"Hallowed Be Thy Name"

As I was thinking about today and the opportunity we have to talk about prayer once again, I realized how practical God's Word really is to our lives. You know, my job is so simple because God's Word is so practical for all of us. And as I look at my responsibility to discharge that truth to you, I'm overwhelmed by the simplicity of God's Word to speak to every aspect of our lives.

And it just so happens we find ourselves in Luke's Gospel, the 11th chapter, talking specifically about prayer because the disciples of Jesus asked him to teach them how to pray as John's disciples learned to pray from John the Baptist. And this isn't the first time that Jesus would tell his men about this pattern for prayer because we know that Matthew 6 records that same pattern.

And yet as I think about this opportunity, I am overwhelmed by what we don't know about prayer as Christians. You'd think that people who'd want to commune with the living God would learn to do that in a way that would bring honor and glory to his name. But for the most part, we have a hard time coming to grips with what prayer really is all about. In fact, Jesus said these words, and as he said them on the eve of his crucifixion, we quote them quite regularly. We claim them as a great promise for our lives.

Jesus said these words to his men after explaining to them that there was a mansion, his father's mansion, that there were many dwelling places for his men and those who believed in him. He was going to come again and take them home to be with him. He explained that to them. And then he says these words. He says, whatever you ask in my name, that will I do. That's just a powerful statement. And then he reiterates it this way in the next verse. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. Well, I read that and I think, wow, can you imagine being a disciple in the upper room with our Lord, having seen and heard his words, knowing that he has proclaimed his death, it's imminent, it's coming.

He tells them, if you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. People say, well, then you need to name it and claim it, right? And say, well, Lord, I need, I'm going to pray this in Jesus' name. Jesus, this is in your name for your sake. I'm praying in Jesus' name. I'm going to name it, I'm going to claim it, I'm going to pray it, and I don't get it. And I think, well, isn't that what Jesus said? And I pray about it, and I pray about it, and I pray about it, and I say in Jesus' name, and then nothing happens.

And I begin to ask myself, did Jesus really mean what he said? Well, yes, he did. But there's one qualifying statement that's in between the two that I read, and it's this. Whatever you ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. There's a qualifying statement there, and it's this. Jesus says, when you pray, remember, it has nothing to do with you.

Oh, what a downer, right? Because we're thinking prayer's about us. Jesus says, when you pray, I'm going to answer every prayer that you pray so that my Father is glorified in the Son.

Prayer is about God and his glory. It's not about man and his needs. We have missed that. God is going to answer prayer so that he is glorified. So that's why he qualifies it by saying, if you ask it in my name, and that's a mouthful, because you need to understand what that means, and that's why we come to our portion in Luke 11, which says, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Amen. If we're going to pray the way God wants us to pray, then we must understand it's about his glory, his honor, his will, his name, his kingdom, his power, his glory, his glory, forever.

Prayer is not about us. Prayer is about our Father who is in heaven. So important to understand. We, of all people, as Christians, need to know how to pray. We come to God with our felt needs, right? And we say, well, the Bible says, cast all your cares upon him, for he cares for you.

That's right. He does. And that's right. That's what Peter said. Peter understood that. And yet, in our society, as narcissistic as it is, and how that narcissism has infiltrated the church, we do think that prayer is about us, that church is about us, that the Bible is about us, that everything's about us. And so we approach it with that mentality, without ever coming to grips with what prayer really is about, and how Jesus taught his disciples how to pray. And Jesus teaches us how to pray. At best, we listen to what he says about prayer.

So what I want to do is give you a brief review, then look at this request, and then its results. Three points, very simple, very practical. First of all, a review.

Jesus says, when you pray, pray this way. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. When you pray, our Father, it simply signifies our relationship. When you pray, who art in heaven, it solidifies our respect. And when you pray, hallowed be thy name, it sanctifies our role in prayer. Jesus said, when you pray, pray this way. Our Father, who art in heaven. It begins with recognizing God as Father. And we talked about this last week, that he's not like the earthly Father. You ever talk to your dad and he not listen to you?

My children talk to me all the time. Dad, you're not listening. And so their mother says, why don't you talk to your father? It's because when we talk to him, he never listens. I hear that all the time. I'm always preoccupied with something else. My Father in heaven is never preoccupied with something else. He always listens. He's a heavenly Father. He's not an earthly Father. Our Father signifies our relationship with him and our relationship with one another. He's our Father. Your Father, my Father, we are all sons of the same family, right?

And when I come home from work, I don't hear as much now because my kids are older, but when they were younger, I hear from Avery all the time. And Daddy's home. Daddy, hi, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy's home. Hear that all the time with my kids. And it does my heart good when I walk through the door and I hear the ring of Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy. And they come running to me and they put their arms around me and we hug and we kiss. I pat them on the head and they go off and do their thing, you know.

But it does my heart good. I wonder what would happen if one day I came home and I heard these words. Oh, great pastor, teacher of Christ Community Church, provider for our family, father of our lives, husband to our mother, disciplinarian of our home. We greet thee. I'm not sure I'd say, who are you and what have you done with my children? Can you imagine coming home to something like that? That's how we approach God sometimes. Oh, great creator of the universe. You know, and we approach him as if he's not even our father, but he is.

He says, when you come and you pray, you cry out to me as I'm your papa, I'm your daddy, I'm your father. You come to me. I'm not like your earthly father, Jesus said in Matthew six, you know what? Your heavenly father knows what you need before you even ask him. You see, you know, we go to the Lord with all of our aches and pains and all of our little problems, whether it's financial or marital or relational, whatever it is. And you know what? He already knows all those things. He knows what you need before you even ask it.

So it's imperative that you know how to pray his way, right? There's a reason he gives us a pattern to follow because it helps us understand the significance of prayer in our lives. So he says, prayer begins this way. When you come, you come to your father who is in heaven. And if the fact that he is our father signifies our relationship, then the very fact that he's in heaven solidifies our respect. When you come, you say, our father who art in heaven, it speaks of his transcendence. Yes, he is a heavenly father.

And yes, he wants us to come to him as we would cry out to him, papa, daddy. And yet there's great respect there because he is creator. He is sustainer. He is sovereign ruler of the world. You go to him because he has allowed you entrance into his presence. So there's a balance in our prayer life. And that's why he says, when you come, you pray, our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. That sanctifies our role because when you come, you come with reverence, you come with adoration, you come with awe because he and his name is to be respected.

A.W. Pink said these words in his book on the expositions of the Sermon on the Mount. How clearly then is the fundamental duty of prayer set forth. Self and all its needs must be given a secondary place. And the Lord freely accorded the preeminence in our thoughts and supplications. This petition must take the precedence for the glory of God's great name is the ultimate end of all things. This phrase is a warning against self-seeking kind of prayers. And it keeps our focus upon God because it consumes us with his preeminence and with his purity.

Okay. That's the review. Here's the request. Hallowed be thy name. Let me give you three points under the request.

This phrase, this request, hallowed be thy name does three things. You need to get them. You need to understand them. Number one, they declare his identity.

Two, they describe his ministry. Number three, it details your responsibility. You with me so far? Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. You must understand that this little part in Luke 11, one to four is so important to grasp because prayer is not talking about God. Prayer is not talking to God. Prayer is talking with God. And this is how we communicate with the living God of the universe. He's communicated with us through his word, right? And that's why Bible study comes before prayer.

That's why Bible study is the preeminent self-discipline because unless you know what God says, you don't know how to pray.

So once you learn what he says, then you know how to pray about what he said, right? And that's what prayer is. It's submitting my will to his will, not getting God to do my thing down here. Rub my little rabbit's foot, my little biblical rabbit's foot, thinking that God somehow is going to come down here and do my thing. And that's, that's just not what it's about. And so we come to our father who is in heaven in the very first request, is hallowed be thy name.

First aspect of that request is that it declares his identity. When you speak about the name of God, you're speaking about the nature of God. You're speaking about the glory of God. You know, in Jewish history, a name meant everything. That's why the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 7.1, a good name is better than a good ointment.

Why? Well, you know, you put on the ointment, you put on the perfume in the morning, but by noon it's gone. Unless it's real expensive perfume, and then it might last you into the evening. But once you shower, it's gone, right? It's off. You lose the ointment, you lose the sweet fragrance. But a good name lasts forever. It lasts beyond the good ointment. And then over in Proverbs 22, verse number one, a good name is more desired than great riches.

Why? Because riches are here today, gone tomorrow, right? And that we learned last year in the recession. They're here today, they're gone tomorrow. They never last forever. Can't take them with you when you die. But a good name is more desired than great riches because riches come and go. Perfume comes and goes. But the good name lasts forever because the name of an individual signifies his character, his nature, who he really is. So when you pray, Hallowed be thy name, you truly are declaring the identity of God in your life.

That's important. The Bible says this over in 1 Samuel 13, 14, that David was a man after God's own heart, right?

And then it says over in 1 Samuel chapter 18, verse number 30, these words, then the commanders of the Philistines went out to battle. And it happened as often as they went out that David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul. So his name was highly esteemed. The character of David, the nature of David, the person of David was highly esteemed. It wasn't the letters D-A-V-I-D. It was the man who was after God's own heart who was highly esteemed because of the character qualities that he possessed.

You with me so far? The Bible says over in Psalm 20, verse number 7, some trust in chariots, some in horses, but we will trust in the name of the Lord our God.

We will trust in the nature of the Lord our God. We will trust in the person, the Lord our God. We will trust in the one that we believe in, the Lord our God. Remember way back in the book of numbers, I'm sorry, the book of Exodus, Exodus chapter 33, Moses asked to see the glory of the Lord. And in verse number 19 of chapter three, the Lord God says, I myself will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you.

Moses asked to see his glory. God says, I will proclaim my name because his name is equivalent with his glory.

So when the Lord hit him in the cleft of the rock and passed by, it says this, then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness and truth, who keeps loving kindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity. You see, his name is equal to his glory. His glory is equal to his attributes. It declares the identity of God. His name is who he is, right? So when I am praying, our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, I am declaring the identity of God to rule supremely in my life.

So important to understand. The Bible says in Psalm 9, 10, they who know thy name will put their trust in thee.

Those who know the character of God, those who know the attributes of God, what do they do? They trust him. They believe in him because they understand him. That's why Jesus said in John 17, six, I have manifested thy name to these men. How did he do that? Well, we know that in the beginning was the word, the word was with God and the word was God, right? And that word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory. The glory is not the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth.

And so we know that Jesus embodies grace. He embodies truth. He manifests God. He is the exact representation of the father according to Hebrews one. So we know that when Jesus came, he would display the father to his men. He would manifest the attributes, the character, the identity of his father to his men. That's why he said to his disciples, if you've seen me, you've seen the father. So when I pray, how would it be thy name? I am declaring his identity. At the same time, I am describing his ministry.

I'm describing his ministry. You see the Lord ministers based on his character, his nature, right? And you know, for us, you know, we call Jesus, Jesus. We call the Lord, the Lord. We call God, God, right? But, but if I'm a Hebrew, I got all kinds of titles and, and ways to, to describe the ministry of my God. That's why the Lord God said back in Exodus chapter three, you tell them my memorial name. The name that's to be remembered from generation to generation, those four Hebrew consonants that make up the tetragonmaton that we pronounce Yahweh.

If you're Gentile, it's Jehovah. If you're something else, it's Yahweh. It's the way to best pronounce those three Hebrew consonants. So throughout the Bible, the Lord God proclaims himself to be Yahweh Yireh, right? Genesis 22. The Lord who will be seen. We translate it, Jehovah, the provider, right? But it really is the God who was, who will be seen because the God who sees all is the only one who can provide whatever you need because he knows exactly what you need before you, before you need it, because he sees the end from the beginning.

That's why he called himself the great I am. Why? It speaks of his eternal existence. It speaks to the fact that he exists not only in the realm of time, but outside the realm of time. He exists in the past, present, and future all at the same time because that's who he is. So the God who sees past, present, and future all at the same time knows your need before you even had that need. And so when you begin to describe his ministry, the Hebrews called upon him as Yahweh Yireh, the God who sees, or Yahweh Nisi, the Lord who is our banner or who is our victor.

And we are the ones who march in the victory parade with him as our leader. Or Yahweh Rapha, the Lord who what? Heals. Psalm 103. It's the Lord who heals all of our soul's diseases. He's Yahweh Shalom, the Lord our peace, according to Judges 624. He's Yahweh Tzeduke, the Lord our righteousness. He's Yahweh Sabaoth, the Lord of armies, the Lord of hosts. He's Yahweh Shema, the Lord who is ever present. He's Yahweh Mekarishkim, the Lord who sanctifies. That's who he is. And so when the Hebrews called upon him, they called upon him to display his ministry among them as the great God of his people.

When we pray, Hallowed be thy name, not only do we declare his identity, we are describing his ministry to us as his children because he is our father. So when you come over to the Gospels, Jesus would say before Abraham was, I am. He declared that he was the God who spoke to Moses way back in Exodus chapter 3 and Exodus chapter 4. And he says, I am what? The way, the truth, and the life. I am the bread of life. I am the resurrection and the life. I am, I am everything because if you hunger and thirst, I am the living water.

I am the vine. You are the branches. I am the door. I am the good shepherd. It describes his ministry among us. So when we come and talk about the name of God in our prayers, not only do we declare the identity of God as supreme over all, but we are describing the ministry that God, our father, has on a regular basis in your life and in my life as the great God of Israel. The one who gives peace, the one who leads and guides because he's our shepherd, the one who heals all our souls diseases, the one who takes us and marches before us as the victorious warrior, the God who sees over all, knows all things before you even have a need, has already prepared to meet that need in the future because that's my God.

So when I go to prayer, everything is about his wonderful name. That's why the, the Lord God said in Isaiah chapter 9, verse number 6, that there's going to be a son that's given a child that's born and his name shall be called. What? Wonderful. Because that's who he is. His name will be called counselor because that's what he does, right? He, his name will be the mighty God because there's no one more powerful than he. His name will be the everlasting father because he truly is the originator of eternity.

Wow. He is the Prince of Peace. That's his name. See? So having declared who he is, having described what he does, I can now detail what I'm supposed to do from his identity to his ministry to my responsibility. And that's what the whole phrase, Hallowed be thy name, was all about. Hallowed. What a great word. From the word hagios, which means to separate, to set apart, to be, to be made holy. We don't make the name of God holy. It already is holy, right? God is already holy. He's already hallowed.

But the request is, listen carefully, the request is based on your identity and based on your ministry, Lord, I am asking you to be set apart in my life as a preeminent one, as the King of Kings, of Lord of my life. When I go to prayer, I go to him as my father who is in heaven. And the very first request that I have is say, Lord, you are King, you are ruler, you are the Holy One, and I'm asking you, I'm asking you to be the preeminent one in my life.

That's where prayer begins. If prayer doesn't begin there, then it's beginning at some lower level. It's beginning at another level that, that, that, that keeps God from the highest place. And God needs to be in the highest place in our own personal lives. So let me explain how that happens.

Four ways. You ready? Number one, consecration. One is consecration. Peter said it this way, 1 Peter 3, 15, sanctify the Lord Christ in your hearts. Remember that? 1 Peter 3, 15, so that you might have an answer to give to anyone who asks of the hope that lies within, right? Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Set Christ apart as Lord. Set Him apart as Holy. Set Him apart as preeminent in your life. Because if He's not preeminent in your life, you're never going to be ready to give an answer to anybody who asks of the hope that lies within, right?

Well, when you pray, hallowed be thy name, you are saying, Lord, I want you to be the preeminent one in my life. Lord, my life is consecrated to you as my Lord. I'm submitting to you as my King. I want your will, Lord, over my will. I want your Lordship to reign supreme in my life. If that's not your prayer request, then your, your prayer really is saying, I don't care about your Lordship. I am Lord, and I want you to do what I tell you to do. And that's how most of us pray. And then we get mad because God doesn't do it our way.

You ever been mad at God because your prayer isn't answered your way? Can you imagine being mad at God because your prayer isn't answered in your way? How more selfish can we possibly be? We're telling God what to do. When can we ever come to that place where we tell God what to do? But see, that's what we think. That's because we haven't hallowed his name. We haven't come and said, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Lord, may you be set apart. May your name reign supreme. May the name of God, the identity of God, the character of God, the person of God reign supreme in my life before anything else.

Excuse me. That's where prayer begins with the first request. And it begins with a consecration. Then it moves to a comprehension. A comprehension. Listen, how can God's name be hallowed in my life if I don't know who he is? Right? God told Hosea, Hosea 4 verse number 6, my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. They don't know me. They think they do. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. But they are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. So Peter says in 1 Peter 3, grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord.

There should be that constant growth in the knowledge of God. We must know the kind of God he is to hallow his precious name in our lives. But you know what? So easily we take the name of our God in vain. We do. We treat the name of our God as empty, as useless, as futile in our lives because we don't trust him for who he is. Do you ever think that there are people who accuse God of being an unloving God because of how he enacts his wrath and vengeance? They say he's unloving. But no, he's the master lover of all things.

And we begin to take the name of the Lord in vain. Whenever you, listen carefully, whenever you doubt God, you blaspheme his name. Did you know that? We get all upset at the unbeliever because they take the name of our Lord God in vain. They swear, they curse. But how many times do we get upset at the believer for distrusting the God of the universe, which, listen, is more blasphemous than what the unbeliever does. It is because we know better. Well, at least we should, right? We should know better.

To distrust him when he says to trust me, to not believe him when he says, believe in me, to live an anxious life, a worrisome life, a troublesome life, when he says, don't do that. Don't be anxious, be anxious for nothing. We doubt God, we distrust God, therefore taking his name in vain, meaning we treat it as useless or we treat it as if it means nothing to us. And that's because there isn't that comprehension of coming to know our God for who he really is. And that's why there's this consecration.

If I'm going to hallow God's name in my life, if I'm going to detail my responsibility, it begins with a consecration that says, Lord, sanctify the Lord Christ in your heart. Lord, I want you to be set apart as holy in my life. And Lord, I want to come to know you and all that you are and all that you do, because I want to trust you. I want to believe in you. I want to follow you. I want to serve you. I want to honor you. I want to glorify you. That's where prayer begins. But you know what? Most of us, we're just not there, are we?

Let's be honest. We're going to God and we're crying out, oh Lord, save my marriage, save my finances. Lord, do something, save quick. Because all we can think about is right now and me. That's all we can think of. But God says, if you ask anything in my name, that will I do.

So the father will be glorified in the son. It's all about the glory of God. It's not about you. It's not about me. It's about the glory of almighty God. Do you want God's glory more than anything? Or would you rather you receive the glory? So there's a consecration, there's a comprehension, and then there's a celebration. A celebration. That's how God's name is hallowed in my life. We hallow his name publicly as well as privately by celebrating his character, by celebrating his nature, by celebrating his existence in my life, by celebrating the fact that he is set apart as holy, and that I am going to serve and honor him and follow him, and that he deserves to be celebrated.

There's that celebration, excuse me, in my life. Psalm 168 says, I have set the Lord continually before me. You know what that means? That means you look at everything through God colored glasses.

I have set the Lord continually before me. That's somebody who lives in celebratory mode. He's before me, and everything I look at, every problem I see, every circumstance I encounter, I look at it through God colored glasses.

I don't look at it through my natural lenses, because if I do, I'll get worried, I'll get depressed, I'll get angry, mad, vengeful, bitter.

But if I look at it through God colored glasses, I can truly celebrate the name of God being set apart as holy in my life.

So there's a consecration, there's a comprehension, there's a celebration, and then there's a characterization. That is, I reflect his nature in me. When I pray, hallowed be thy name, I am asking God's name, his character, his nature, to be reflected in me. I am asking the Lord God to be glorified in me. Martin Luther said it this way, how is God's name hallowed among us? When both our doctrine and our life are godly and Christian. So Alan Redpath, in his book on victorious praying, said this, Because he is Yahweh Yireh, the God who sees all and provides all, he will move all his mountains away, therefore my behavior in the crisis of life should glorify the name of Christ.

Because he is Yahweh Nisi, God my victory, others should see a victorious life being lived out through me which is quite beyond human explanation. Because he is Yahweh Shalom, God my peace, others should observe in your life and mine a tranquility and calm, a freedom from confused hurry and panic, a steadiness, a poise, a calmness, a sweetness, a peace, which is outside human comprehension. Because he is Yahweh Sidkenu, God my righteousness, others should observe in your life and mine a high standard, integrity of conduct, honesty of purpose, truthfulness which neither exaggerates nor minimizes.

In all our dealings with others, there should be something that can only be explained by the fact that it is no longer we who live, but Christ lives in us. And then he says, what sort of mirrors are we to reflect his name? Is that reflection of Christ marred by sin, spoiled by our absorption in lesser things? Is it dimmed because in some aspects of life I do not honor my relationship with my father in heaven? When you pray, you're to pray God's way. Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Amen. Lord, I want your name, your identity, your ministry so set apart in my life as preeminent that everything I do is subject to who you are. That's where prayer begins. Where does your prayer life begin? That's how Jesus taught us how to pray. What are the results? Two, one negative, one positive. The negative is to dishonor the name of God. The positive is to display the name of God. This is where your homework comes in. This is where the rubber meets the road for you and for me. There's a negative response or a negative result and there's a positive result.

I can leave here today and decide not to hallow God's name in my life. I can decide not to pray that way. And if you do, you will dishonor God inevitably in your life. Let me show you how.

There's a story we're very familiar with in the Old Testament. It happened right after the death of Miriam. The people of Israel, the 2 million Jews in the wilderness began to complain as they normally did about the fact that they had no water. They began to murmur, gripe, bellyache to Moses and to Aaron. So Moses and Aaron do what they're supposed to do. They go to God, talk to God about it. Let's know what God says.

Take the rod and you and your brother Aaron, assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink. The orders that God gives is very simple. Moses and Aaron go to God. We got a problem. They're complaining again. What do we do? God says, speak to the rock.

Gather the congregation together, speak to the rock and water will come forth and they will drink and be satisfied. Now, you don't have to have a college education to figure out what God said to Moses. You don't even have to have an elementary education to figure out what God said to Moses. It's very simple. Listen carefully. So Moses took the rod from before the Lord just as he had commanded him and Moses and Aaron gathered assembly before the rock. He said to them, listen now you rebels. God never said anything to them, but Moses took the opportunity to call them rebels.

Gather around you bunch of fools, you rebels, you rebellious stiff, gather around here. I got something. God's going to do something, but before God does something, I got to say something. So Moses takes the opportunity to say something. You rebels, shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock? Shall we? Is that what God said? Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice. Lord said, speak to the rock. Moses said, I'm going to strike the rock. Struck the rock twice with his rod. And guess what?

Water came forth abundantly and the congregation and the beasts drank. God is so good. God is so good. Moses gathers the rebels around, kind of berates him a little bit, kind of puts his two cents in, takes the rod that God said to take. Out comes the water. But the Lord, those butologies in scripture, they speak volumes. But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, because you have not believed me, listen, to treat me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.

Those were the sons of Israel contended with the Lord and he proved himself holy among them. God says, Moses and Aaron, come here.

This is the deal. You did not believe me. Where did it say Moses didn't believe the Lord God? He showed his disbelief by doing his own thing and not doing God's thing. God says, speak, he struck.

God says, gather the people around, speak to the rock, water comes forth. Moses gathers the people around, speaks to the people and strikes the rock. God doesn't do that. But because you didn't believe me, you treated my name, you didn't treat my name as holy before the people of Israel. How many times do we live our lives by not hallowing the name of God in our lives before the people of God? And Moses and Aaron, they missed out on the greatest privilege of their lives. How many people do you know that are missing out on some of the greatest blessings of their lives because they do not treat his name as holy among the people?

Happens all the time. And we say, you know, God's a God of grace. He's a God of forgiveness. Yes, he is. He is. God is so graceful that water still came from the rock. Didn't know that? That's why the story concludes with, because the sons of Israel continued with the Lord and he proved himself holy among them. He proved himself holy among them, even though Moses and Aaron did not treat him as holy among them. He proved himself holy. He sanctified, he set apart his name as distinct from among them because he is a God of grace.

He is a God of forgiveness, but he is a God of justice. As graceful as he is, as forgiving as he is, it's not that he didn't forgive Moses or Aaron, their sin, but there are consequences that last with us all throughout our lives because we do not treat his name as holy among the people. Folks, that's a boatload to think about when you look at your life and my life and we evaluate it as we go through each and every day.

When you go back and you read through scripture, you realize that Saul didn't submit himself to God. God removed him from his throne. In 2 Chronicles 26, Uzziah, he became proud and acted in a corrupt manner and he decided to burn incense and God struck him with leprosy. Acts 5, and last is Sapphira. They lied in the church. God killed them in church. Wow. There are people in Corinthians, the church of Corinth, and Paul says, you've gathered together to eat and to drink. Some of you are sick and some of you have died because you ate and you drank in an unworthy manner.

That is, you ate and drank and treated my name as if it means nothing to you, my holiness, my character, my justice, my wrath. You ate and drank in vain. And many of you are sick. And many of you have even died, Paul says, because you treated the Lord's table with contempt. Folks, God is serious about what he says. That's why Peter says, if judgment's going to begin, let it begin in the house of God. That's where it needs to begin because God will show himself as holy among the people. He expects his people who now have been set apart, made holy by him, to treat him holy among the people.

That's the negative response, to dishonor God and its consequences. The positive response is to display God in all of his glory. This is so, so good. Here's the Lord in John 12, verse 27, now my soul has become troubled and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour, but for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify thy name. You know what Jesus is saying there? He's going to die. He knows he's going to die. He knows that for the very first time and the only time in all eternity, there'll be a separation from his Father in heaven in terms of the sweet fellowship and communion they've had forever.

The excruciating pain of bearing your sin and my sin in his body on the cross, and he says, what am I going to say? Lord, save me from this hour? Is that what I'm going to say? No, no. Instead, Father, glorify your name. In other words, put your name on display. May your name be set apart as holy among all the people in the midst of the most severe trial in the entire universe, in the midst of the severest agony that any man could ever face. Jesus says, what am I going to say?

Oh, Lord, save me from this hour. No, no. For this purpose I came, Father, glorify your name in this hour. That's what it means to pray, hallowed be thy name. We find ourselves in an experience that we don't like. What do we say? Oh, Lord, save me from this hour. Isn't that what we say? Get me out of this problem. That's what we say, right? We should follow the pattern of Jesus and say, is that what I'm going to say? Is that what I'm going to say? Oh, no, I'm not going to say that. No matter how negative the circumstance, no matter how difficult the problem, no matter how severe the pain, do you think I'm going to say, Lord, save me from this hour?

No. Instead, I'm going to say, Lord, Father, glorify your name in this hour. In a nutshell, that's what it means to hallow the name of God. I'm not going to ask God to save me from the hour. I'm going to ask God to glorify his name in the hour. That's the example. That's the pattern. Jesus says, when you pray, pray this way, because that's exactly how he prayed.

And that's what prompted the disciples to say, Lord, teach us to pray, because we don't pray that way. And we need to pray that way. And we can all say a hearty amen to that because we are so busy to asking God to save us from the hour. Instead of saying, Lord, glorify your name in the hour. Hallowed be thy name. Let's pray. Our most gracious heavenly Father, we thank you for today. Truly, Lord, our prayer lives need to be redirected and refocused. I know mine does. I know I am so deeply convicted.

And I pray that as a church, we would hallow the name of God in our lives. And that would be the first request out of our lips.

We come to petition our Father who is in heaven. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.