The Word To Live By: 3-18-26
Phil Waggoner
Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Matthew 6:9
The Word To Live By: How do we pray the prayer that Jesus taught His disciples as a prayer of supplication, a prayer of thanksgiving, a prayer of faith, and a prayer of worship? He starts out with a prayer of worship. The word, “Hallowed,” refers to the sanctity and holiness of God’s name. We’re talking about the name Yahweh, or Elohim or one of the other names of God used in the Old Testament in the Hebrew language. Adonai (Lord) is one of the many other names that describe the good qualities of God. Protecter, Provider, and Healer are three more. “Hallowed” signifies a deep reverence and respect, calling for God’s name to be honored and exalted as it is in heaven. It emphasizes the importance of recognizing God’s holiness before making any requests in prayer. In the New Testament, we are talking about the name, Jesus. Jesus is all the names of God given in the Old Testament rolled into one. John 14:13,14, “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” Paul wrote in Philippians 2:8-11, quoting the Old Testament, “Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Starting a prayer by worshiping the name of Jesus, you are putting every ruler and power of darkness, every evil force that tries to bring darkness into this world, and the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places, on notice of who is in charge of your life. Too much for you? Psalm 8:2, “From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established praise because of your adversaries, to make the enemy and revengeful cease.” Infants and nursing babes are symbolic of young in the Lord. You don’t have to be a spiritual giant to run off the devil with your worship. I always start my prayers off by using some form of worship of the name of Jesus.
Read through the Bible in a year: Matthew 18:1-20; Numbers 5-6; Ecclesiastes 5;
Read through the New Testament and Proverbs: Proverbs 18, Mark 11:1-16, Galatians 4
The sum of Thy Word is Truth Psalm 119:160