Are you a Christian? Do people know you as a ‘Christian’? Do you know just what it means to be knows as a Christian? It means you are labeled with the name of Christ. You are associated with Him. What He stands for you stand for. As people see you and me they form their opinions of Christ because we are labeled as a follower of His, an example of what He is like. His reputation is affected by our lives and our reputation. What an awesome responsibility!
So when you pray “Hallowed by Your name” you are praying a prayer that you yourself are answering by your very life. Your prayer is that others would see God’s greatness and majesty, His love and power, the way He can forgive and restore, how He changes lives. Now how can others see that about God? By seeing it in the lives of those who take His name. When we pray for His name to be hallowed we are praying that God enable us to show that we are redeemed so that in our lives He may be glorified. We are praying that we want Him to enable us to reflect Him in such a way that others desire to know Him as well. You are praying, “God, help me to live so that Your name, Your character, Your reputation is made great in the lives of those watching me. Use me so they will see your glory reflected in me.”
When we pray this we are actually praying against our own natural tendencies and sinful living. Inside of all of us is something called pride that makes us want to do everything we can to make our own name great, to draw attention to ourselves, to get credit for all we do, to impress others with our character and person. So when we pray “holy be Your name” we are in effect saying, “God, make your name great instead of my name. His me in the background. Make sure you get all the credit for everything good and right in my life.”
This is a serious prayer to pray. As a Christian, we bear the name of our heavenly Father. Do you want others to notice what a great God He is so that He is recognized and honored? Then let Him work in you and through you to show others what He is like. In effect you are asking God to help you answer your own prayer. How we live and act does reflect on God, because we bear His name. It is easy to pray that God’s name be seen as special in the world, it is another to realize we must reflect that to others by our lives for this prayer to be answered. What can the world conclude about God by watching your life?
(Written by Jerry Schmoyer, 2014. You can find more of his writings at http://www.christiantrainingonline.org/. If you have questions or suggestions feel free to contact him at jerry@schmoyer.net)