Hallowed Be Your Name

        
 "Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name"       Matthew 6:9



 What does it mean for the name of God to be  "hallowed"?  


To hallow means to consecrate or set apart as holy.  Have you ever noticed that there are many references in scripture that provide descriptive traits of God?  "Father" is a term most of us are familiar with, but let's consider a few more traits of God that give reason for his name to be hallowed. 


In Exodus 3, God describes himself to Moses as "I Am Who I Am" or in another translation "I Will Be Who I Will Be" which the translator interpreted to mean "My nature will become evident through my actions".   God reveals aspects of His Character to us through a myriad of lifetime situations and intimate relationship with believers. 


Further in Exodus, God describes himself to Moses using more concrete terms.  In Exodus 34, God describes himself as a 'compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin'.   Who do you know that you could ascribe these characteristics continuously, every day, every week, every year?    


In Luke 1, Mary and Zechariah refer to God as Savior who has brought salvation to them, referring to the near future birth of "The Savior" Jesus Christ.  Romans 10 says that anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.  Saved from what?  Eternal separation from God. 


Our God is robed in a nature higher than that of the best human.  He is consistent in the face of evil, faithful to the end of time, cares about the weak, poor, and oppressed, always judges with objectivity according to his laws, always forgives, and always perseveres with humanity to salvation.  He deserves a place of consecration above all others who offer some form of salvation yet come and go on the screen of history.  God is creator, they the created.  God is generous, they receive from him.  God is savior, they granted salvation. 


His name is higher than any other!  


Father God - show us what it means to cradle your name in a holy place in our lives.  We lift your name up in the sea of those who desire to be equal to you by offering their plans of salvation.  Only you can truly provide salvation from the sin that binds us.  Show us your character through our times of prayer and through the situations that crop up each day.   Teach us to consecrate your name as holy. 


May you be blessed by lifting up the name of our God.
Carol



      

Prayer against discouragement

Happy Wednesday, faithful readers!

We're taking a very short bunny trail off the Lord's Prayer path today. It's come to our attention that many people are struggling against overwhelming discouragement. What an effective tool the enemy has developed against us! Discouragement, fear, strife. Fear is one of the most powerful motivators to stay where you are or to move from where you should be. Discouragement is another form of fear.

We're in battle. The field is your mind and the prize is your soul. Dramatic words perhaps, but no less real. How do we fight this battle? We pray. And pray and pray until we see a break in his assault. Satan quivers in fear when we go to our knees, or when we bow our heads, or anytime we reach out to the God of creation and begin talking with Him.

We want to reach out and lift you up, whatever your struggle. God says that whatever is not of faith is not from Him. Let's make a decision today to stop playing into the enemy's hand. We will live in faith. We will no longer bow to the voice that tells us we can not do it, or that it's pointless to go on, or that no one cares anyway. Tell that voice to be silent!

Father God, we pray protection over our hearts and minds. Silence the voice of the evil one and help us to realize that we have the almighty power of the Holy Spirit living in us. When we say, "Be still!" our adversary must be still in the name of Jesus. Help us realize that we have the victory of every blessing you bestow. You are kind, generous, compassionate, and full of love. Every good gift comes from You. We pray that Your blessings would rain down on us, drenching us with Your love and Your vision of us. Remind us to put on the full armor of God so we can continue this fight. We love You and thank You for hearing our prayer. Amen.

Don't give up the fight, dear ones. Don't let discouragement stop you from serving Him and doing what you know to be His calling. Write to us or leave a comment and tell us how you fight discouragement or fear.

Blessings on you today,
Shelley

Our Father in Heaven

"In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven..." Matthew 6:9

The beginning of the Lord's Prayer reveals several things. In these few words, we establish the focus of the prayer, who He is (and by extension who we are), and where He lives.

The Focus
The God of the universe, the God of creation, is the focus of this prayer. Righteous, holy, and true, He deserves to be the focus of all our prayers. Too often, my prayers focus on myself, my worries, my wants. Jesus instructs us to change our focus and put our eyes on Him.

The Father
Additionally, we get a chance to meditate on the nature and character of the Father God. He is timeless, unsearchable, compassionate, gracious, patient, abounding in love and faithfulness, forgiving, and just (Exodus 34:5-7). What a truly awesome gift that we can approach Him at all, indeed that He invites us to come to Him!

The Fruits
If He is our father, then we are His children. Ephesians 1:5 tells us that He predestined us to Him as sons (and daughters) by Jesus Christ to Himself. We belong to Him. He wants us to come to Him as children go to their loving parent. "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" (Matthew 7:9).

The Foundation
Our Father is in heaven, but He sent the Holy Spirit to be with us at all times and in every place. Because of His triune nature, the Father God is one with the Holy Spirit and with Jesus Christ. So we pray to God the Father, knowing also that our prayer goes to Jesus and His Holy Spirit.

The power in these few words is immeasurable. As you go through this prayer, take time to consider who your prayer goes to, where He is, and how much He loves you, His child. Leave a comment with your thoughts on these first words of the Lord's Prayer and how praying it impacts your life.

Until next time,

Shelley

Meaningless Repetitions and Many Words

Hi all.  When Shelley and I decided to blog on The Lord's Prayer this month we were not prepared for the depth of instruction contained in this well-known simple reflection we repeat weekly, even daily in our religious practices.   Verses 7 and 8 of Matthew 6 give us direction on the content of our prayers.   

                

Matthew 6: 7 - 8
And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.  So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. 

What was Christ referring to with the term "meaningless repetitions"?  And wouldn't many words in our prayers be a good thing??   And, if our Father knows what we need before we ask Him, why should we ask?  These are high questions we are pondering.  

In reviewing the scripture around the Lord’s Prayer, I concur with Shelley that the Lord is clearly instructing believers on the motives of their hearts and the practice of their righteousness in a community.  It is evident that there is to be a clear distinction between those who are living a life of faith with God and those who are practicing their religion to be seen by men.  Christ very clearly states that when the practice of our religion is to be seen by others then we have our reward in full.  In other words, when our prayers and deeds are for any other reason than to live a relationship of faith with God, then there is no blessing or reward that will come to us other than being seen by others. 

One prayer of Christ that really struck me was the prayer of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane.  This was an emotional and trying time for our Lord and he simply prayed the struggle of his heart.  Matthew 26 and Mark 14 record virtually the same words; “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will but as You will.” Christ offered very simple words to convey his longing  to the Father before heading to the cross to die for our sins. 

We do not need many repetitious words before our God to express the longings of our heart.  He knows our needs.  The expression of our needs in prayer acknowledges our reliance upon Him as we walk our life of faith.     “Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”   Go to Him and offer the longing of your life, then live in the faith that you have been heard and that God will respond. 

Many blessings on your life,
Carol

Motivation and purpose in prayer

<Sigh.> Forgive my silence, dear readers. February's theme on praying the Lord's Prayer - and helping us all learn how to do that effectively - is proving an intimidating task. It's a little prayer with earth shattering consequences, as we'll see.

We open with the verses immediately before the Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6:5-6.
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. 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.

I've spent much time considering and praying about this part of Scripture. It seems so self-explanatory that I hesitate to add my own meager thoughts. But one thing continues to plague me. This part of Scripture seems to hone in on motivation. The hypocrites' motivation is to be seen by men. These verses, in light of this month's theme, speak to me.

What is my purpose in prayer? What is my motivation?

Too often my purpose is to get my way. My motivation is worldly discomfort. The Bible says we should pray for the Father's will to be done (Mt. 6:10, 26:39). His way is higher than my own (Is. 55:9) and His will is perfect (2 Sam. 22:31, Rom. 12:2). And James, the brother of Jesus, tells us to count it all joy when we fall into various trials that test our faith (James 1:2). In the end, these trials and this testing perfects our faith, which is far longer-lasting than my worldly discomfort.

The Bible also tells us about the relational nature of God. Adam and Eve, Abraham, the prophets, all the way through Jesus Christ and His model of perfect love, we have examples of God being a friend and a constant companion to His people. How do you nurture your relationships with friends, family, spouses? Do you ignore them or make demands of them and expect that relationship to thrive?

The God of the universe is the God of relationship. That should be our motivation in prayer, friends. He desires a relationship with you, one that involves conversation and getting to know each other. As the Father, He also desires the best for you. That might mean giving you what you want, but it might mean withholding for a higher purpose. His will be done.

What is your purpose in prayer? What is your motivation? Leave a comment and share your thoughts with us.

Praying for you today,
Shelley

Teach Us To Pray - February Challenge

This month, Shelley and I will be blogging about the teaching of Jesus on prayer, specifically on the section of scripture known as the Lord's Prayer found in Matthew 6: 9-13.  We will be focusing on verses 5 - 15, which will include some of the surrounding instruction on prayer, as well as the prayer itself.  Luke 11: 2-4 provides a portion of the prayer and in this particular portion of scripture the teaching is prompted by the request from one of the disciples, Lord, teach us to pray.....     This is the cry of our heart this month.   

Also, as mentioned in January, each month will highlight another prayer challenge.  The challenge for February is to pray daily and place some note of the prayer in your prayer journal.  If you are looking for direction in your journaling, you might consider praying the Lord's Prayer in full or by sections and using the upcoming blogs as a catalyst for your prayer focus.  In your journal, jot down the insights the Lord gives you and maybe consider sharing them with us.  This will be my journal focus this month.  If you choose another prayer focus or section of scripture, please feel free to share that with us and your insights. 

Matthew 6: 9-13

"Pray, then, in this way:
'Our Father who is 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 also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.'
Amen"


Father - as we move into a new month of considering you and your ways, teach us to pray as Christ taught his disciples.  Help our hearts to know and depend on you more and more each day.  Thank you for caring about us and about the things and people close to our hearts.  We lift them up to you.

Blessings on your journey,
Carol

Prayer Journal Challenge - Carol's Results

Hello to my prayer friends.  This month has indeed been one to increase my faith that my prayers are heard regardless of the answer.  As a young Christian, I began using a prayer journal and was quickly overwhelmed by the task of keeping up with it.  How do you record so many prayers and still keep praying!?!  Well, I had to look that monster in the face before I could move ahead this month.  How could I record prayers and answers without diminishing my relationship with God to a "yes" or "no" answer?  The answer is relationship and faith.    

My primary goal is to be in relationship with God; to bring my praise, thanks, needs, and concerns before him and to be assured that he is in control.  One of my first prayers for this challenge was to ask the Lord to increase my faith in all things and to help me see life from his perspective rather than mine.  He has been faithful to answer that prayer.  I do believe the intent of Philippians 4: 6-8 is that our faith is increased as we trust God in all situations.  Even those we have created ourselves. 

My second request in this challenge was to see God moving and working through my prayers.  I had some very specific requests for God and he has answered very specifically.  Our topic this month of taking off the old "man" and putting on the new has challenged me to look at my attitudes and thoughts and ask if I represent the God I so long to know and serve.  I have many answers on that topic and am humbled that God loves me so much that he will quickly point out my own personal needs when I ask for insight.    

My third request of God was for my own faithfulness to my prayers when the answers don't come quickly.  We are at times battling against spiritual entities and forces in this world meant to keep people blinded and hurting so they cannot know the love and power of God (see Ephesians 6).  My prayer journal includes many people that I will bring before the Lord until progress is evidenced by changed lives through the work of God.  Some will battle for years but we trust that God is faithful.

Overall, this month has been astounding as I watch God work all around me.  My prayer times have been intimate and exciting as I focused on being with Him and trusting that he hears me.  Praying believers stand in the gap for others and prove the love of God every day by their faith.  Journaling insights and answers to prayer has become exciting and faith-building.  I hope your month was the same.  We can move forward this year knowing the faithfulness of God at work in all things.

Many blessings,
Carol