Rev. Dr. Richard Howell  

Only God and God alone is perfect, his actions match his holiness they are never contradictory.

Once ten people were interviewed for jobs in a Christian organisation. All of them were asked to write down a word that best described them. Then each one was asked to read the word they had. Written which best described them. None of them wrote the word holy to describe themselves. When asked for a reason for not using the word holy there was an embarrassing silence. Some folded their hands, while others looked at the roof and a few barely managed to control their smiles.

When asked for the reason for failing to describe themselves as holy the following answers were given. "To be holy is for preachers or missionaries, not for me."

"Holy people are stern wearing dark glasses, carrying big black Bibles constantly trying to remind themselves of what they should not be doing."

A young person unable to contain himself said, "To be holy is to live with no, no-say no to everything that has colour, joy, laughter, variety, creativity and picnic. Like music with a beat."

We describe holiness with words like sober, sad, boring, and tight, kill joy, extra-religious. There are many, in the company of these ten who came for the interview, who think the same way. Jesus taught his disciples how to pray and also gave them many examples of how not to pray. The first petition of the Lord's Prayer contains the words: 

"Hallowed be thy name," (Matthew 6:9; Luke 11:2). The sacred in the New Testament does not belong to thins, places or rites, but to the manifestations of life produced by the Spirit. Holiness cannot be faked. To hallow the name of God, as he has revealed himself in history in Jesus Christ, means not only to reverence and honour God, but also to glorify him by obedience to his commands, and thus prepare the coming of the Kingdom. Let this also be our petition from the depths of our heart. For we live in a fragmented world enslaved by sin, death and Satan. Hence, as the Disciples of Christ we are to lift our eyes to the Father and cry out that he will reveal his glory, knowing in faith that he will grant it. When we offer such a prayer it has implications. First, it means the abolition of everything in our life that is contradictory to God's holiness. Only God and God alone is perfect, his actions match his holiness they are never contradictory. Secondly, when we offer this prayer we are committing ourselves to live according to the revealed holiness of God.

This is an appeal to God to act in vindication of his name. The relationship between name and person is much closer in biblical thought than for us today.

The name of God is virtually indistinguishable from the person of God (ct., for example, Mal. 1:6; Isa. 29:23; Ezek. 36:23; John 12:28; 17:6). Thus God is called upon to vindicate himself. In a Jewish context, this petition refers to God acting in fulfilment of the promises to Israel, and thus to the silencing of the taunts of the enemies. In short, God's name will only be properly honoured when he brings his kingdom and accomplishes his will on earth. As we pray for God's name to be hallowed, we need to remember what Jesus taught his disciples about prayer.

Jesus educated his disciples to avoid being like the hypocrites who do their utmost to attract attention to themselves when they pray. They "love" (v.5) to position themselves where they can be most noticed as they pray. They enjoy public attention. Jesus indicates that in this way they receive their only reward. But the Disciples of Christ pray "behind closed doors," The goal of the command to the disciple is to pray to the Father in secret. The main point in this teaching is clear; prayer is to be done in secret before the God who sees in secret because he is everywhere (Le. in secret as well as in public). Prayer even if offered in the context of public worship or a prayer gathering is to be directed to God in secret and not to be made a public spectacle to display the "righteousness" of the one who prays. A true reward for prayer will come only when prayer is God oriented, genuine, and not for display-only when prayer is directed to God and not to others.

Jesus gives bad examples of prayer. Some attempt to manipulate God through much speaking by the repetition of meaningless syllables. They "think" they will be heard by means of their devices, but in this they are mistaken. The disciples are to avoid this kind of "praying" but are to realize that what they need is already known to God. Prayer does not inform God about their needs. The stress on economy of words in prayer is already found in the O.T. V. 8 presupposes that God will grant them what they need. God knows the needs of his people.

We pray from the sincerity of our heart. And we pray for God's name to be hallowed here on earth -In India, in my state, in my language group, in my local church, in my family and most importantly in my personal life.

We should focus our thoughts and desires upon the consummation of God's purposes as well as upon the consciousness and importance of present discipleship. Christian pray, "Hallowed be thy name."