells us who he is-triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Only Scripture tells us what he is-all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present, all-merciful, and eternal. Only Scripture tells us what he has said-how he thundered his commandments at Sinai to show us what miserable sinners we are and how he whispered his gospel at Calvary to show us what he had done about our horrible condition. To speak about God's name is to speak about his Word.
So what am I asking when I pray, "Hallowed be your name"? There's no way I can make his Word more holy. God's Word is holy by itself, and he can keep it so. He has, however, put it into my shaky hands. And that's where the need for this petition enters in. When I pray, "Hallowed be your name," I'm asking God to help me keep it holy by true teaching. I'm asking him to help me listen to all his Word says, not to try and make it say what I want to hear. I'm asking him to help me accept what it has to say, not to discard what I can't or don't want to understand. I'm asking him to help me stand in humble awe with opened heart and ears before his sacred Word.
I'm also asking him to help me keep his Word holy by true living. God wants me to model his Word in my daily life, not just to mouth it with my words. He wants the unbelievers around me to see by the kindness in my home, the uprightness in my dealings, the joy in my daily life, the confidence in my hour of death how precious God's Word is. When I disregard his Word and drag it through the mud of daily life, why should unbelievers want to become like me or honor God's name with me?
"Hallowed be your name," my Savior teaches me to pray. What a prayer! I ask his forgiveness for the many times I've failed to do so. What a prayer that asks his help so that I study his Word more fully, speak it more clearly, and shine with it more brightly in a world that needs to know his saving name!