The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"Why We Pray"
Part 3 - "Hallowed Be Thy Name"
Having established the intensely personal nature of prayer, based on both God's relational being and our own (as created by Him), we now address the primary utilitarian reason for our praying.
"After this matter therefore pray ye, Our Father, which art in Heaven, hallowed by Thy Name" (Matthew 6:9).
The Lord Jesus Christ declared the first purpose of prayer to involve the glory of God. Human issues and needs matter much in the exercise of communication with our Heavenly Father. However, the Apostle Paul's mandate to "do all to the glory of God" certainly includes prayer, and may well be the most important exercise whereby we seek to exalt our Lord (I Corinthians 10:31). His exaltation shines the light of truth upon who He is and who we are. Only thereby will we humble ourselves to come to Him in faith and submission, be it in the new birth, or in our subsequent walk with Him as His child. Thus, the hallowing of His Name sets the stage for His rightful honor, and our proper response of humility leading to salvation and godliness. We must ever pray in this holy light of His glory. "Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for Thy name's sake" (Psalm 79:9).
God's glory provides the holy atmosphere in which we praise Him, thank Him, and make our requests for ourselves, others, and the issues of the world. Apart from the understanding and motivation we consider, prayer will inevitably descend into the abyss of self centeredness rather than lead us to the summit of Christ's love. "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts" (James 4:3). The hallowing of His Name therefore places us in the proper frame of heart and mind whereby we pray as led by the unselfish love of Christ, rather than desires that may originate in our flesh. Again, this does not mean that our desires play no role in prayer. They do, so long as they are the product of the Holy Spirit's working within our hearts rather than devilish and worldly influences upon our flesh. "Delight thyself also in the Lord and He shall give thee the desires of thy heart" (Psalm 37:4).
We do well to build an altar within our hearts whereupon we sacrifice all motives other than pleasing and glorifying our Lord as primary in our praying. Only thereby will fellowship will Him be known in the light of truth and reality. And only thereby will we pray in a manner satisfying to Him, sanctifying to ourselves, and of service to others.
"I will praise Thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify Thy name forevermore."
(Psalm 86:12)
Weekly Memory Verse
By Him all things consist.
(Colossians 1:17)
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