THE LORD’S PRAYER
2 – HALLOWED BE THY NAME
This morning, we are continuing with our PHRASE-BY-PHRASE look at the Lord’s Prayer
And the reason we are doing this is because God is CALLING OUR CHURCH TO PRAYER
The prophet said…
Hosea 10:12 "…it is time to seek the LORD, till he come…"
And so, as your pastor, I’m calling every…
--deacon
--leader
--Sunday School teacher
--member
--musician
--choir singer
--worker
--father
--mother
--teenager
To come on with me and PUSH – as we Pray Until Something Happens!
Because I believe God is wanting to do great and mighty things in the midst of His people here at Nakina P.H. Church
And by way of reminder, I started out this month talking to you about…
--8 World Changing Ways To Pray (June 6th – A.M.)
--humbly
--repentantly
--decisively
--specifically
--continually
--obediently
--unitedly
--expectantly
--Examples Of Prayer (June 6th P.M.)
--How God Speaks To Us (June 13th A.M.)
And LAST WEEK, we began looking at the MODEL PRAYER the LORD’S PRAYER
Because if you really want to…
--know how to pray
--pray effectively
It’s in the MODEL PRAYER that we get all we need…
--from God
--in this world
--to do His will
--to find His will
--overcome sin and temptation
--to worship and magnify God
And so, last week, we looked at the “OUR FATHER WHICH ART IN HEAVEN” part, and we briefly touched on the “HALLOWED BY THY NAME” part
But what I want to do this morning is HONE IN on a little bit more on the HALLOWED BE THY NAME PART
And with that in mind, let’s PRAY the Lord’s prayer…
Matthew 6:9-13 (KJV) 9After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11Give us this day our daily bread. 12And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
INTRODUCTION
Our outline for the message last week was that we should…
--acknowledge the Father’s person (He’s a person, Our Father)
--acknowledge the Father’s perspective (He’s in heaven)
--render the Father’s praise (Hallowed be thy name)
And I want to amply for that for you this morning
And what’s it’s talking about there is WORSHIP
And if you will remember, one of my first messages in this pulpit was on worship
And on that Sunday evening, September 27, 2009, I asked you this question: IS WORSHIP IMPORTANT?
And I said it was important because…
--God DEMANDS it (He’s commanded us worship)
--God DESERVES it (because of His love, provisions, and Calvary)
--God DESIRES it (no one can praise Him quite like you – the fingerprint of praise)
So worship, is vitally, vitally important
And it’s no wonder that the MODEL PRAYER opens up with…
--praising
--worshipping
--magnifying
The Lord is teaching us that before you…
--ask me for anything
--tell me how bad you were and are by confessing your sins
--you tell me about the needs of others
--the temptations you’re facing
Just take a few moments, and…
--love me
--worship me
--adore me
--thank me
--praise me
Because I have learned by experience that WORSHIP puts gas on the rest of your prayers and sets them on fire
The Bible says…
Psalms 100:4 ( KJV ) 4Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
Notice the progression…
--gates with thanksgiving (start with the simple and material things of life)
--courts with praise (as you get closer and closer, focus on His Name and on His
attributes)
And before you know it, you’re right into the very THRONE OF GOD – OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN, HALLOWED BE THY NAME
And that’s how we focus our worship by HALLOWING HIS NAME
And, so, what do we mean by HALLOWED BY THY NAME
One little girl said it wrong… “Our father who art in heaven, Howard is your name.”
President Abraham Lincoln, in that great GETTYSBURG ADDRESS said…"But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate. . .we cannot consecrate. . . we cannot hallow this ground."
And there is a since, in which we can never really fully HALLOW His name
How do we do that?
What is HALLOW – what does that mean
It means…
--reverence
--care
--great awe
--praise
--worship
And there is a command that teaches
Exodus 20:7 (KJV) "Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain."
And we see that so much in…
--our world
--the movies
--Christians who don’t live a godly life
How can I hallow His name?
First of all, by…
1. KNOWING THE NAMES HE’S GIVEN US
A newspaper ad read: “Lost--one dog. Brown hair with several bald spots. Right leg broken due to auto accident. Left hip hurt. Right eye missing. Left ear bitten off in a dog fight. Answers to the name "Lucky."
Sometimes names don't really match the person, do they?
One of the things I take with me to my prayer closet is a list of the names of the Lord
There are over 300 titles and Names of God found throughout the scripture
You never read where a man went up to God and said, “God, my name is David, and I want you to do something…”
But you do read where people go up to God and say, "God, your Name is...and I need you to do something!"
Let me give you some of them…
Elohim – the mighty Creator, the Trinity (Gen 1:1)
Adonai – master or Lord ( Gen 15 – Abraham)
El Shaddai – Almighty (Gen 17 – Abraham)
El-Elyon- Most High (Gen 14 – Abraham)
El Roi - The Strong one that Sees (Gen 16 – Hagar)
El Olam - Everlasting God (Gen 21:22-33)
Jehovah – self-existent one (Exodus 3: 14-15 – Moses)
Jehovah Jireh – the Lord our Provider (Gen 22)
Jehovah M’kaddesh – the God who Sanctifies(Lev 20:1-8)
Jehovah Nissi – the Lord our Banner (Exodus 17:8-16)
Jehovah Rohi – the Lord my Shepherd (Psalm 23)
Jehovah Rophe –the God who Heals (Exodus 15:22-26)
Jehovah Shalom – the Lord of our Peace (Jud. 6:11-24)
Jehovah Shammah – the Lord is Here (Ezekiel 48:30-35)
Jehovah Tsidkenu – the Lord our Righteousness (Jer. 23:5-6)
And just in case you get bogged down with those Names – here’s the main one – JESUS!
He’s…
--the Good shepherd
--the Gentle shepherd
--the Great shepherd
--the savior from my sins (Matt 1:21)
--the lily of the valley
--the bright and morning star
--the one who walked on water
--the one who opened the blind eyes
--wonderful, Counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace
--the one who said “All power is given unto me in heaven and earth”
Secondly, I can HALLOW that name not only by…
--knowing
2. USING THAT NAME HE’S GIVEN US
There is a thing of taking His name in vain, but there is the reverse: TAKING HIS NAME and using it for whatever you need
If you have…
--fear, call on His name
--people that don’t treat you right, call on His name
--doubts, call on His name
• Proverbs 18:10 (KJV) "The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe."
• 1 Samuel 17:45 (KJV) "Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied."
Let me tell you…
A. There's HOPE in HIS Name
Matthew 12:21 (TLB) "And His Name shall be the hope Of all the world.""
There's the HOPE of FORGIVENESS
Acts 10:43 (KJV) "To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins."
There's the HOPE of ANSWERED PRAYER
John 14:13-14 (KJV) "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. (14) If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it."
B. There's POWER in His Name
• Acts 3:6 (KJV) "Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk."
• Acts 16:18 (KJV) "And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour."
C. There's SALVATION in His Name
Acts 4:12 (KJV) "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."
When you have the NAME of…
--Brinks, you have security
--Bush, you have authority
--Billy Graham, you have piety
But when you have the Name of Jesus, you have liberty!!!
You hallow His Name by…
--knowing it
--using it
And finally, by…
3. SHARING IT
Deuteronomy 32:3 ( KJV ) 3Because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.
We need to tell people about Jesus
We need to invite people to church
IN CLOSING
A woman called a pastor to come to the house to see her father. He goes to the house not knowing whether the man Is Christian or not but he notices as he talks to him and the man answers back that he must be a Christian and there is a chair sitting close by. An empty chair. He asks “What’s the chair for and the man said, “Well, I’ll tell you, but I won’t tell my daughter, she’ll think I’m crazy. I’ve always had trouble praying. I knew a man in my early years who said to me ‘All you need to do is put an empty chair in front of you and prayer is nothing more than talking to God. And why don’t you imagine God sitting in that chair and you just talk to him.’” And so he said, “I put an empty chair there and started talking to the chair as if God was there and it got so good that I just do it now hours sometime at a time and just talk to God and God talks to me and my soul is blessed by His divine grace.” And he said, “If I tell my daughter, she’ll think I’m losing my mind.” Some months later, the man died. When the Pastor came to visit the family, he said to the daughter, “How did he die? What happened to him?” She said, “Well, the sickness just finally got him. But the strangest way we found him. When I came in, he was dead, but there’s a chair sitting beside the bed and I noticed that he had pushed himself out of the bed and put his head in the chair and died there with his head in the chair.
That's hope in His Name!
