Posted on 08/24/2016 5:12:35 AM PDT by Gamecock
[Jesus] said to them, ‘When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.’”
- Luke 11:2
Misplaced priorities plague all of us at different points in our lives. After all, while it can be relatively easy for us to identify good things that we should do, we sometimes miss the most important things we should do. We are finite and cannot do every good deed that it is possible to do. Thus, we need a way to rank our priorities, to make sure we focus on the most important deeds out of all the good things that present themselves to us.
Prayer is one area in which many of us have misplaced priorities. If we were to consider our prayer lives and what we pray for, it is likely that most of us would find that we pray more for ourselves and our needs than for anything else. Certainly, it is right for us to pray for ourselves and for God to give us good gifts, for the Lord’s Prayer contains a petition to that end, and it serves as the model for how we are to pray (Luke 11:3–4; see Matt. 6:9). But our needs are not the first things for which we should pray. Something else takes priority, namely, the coming of God’s holy kingdom.
The Lord’s Prayer indicates that the first thing we should pray for after addressing God as our Father is the hallowing of His name and the coming of His kingdom (Luke 11:2). The placement of these petitions side by side reveals an inseparable link between them. As God’s name is hallowed—set apart as holy—the kingdom comes, and as the kingdom comes, God’s name is hallowed by more and more people.
The proper regard for God’s holy name is almost entirely absent from the wider culture in our day. Few would identify as a bad person the one who regularly blasphemes God’s name as long as he does not commit any of the “major” sins such as murder and theft. Yet, the very same divine law code that outlaws transgressions such as adultery, theft, murder, and libel also includes the commandment not to take the name of the Lord in vain (Ex. 20:1–17). Taking the name of God in vain means not regarding the Lord or His name with the proper honor. It covers a whole host of sins, including cursing His name, not fulfilling lawful oaths made in His name, hypocrisy, and many other transgressions (WLC 113).
In any kingdom, the subjects must honor the name of their ruler. This includes the kingdom of God. That is why we must come to the Lord with an awareness of who He is and who we are. He is the Sovereign, and we are His subjects. As such, we must hallow His name.
Coram Deo
One way to evaluate whether our prayers are lining up with how God wants us to pray is to consider how often we pray for God’s holiness to be recognized and for His kingdom to come. If we regularly spend more time praying for our needs than for the advance of God’s kingdom, our priorities in prayer are off. Let us consider how focused we are on praying for God’s kingdom to come, and let us pray this day for His name to be hallowed.
Passages for Further Study
Psalm 145:21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.
Daniel 7:13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
Mark 11:1 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples 2 and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. 3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’ ” 4 And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. 5 And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6 And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. 7 And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. 8 And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. 9 And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, o“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! 10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of sour father David! Hosanna tin the highest!”
John 1:43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, x“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael said to him, “How ado you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you,11 you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
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