Devotionals
Moment of Transformation:
- Pray for the items listed in your Prayer Journal
- Pray for the transformation of the five individuals/families you chose
- Pray that your relatives will be transformed by Christ’s POWER
- Pray for your transformation in order to demonstrate hope
A HALLOWED NAME
Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Matthew 6:9 NKJV
To hallow the name of the Lord requires that the words in which we speak of the Supreme Being be uttered with reverence. “Holy and reverend is His name” (Psalm 111:9). We are never in any manner to treat lightly the titles or appellations of the Deity. In prayer we enter the audience chamber of the Most High; and we should come before Him with holy awe. The angels veil their faces in His presence. The cherubim and the bright and holy seraphim approach His throne with solemn reverence. How much more should we, finite, sinful beings, come in a reverent manner before the Lord, our Maker!
But to hallow the name of the Lord means much more than this. We may, like the Jews in Christ’s day, manifest the greatest outward reverence for God, and yet profane His name continually. “The name of the Lord” is “merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth … forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Exodus 34:5-7). Of the church of Christ it is written, “This is the name wherewith she shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness” (Jeremiah 33:16). This name is put upon every follower of Christ. It is the heritage of the child of God. The family are called after the Father. The prophet Jeremiah, in the time of Israel’s sore distress and tribulation, prayed, “We are called by Thy name; leave us not” (Jeremiah 14:9).
This name is hallowed by the angels of heaven, by the inhabitants of unfallen worlds. When you pray, “Hallowed be Thy name,” you ask that it may be hallowed in this world, hallowed in you. God has acknowledged you before men and angels as His child; pray that you may do no dishonour to the “worthy name by which ye are called” (James 2:7). God sends you into the world as His representatives. In every act of life you are to make manifest the name of God. This petition calls upon you to possess His character. You cannot hallow His name, you cannot represent Him to the world, unless in life and character you represent the very life and character of God. This you can do only through the acceptance of the grace and righteousness of Christ.
Ellen G. White, God’s Amazing Grace, p. 94 – March 27
Quote of the Day ““To know God as our father–our almighty, loving father–is the highest, richest and most rewarding aspect of our whole relationship with Him.” J. I. Parker
Did You Know?
The Greek “Father” (pater) probably translates the Aramaic Abba (cf. Mark 14:36). Use of this intimate term for God (almost equivalent to the English “Daddy”) was virtually unparalleled in first-century Judaism.
Going Deeper
It is a nearly unbelievable privilege for us to call God Father. Before the coming of Jesus Christ, this was an unknown name in most prayers. Pagans did not pray this way. Even in the Old Testament the word father appears in reference to God only fourteen times, and never once does any individual Israelite address God directly as “my Father.” It would have been considered much too intimate. In fact, the Jews of Jesus’ day did not even like to use the name “God.” They spoke of “heaven” or “the Most High” or merely “Lord” instead. All this was completely overturned by Jesus. Jesus always referred to God as His Father, and here in the Sermon on the Mount He authorizes His followers to do likewise.
James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of Matthew (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2001), 98.
Question…
What kind of prayer do you need to offer God today, so you may not “profane His name continually”?
This Week’s Homework
- Memorize: “In this manner, therefore, pray: 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.” Matthew 6:9-13 NKJV
- Deliver the outreach resource, that the church is making available during this 50 Days journey, to the five individuals/families that you are praying for.
