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We hear and say the Lord’s Prayer all the time, but there is a richness to be enjoyed when it is carefully considered. Jesus’ prayer from Matthew 6 can act as a tuning fork for the heart even from the opening lines, realigning our fears and motivations, reorienting our gaze towards a loving father and heavenly king. Join me in considering the depth of the opening phrase of the Lord’s Prayer.

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name

If we start imagining our own definition of a father, personal experiences bring to mind earthly ideas. Though some images of a father seem better than others, relying on our own imagination will not do justice in understanding the fatherliness of God. No, we need him to reveal the kind of father he is using the means he has provided. We can look to the surrounding passages in Matthew to discover more about the kind of Father God is.

Matthew 6:1-2 implores us not to put on a show with our good deeds to appease our ego, but to secretly serve the Lord, living to please an audience of one. Therefore our heavenly Father doesn’t want us running after the gaze of others. We don't need to. He already loves us and is pleased at our attempts to please him.

Matthew 6:6 encourages us to pray in secret behind a closed door. God our Father invites us to enjoy a personal, individual relationship with him.

Matthew 6:8 and 7:9-11 reveal that our Father knows what we need before we ask, providing perfectly for our needs and more.

God is the kind of father we need and desire. He’s not just MY father, the prayer begins, OUR father. Not only is our father personally relational, but we are together God's children.  If God is our Father, how does he want his children to relate? Our father desires that we live with a readiness to forgive one another (Matthew 6:14), our good father wisely managing his family, encouraging us to reflect one of his core personality traits. God, however, is not just the best father, he’s also a heavenly king as we’ll see below.

...in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Who do you think of as operating in ‘a league of their own’? I’m talking about absolute professionals, the best of the best. Exceptional individuals with a seemingly unattainable level of skill. Don Bradman? Simone Biles? Usain Bolt? For more, jazz fusion musicians come to mind like Guthrie Govan and Larnell Lewis. These great names carry weighty reputations. Let’s cast our eyes up to see the one whose name is hallowed in heaven.

Heaven, otherwise translated as "sky", describes a realm where God's holiness dwells, far above our own earthly domain, with complete holiness as the condition of entry. Heaven is the dwelling place of the great, all-powerful creator. When we continue reading the Lord's Prayer, we notice that our Father also owns a kingdom (“your kingdom come”). We come to realise that our Father is a heavenly Father, and that our father doesn’t just dwell in heaven, but is the king of heaven. God operates in a league of his own. Pure and holy, setting the standards of true love, goodness and power, and as the king, bestows upon us heavenly citizenship. What a reputation the name of God carries!

The concept of a name carrying a reputation is ingrained in the Bible. For example, the name Esau means hairy. Perhaps that is a strange example, though he was in fact hairy. His brother's name Jacob meant "supplanter", wrongfully taking someone's place, which was indeed his reputation. In the New Testament, Jesus changed Simon’s name to Peter meaning ‘rock’; the firm foundation the church would be built upon. Jesus’ name appropriately means “the Lord saves”; a reputation he certainly lives up to.  

God's “name” carries his reputation, referring to his very essence and identity. He is a loving father and dwells in heaven as the king. When the Lord proclaimed his name to Moses in the cleft of the rock, he went on to describe what his name represents.  “Compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness and sin.” The rest of the Bible fleshes out more of God’s character, adding to his reputation. He is indeed marvellous, so in keeping with truth, he should be represented accordingly.

We hallow the name of Don Bradman when we revere his excellent sportsmanship, treating him in line with the truth of who he was. Cricketers grieve when his skill is discredited, his impact on cricket ignored and when disinterested visitors exclaim aloud “I’m bored!” while visiting the Bradman Museum.

So, what does “hallowed be your name” mean? The International Children’s Bible puts it well; “We pray that your name will always be kept holy”. Our God is truly holy and worthy of all praise. His children desire that God’s reputation, or name, be kept true. He deserves it! He is wonderful and Christians want him to be known sincerely, grieving when he is misrepresented.

Next time you recite the Lord’s Prayer, perhaps you will consider more deeply the God your prayers are directed to. Our father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

God, our loving Father, personal, yet maintaining love to thousands. In your fatherly love, we revere you as the great king of heaven, leagues above our lowly state. We have known your goodness and desire that people see you for who you are. Amen.

Mr Jaryd Hoffman