“May Your Name Be Made Holy”“May Your Name Be Made Holy”

The Lord’s Prayer – Part 4

The Lord’s Prayer

Why Pray?

Structure of the Lord’s Prayer

Three “Thou” petitions Making holy the name of God The coming of the kingdom of God The fulfilling of the will of God

Three “we” petitions Daily bread Forgiveness in community Freedom from evil

Lord’s Prayer compared to…

Islam “Guide us in the straight path” “… the path of those who Thou hast blessed, not

of those against whom Thou are wrathful, nor of those who are astray.”

The straight path is the path laid out by Islamic law

• Law is the center of Islamic religion

Lord’s Prayer compared to…

Judaism Emphasis on Jerusalem and temple Sacred book identified and loyalty to it Emphasis on suffering and need for relief and

rescue Forgiveness requested, but not offered Call for an attack on enemies

Uniqueness of the Lord’s Prayer

No mention of law or writingsNo specific geographic locationNo specific buildingsNo attacks or condemnationsNo request for God to fight or right wrongsA concern for all people, not just a groupForgiveness tied to forgiving

“Hallowed be Your Name”

“May it be made holy, your name” What does it mean to make God’s name holy? Isn’t God’s name already holy? Can God’s name be made more holy than it

already is? Why should we pray for God’s name to be made

holy? What part might we play in holiness?

God’s Name

Name describes a person or a beingName is the basis for relationshipGod’s name is found in Ex 34:5-7Moses asks for God’s name because he wants

a relationship with God

God’s Name5The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

Exodus 34:5-7 ESV

Holiness of God’s Name16The word of the Lord came to me: 17“Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds. Their ways before me were like the uncleanness of a woman in her menstrual impurity. 18So I poured out my wrath upon them for the blood that they had shed in the land, for the idols with which they had defiled it. 19I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. In accordance with their ways and their deeds I judged them.

Holiness of God’s Name

20But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, and yet they had to go out of his land.’ 21But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came.

Holiness of God’s Name

22“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came.

Holiness of God’s Name

23And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.

Ezekiel 36:16-23 ESV

Becoming Holy

1In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3And one called to another and said:

    “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

    the whole earth is full of his glory!”

Becoming Holy

4And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for 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!”

Becoming Holy

6Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.

Isaiah 6:1-7 ESV

Holiness of God’s Name

God’s name describes his character Merciful, gracious, patient, loving, faithful

Holiness is the purity of his characterHoliness can be defiled by actions outside of

God People can either maintain or defile holiness

God acts to restore holinessMembers of God’s family take on His name

“Hallowed be Your Name”