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Hymn
“Our Heavenly Father, Hear” by James Montgomery
Tune: ST. BRIDE Composer: Samuel Howard
1 Our heav’nly Father, hear
the prayer we offer now.
Thy name be hallowed far and near;
to Thee all nations bow:
Psalm 66:16-20
16 Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will declare what He has done for my soul. 17 I cried to Him with my mouth, and He was extolled with my tongue. 18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear. 19 But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer. 20 Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer, nor His mercy from me!
Matthew 6:5-14
5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. 7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.”
“9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
Devotional
“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.” Matthew 6:9
And what should be our first request, as Jesus here teaches us to pray? “Hallowed be Your name.”
Hallowed means to keep holy and set apart. We might ask, “Isn’t God’s name already holy?” And, most certainly it is. What then do we ask of the LORD God when we ask that His name be kept holy?
We ask that His name be kept holy among us and in our lives. In this petition, we ask God to let all we think, say and do bring glory and honor to His holy name. We ask that we would live in such a way that we do not dishonor His holy name and drag it down with us into the mud of sin.
It brings God glory and hallows His name when we humbly believe His Word, acknowledge our sinfulness and trust in His Son, Jesus Christ, as our Savior (cf. Eph. 1:3-14).
Isaiah the prophet wrote (Isaiah 8:13): “The LORD of hosts, Him you shall hallow; let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread.”
Instead of looking to ourselves, other gods and other people or things for help, we are to look to the LORD God and place our trust in Him.
God Himself says to us in Psalm 50:15: “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”
The Bible tells us in Jeremiah 23:28, 31: “‘The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; and he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat?’ says the LORD… ‘Behold, I am against the prophets,’ says the LORD, who use their tongues and say, He says.’“
God teaches us that it brings honor to the name of the LORD God when we are faithful to His holy Word in our teaching, preaching and in our witness for Him. It dishonors the LORD when we preach our own words, ideas and opinions and attribute them to Him.
We pray in this petition of the Lord’s Prayer that all we think, speak and do may bring glory to our Father in heaven — that His name would indeed be kept holy among us.
Jesus said in Matthew 5:16: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
May we bring Him glory!
Our dear Father in heaven, Your name is indeed holy of itself. Grant that we would keep it holy among us also and not misuse it. Let us bring glory to You and Your holy name by acknowledging our sin and trusting in Your Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ, for forgiveness and life everlasting. And grant that we might live for You here in this world until we join You in heaven in Christ’s eternal kingdom. Amen.
Prayers
We give thanks unto Thee, heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Thy dear Son, that Thou hast this day so graciously protected us, and we beseech Thee to forgive us all our sins, and the wrong which we have done, and by Thy great mercy defend us from all the perils and dangers of this night. Into Thy hands we commend our bodies and souls, and all that is ours. Let Thy holy angel have charge concerning us, that the wicked one have no power over us. Amen.
Lord’s Prayer
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
Blessing
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
Hymn
“Our Heavenly Father, Hear” by James Montgomery
Tune: ST. BRIDE Composer: Samuel Howard
5 Thine shall forever be
glory and power divine;
the sceptre, throne, and majesty
of heaven and earth are Thine. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.