Holy Is Your Name - Pastor’s Heart

Hi Folks!

Remember, we've been talking about developing our personal prayer life. More than any one thing, this involves intimacy with God. Jesus prayer life was one of intimacy with His Father and ours should be also, as the Lord Himself taught us by beginning the model prayer with Our Father. Our Father loves us and takes pleasure in hearing our prayers and showering His blessings upon us. Just as any decent earthly father desires to bless his children, how much more does our Father who is in heaven desire to give good things to those who ask Him Matt 7:11. We have a Daddy in heaven who longs to fellowship with His children. This is our call... to walk with God!

My number one desire is to know my God intimately and to do His will. This hasn't always been the case though, as earlier in my Christian walk I was more interested in what He could do for me than what I could do for Him. Most children are basically selfish and think that the whole universe revolves around them. This is what I was... just a child. God does not want any of His children to stay that way though. He desires for each of us to grow up into Him in all things, established in the faith as mature sons and daughters. A big part of our maturing process is recognizing who He really is. We have to have a transformation in our lives from God not only being Father, but also as "Holy God".

This brings us to the next portion in the Lord's prayer Hallowed be your Name. To understand this statement clearly we need to look closely at what hallowed means. Some simple dictionary definitions include Hallowed= "holy and set apart; very respected and praised because of great importance; holy". To hallow means "to respect greatly". When we come to our Father God in prayer we should do so with utmost respect and honour. He is the Almighty Creator God of the universe and He alone deserves all the praise, honour and glory for all the good that is done. Our God is holy! Notice one of the meanings of hallowed is Holy. The Amplified Bible says... hallowed (kept holy) be your Name. Yes our God is holy and will always be that way no matter what you and I do. But as the Amplified translation points out we must keep Him "holy" in our eyes.

Give unto the Lord, you mighty ones, Give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Psalm 29:1-2

Some dictionary definitions of "holy" are Holy= "exalted and worthy of complete devotion as one perfect in goodness and righteousness; sacred; saintly; pure; consecrated; awe inspiring".

I will extol You, my God, O King; and I will bless Your Name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you, and I will praise Your Name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable. Psalm 145:1-3

Praise God folks!! Just to think about how great our God is gets me excited. He is so great and wonderful and He is my Father! As the Psalmist declares He is Great! Let's take a look at some meanings of "great". Great= "exceptionally talented, very important, powerful and influential, very good or pleasing, much (extreme or more than usual), impressively large". Can you see now that when Jesus instructs us to Hallow His name that there is a mouthful there. This is about you and I recognising and remembering His greatness and majestic glory each and every time we pray. Not only can we know God as Father, but as the mighty awe-inspiring Creator that He really is. Jesus is showing us how we should enter into our prayer time with our focus on God and not on ourselves.

We live in a generation where people are praised and idolized, especially if they are extremely successful in some way, such as athletes and movie stars. This is one way the enemy draws people's attention away from the Lord and onto themselves or other people. But dear people, the greatest human is nothing compared to the Almighty God of the universe! The greatest human achievements are recognised for a time but are soon forgotten. We are like a vapour that is here one moment and then vanishes away. Our time on earth is so short and we should be preparing for eternity each and every moment of the day by doing the will of our Father. God is the Potter and we are the clay. He alone is worthy to be worshiped and adored - not ourselves.

I will close now with a look at a time when Isaiah saw the Lord as He really is... Holy!

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: "Holy,holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!" And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said: "woe is me, for I am undone! because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." Isaiah 6:1-5

The scriptures declare that we will be changed as we behold His glory with an unveiled face. After his encounter of seeing God as He really is, Isaiah was indeed changed forever. I believe you and I will be changed also in the days to come as we reverently extol and praise His Holy Name.

May God richly bless you as search for Him with all your heart

David

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