Hollowed By His Name

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

HOLLOWED BE HIS NAME

Luke 11:1-4

11:1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples." 2 He said to them, "When you pray, say:

"'Father, hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come.  

3 Give us each day our daily bread.

4 Forgive us our sins,

for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.

And lead us not into temptation.'" 

NIV

Although Luke does not record what Jesus said in exactly the same way that Matthew does, there are notes, or references that some manuscripts have more words than what Luke recorded. We will follow this version but with the added words of those other manuscripts. The first thing we want to remind ourselves is that this prayer that Jesus taught his disciples how they should pray is not one to recite, but it is a format. However, there is nothing wrong with reciting this prayer, which we mostly use in the format that Matthew records. We are going to look a little deeper than just the words. The first thing we need to notice is that Jesus said that we should pray to the Father, who is in heaven. Sometimes we get into the mode of praying to Jesus. He said, as recorded by John, “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so the Son may bring Glory to the Father”. Then he repeated, “You may ask me anything in my name and I will do it.” Yet, he taught us to pray to the Father who is in Heaven. However, we know and should always be cognizant that Jesus and the Father are one. Nevertheless, when we pray, we should hollow his name. The Greek word hagiazoo means to render or declare sacred or holy. When we simply recite this prayer, we wonder if we take a moment to declare just how holy, how scared the Father is, yes, even His name. Then we wonder how much we consider His name, and what name we are declaring sacred and holy. It is the Father, Yahweh, Jehovah, Adoni, or should we pray to whom God told Moses what his name is, “ I AM WHO I AM”. However, we pray to the Father who is in heaven for that is the name Jesus refers to Him, His Father. Still, we consider all that the name Father means and that we are declaring the truth about Him, that He is sacred, He is holy, He is pure and the creator of all things including breathing life into us, that we have the very breathe of God, who we address as Father, in us for the purpose of declaring his name to holy and sacred and pure, and that He is currently sitting in Heaven. There is so much connected to His name, in fact, we are connected to His name, as His people, the ones who have accepted His Son as Lord and Savior. We are completely connected to the Father through Jesus, for we carry His name, Christian. Let us always live giving honor and glory to our Father who is in heaven as we hallow His name.