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Order in our prayer: praying for God first←⤒🔗

Now that our Chief Prophet and only High Priest has led us to the throne of grace, to address the Father with reverence and confidence, He teaches us what is to be uppermost on our minds.

For before we may express the needs that often lie at the center of the human heart, we are taught by Christ to pray for God: "Hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done." These are actual petitions, genuine requests, to God on His behalf! The most wonderful of all privileges in prayer, wrote Herman Witsius in his exposition of the Lord's Prayer, an honor that is almost unbelievable, "is that a man should be allowed to plead, not only for himself and for his neighbour, but for God, that the kingdom of God and the glory of God should be the subject of his prayer, — as if God were unwilling to be glorious, or to exercise dominion except in answer to the prayers of believers." To pray for God is an honor and privilege so high that we ought to overlook for a time our own concerns, until, as Witsius observes, "the matters which relate to the glory and kingdom of God have been carefully settled."

The Reformers, and the Catechisms they produced, got it right when they declare that the glory of God is the believer's most pure and holy enjoyment, and the kingdom of God is the believer's highest happiness, and the will of God is the Christian's deepest love. God's cause and actions in history occupy the beginning and end of the believer's affections, for these first three petitions are echoed in the prayer's doxology: "For Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory."

When we "pray for God" in the first three petitions of the Lord's Prayer, we are asking God to act on His own behalf in the world and in our lives. May God manifest His own glory in all creation! May God's rule and will govern the whole world!

God's Name: not a handle←⤒🔗

What, then, is God's Name? The Name of God is God Himself, the sum of all His perfections displayed in His words and works. The Name of God refers to His Being as revealed to and through His creatures, in both creation and redemption.

Many times God revealed Himself to Moses as "I AM WHO I AM" — the first time at the burning bush (Ex. 3:14), and again when He republished the Decalog, when God stood with Moses and proclaimed His Name, the LORD, giving us His own commentary on its meaning: "And He passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, 'The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished; He punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation'" (Ex. 34:6-7).

God's Name is God Himself — all His attributes adorned with glory and ornamented with holiness — as He has disclosed Himself in creation and redemption, active on behalf of those He loves.

For example, God's Name is power and protection. "May the LORD answer you when you are in distress," the psalmist wrote, "may the name of the God of Jacob protect you" (Ps. 20:1). Shortly before His death, our Lord Jesus prayed on behalf of the church in terms of the Name of God His Father. "Holy Father," He prayed, "protect them by the power of your name — the name you gave me — so that they may be one as we are one" (John 17:11). This name our Savior had both manifested and declared. "I have revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world ... And I have declared to them your name, and will declare it, that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them" (John 17:6, 26).

Here is another example. God's name is holy jeal­ousy. In Exodus 34 we read of God warning Moses about the exclusive covenant He is making with Israel, and the exclusive worship He is demand­ing of Israel. God declares, "Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God" (Ex. 34:14). This means that God's people, who wear the Name of the LORD, will be consumed and destroyed by that Name, by His holy jealousy, if they wander after other gods.

So, unlike our names, God's Name is not a handle, a useful term that we have coined in order to identify a real "something" in our experience. That ability to "name" realities belongs, of course, to our being created in God's image. One of Adam's earliest and most glorious tasks in the garden was to name the animals, an activity in which he reflected the creative, differentiating authority and capacity of his Maker. Human language itself continues Adam's naming activity, although sin has perverted the capacity of language by enabling man to lie, to invent and employ terms empty of meaning or whose meanings contradict the realities to which they point.

Undergirding the petition, "Hallowed be Thy name," is our confession that we did not give God His Name. God named Himself, which means, among other things, that God differentiated Himself from everything else. That differentiating constitutes God's holiness and God's glory. None of His attributes is derived from elsewhere. All of God's perfections are self-generated.

These statements are true only of God; they describe none of us. We were named; we are creatures; we have a received identity. Many of our characteristics come from our parents, formed by our upbringing, our education, and our occupation. Even the gods of the pagans are given their names; they possess a received identity, and their being is given them by their worshipers. God alone named Himself that is: generated His own identity and being.

God's Name: a gift for fellowship←⤒🔗

Our God is not a nameless, anonymous God. The One who named Himself publishes His Name in all creation. "The heavens declare the glory of God" — that holy totality of all His perfections — "and the firmament shows His handiwork" (Ps. 19:1). God's Name is His signature, His stamp put on everything He makes and does. "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory" (Isa. 6:3).

All creation and all creatures bear the stamp of God's holy glory and glorious holiness.

God alone owns His Name; He has a monopoly, an eternal copyright, on it. Yet God has put His Name in circulation, expecting men to use it. This self-disclosure is called revelation. God "introduced" Himself to all men by means of the creation. "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that (all men) are without excuse" (Rom. 1:20). All creation is one cosmic billboard displaying God's holiness and glory, an ineradicable summons to worship and gratitude, which is man's original calling to fellowship with God.

God created, and introduces Himself in the creation, for the purpose of fellowship. Isn't this what the apostle Paul meant when he sang, "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen" (Rom. 11:36)? Notice the "movement" indicated by the prepositions: all things exist from God (He is their Source), through God (He is their Ground), and to God (He is their object).

Fellowship is the purpose of God's introduction by means of the creation, His gift of self-revelation. He is, therefore, the beginning, the Alpha, the source of all human knowledge, morality, and affection. The capacity to know and see and worship this God is as great a privilege as life itself. To Him alone we owe our being, our existence, our life. From Him alone comes all truth, righteousness, and holiness. And to Him alone all truth, righteousness, and holiness bears witness.

Naturally, along with the gift of God's Name came the possibility of smudging and abusing it. To that we return next time, when we consider what it means that God's name be "hallowed."

The heartbeat of the Reformation was Soli Deo gloria, glory to God alone. You can hear its rhythm in the catechisms and creeds of that era. "What is the chief and highest end of man?" asks the Westminster Larger Catechism. "Man's chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever." That is also the rhythm of the Lord's Prayer, especial­ly the First Petition, "Hallowed be Thy Name."

Note the formulation←⤒🔗

Have you ever paused to meditate upon our Savior's formulation of this petition? He employs the key verb "hallow" not in the active voice, as in: "May we hallow Thy Name," or "May all men and things hallow Thy Name," or even "Hallow Thine own Name," but in the passive voice: "Hallowed be Thy Name."

"May Thy Name be hallowed."

This suggests that our first request to God is about God and is answered ultimately by God. With this first petition, we are asking God to govern all things in this world in such a way that His Name may receive all honor, praise, and blessing. We are asking God to take care of Himself, to protect His reputation, to exhibit His honor in all the events and circumstances of this world's existence. "Father, glorify Thy name regardless of what happens in the world, regardless of what happens to us and those we love.".

Now, this is an important lesson for our ora et labora, our praying and working. That lesson is this: Christ teaches us not to be concerned first of all with what becomes of us in these or those circumstances, not to be preoccupied with the well-being of our earthly existence, but to be concerned first that God's glory be displayed in whatever circumstances the Father sends us.

Christ teaches us that our first plea in time of war must be, not "Send us peace," but "Hallowed be Thy name." At the scene of sickness or accident, our first cry to God must be, not "O Lord, spare this life," but "Hallowed be Thy name." During our trials and affliction we must plead first not for escape, but for God's Name to be glorified in and through our suffering.

There are many Bible passages indicating that God seeks His glory even in human suffering and distress. Think of the man born blind, whose blindness was a God-designed opportunity to manifest divine glory and power (John 9:3). Later, when Lazarus died, Jesus observed, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby" (John 11:4). Especially Job shows us the pattern of humble respect for God's honor, when with torn clothes and shaved head he worships God, saying: "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1:21).

What does "hallowed" mean?←⤒🔗

God's Name is "hallowed" when He is reverenced, honored, considered holy, and acknowledged rightly.

To "hallow" means also to "sanctify," to "consecrate," or to set apart from common use.

Recall that the LORD hallowed the Sabbath day by setting it apart from the other six days of the week. This "hallowed-ness," or holiness, of the Sabbath was respected among Israel by resting from daily work and by worshipping God. Aaron and his sons were hallowed from the rest of Israel to be priests by a ceremony of purification (Ex. 29:1-37). The tabernacle and all its vessels were to be hallowed from all other objects and utensils, for special use in sacrificial worship (Ex. 40:9). David and his hungry men ate hallowed bread from the tabernacle (1 Sam. 21:4, 6). Even God's people are hallowed, set apart from the world by the will of God (Heb. 10:10) and the blood of the covenant (Heb. 10:29). All of God's good creation is hallowed or set apart by the word of God and prayer (1 Tim. 4:5).

Thus, God and His Name are hallowed when He is reverenced as the only true God, when He is honored as the sovereign Ruler over all, when He is rightly acknowledged in terms of all His perfections and in all His ways as God.

In one sense, all of creation must hallow God's Name, and most of creation does so, by natural instinct, when it praises God. The birds in their singing and the star in their shining all bear tribute to their Maker. By the spring daffodils and the autumn frosts God is glorified.

But only men and angels, as creatures endowed with a reasonable will, can really hallow God's Name by rightly acknowledging God as God in all circumstances of life. Rightly acknowledging God arises from right knowledge of God, which issues from applying the mind to the perfections of God. That is our high calling as God's image-bearers, namely, that by an act of will we declare and display that God is good, just, holy, and glorious in all His doings. Once again: soli Deo gloria!

Knowing about God in order to know God←⤒🔗

A moment ago, we observed that rightly acknowledging God arises from right knowledge of God. Seeking God's glory in all circumstances of life requires that we know God biblically and personally. For reasons I shall explain, this order is important.

Interestingly, the Heidelberg Catechism begins its explanation of this petition as follows: "That is: grant us, first, rightly to know Thee, and to sanctify, glorify, and praise Thee in all Thy works, in which Thy power, wisdom, goodness, justice, mercy, and truth shine forth..." (Lord's Day 47, Answer 122).

To hallow God's Name, we must first of all know Him. Knowing God rightly leads to hallowing God in all His works.

Now, we must know God by the means He has provided for knowing Him. The Belgic Confession reminds us, in Article 2, that we know God by two means: first, by His creation, preservation, and government of the universe, and second, more clearly and fully by His holy and divine Word. John Calvin rightly insists that we need the Bible to understand the creation properly.

Consequently, when we pray "Hallowed be Thy name," we are seeking to know God through His revelation. To know God, we must know about Him; and to know about God, we must study and search Scripture, and in its light, the creation.

That is why the twofold order is significant; that is, we must know God (1) biblically and then (2) personally. Knowing God is impossible without first knowing about Him, while knowing about God is fruitless without knowing Him.

We must know and confess right doctrine about God, about His person, His power, and His purposes. This doctrine comes only from Scripture and Scripture-guided interpretation of the creation. This right doctrine is not an end in itself; rather, the Holy Spirit uses right doctrine to produce our personal knowledge of God. But even our personal knowledge of (and relationship with) God is not an end in itself; its goal is reached only when we properly acknowledge Him in all things.

So then, rightly acknowledging God depends on rightly knowing God, which depends in turn in knowing rightly about God. All of this comes through diligent Bible study, faithful pulpit preaching, careful catechism instruction, and God-centered education. Thus, when we pray "Hallowed be Thy name," we are also asking God to preserve the means and avenues by which He becomes known to us. We seek God's preservation of those activities whereby the true knowledge of God is disseminated.

Getting specific←⤒🔗

Ponder these questions with me.

• How can we pray this petition if we're uninterested in reading and studying the Bible?
• How can we pray "Hallowed be Thy name" if our only interest is getting to heaven? If we are doctrinally and ecclesiastically indifferent, how can we expect to know God rightly?
• How can we utter this petition regarding knowing God rightly if we are disinterested in right doctrine or unconcerned about the church's missionary calling?
• How can we pray that God's Name be hallowed if we neglect to provide our children a God-centered education so that they may grow up to hallow God's Name?
• If we serve personal ambition, if we are sold out to our job, if intellectual learning is our greatest pleasure, or if wealth and ease are our chief delights — how then can we pray "Hallowed be Thy name"? Surely we cannot.

What an awesome responsibility this petition places upon ministers of the Word and their hearers! A carelessly prepared sermon, or a sermon full of the preacher's personal philosophy (no matter how pious!) instead of God's Scripture-text-deposited truth, are precisely the opposite of hallowing God's Name. But hearers who are bred with that truth, whose ears itch for the latest tickling, whose taste buds cannot savor the whole counsel of God, must realize that they contradict the very words of our Lord's prayer: "Grant us rightly to know Thee."

What a clear duty for elders in Christ's church! Theirs is the duty to ensure that through the God-ordained means of grace preaching and the holy sacraments — all God's people, young and old, are coming to know Him as they come to know about Him. As elders conduct family visiting and super­vise the minister's catechism teaching, they and the congregation must know both the end and the means to that end. What is the chief end? To glorify God by hallowing His Name. And what are the means? Knowing God rightly by knowing right truth about God — truth revealed in Scripture, pro­claimed from the pulpit, and taught in the catechism class.

Join us next time for a final look at hallowing God's Name by living a hallowed life.