5 Things God Wants You to Know About the Lord’s Prayer نموونە

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name...

Jesus starts the Lord’s Prayer by reminding us of our relationship to God: that God is our Father and we are His children; and that God is in heaven, we are on earth.

Jesus follows a pattern used by others throughout the Bible, opening the prayer with a recognition of who God is. A sort of a mini-worship session, if you will.

Jesus concludes the opening of the prayer with the proclamation that God is so holy and so great that even His name is hallowed.

In today’s world, few things are considered “hallowed,” but we do sometimes refer to a place with special meaning as being “hallowed ground” such as a battlefield memorial, a cemetery, or a spot where famous people have walked.

However, Jesus takes it further by stating that even the name of God is hallowed—yes, His very name!

In ancient times, the Jewish people were very careful about even mentioning the name of God, often using other words to refer to their creator, such as Yahweh or Adonai. The reason for this was to avoid breaking the second commandment:

You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. – Exodus 20:7

Today, however, we seem to have lost the plot on this one. One can hardly go through a day without hearing someone utter the phrase “Oh my God!” or include the letters “OMG” in a text message.

In contrast to the ancient Jews who dared not to even mention the name of God lest they fall foul of the second commandment, we seem to have taken an opposite approach, even to the point of throwing God’s name around as casually as if it were a standard article of speech.

This is wrong. Each time we throw around God’s name in casual speech, we are breaking God’s command – and his heart.

The Bible is clear, and Jesus reinforces this in the very first line of the Lord’s Prayer – God’s name is to be revered, hallowed, and spoken only with utmost reverence and dignity. It is NOT to be used as a casual expression of speech – never ever!

So why do we then encounter abuse of God’s name all around? We hear it from Christians and non-Christians alike with the only real difference is that non-Christians may use God’s name as a form of cursing, while many Christians use it only to express fear or surprise (real or feigned).

Fellow Christ-followers, this is NOT right.

By abusing God’s name like this we make a mockery of what Jesus teaches us in the first line of the Lord’s Prayer. And every time we do this, we do disservice to our label of “Christian” or “Christ-follower”, showing ourselves to be following the ways of the world, rather than that of our Lord.

Remember this verse from the Apostle Paul?

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. – Romans 12:2

We conform to the pattern of this world whenever we abuse of the name of our Father in heaven, creator and sustainer of all life, the one and only Almighty God.

If you are guilty of abusing God’s name, take a moment to confess and repent right now, seeking forgiveness as you commit yourself to breaking the pattern of this world to draw one step closer to God and His plan for your life.