Reflections on the Lord's Prayer, Part 3: “Hallowed be your name”

There are six petitions in the Lord's Prayer. The first three are directed at God; his name, his will and his kingdom. The second three are about us; our food, our forgiveness, and our protection from evil. Just like the address, these seem simple, but actually have a lot to say to us. Jesus uses these petitions to teach us about God, but he also wants us to see what God expects of us.

The first petition is a command that really doesn't make sense at first. “Hallowed be thy name,” is how most people know it, but it could actually be translated “Your name must be holy!” or “Make your name holy!” It seems strange to command God to make his own name holy. We are the ones who need reminders to be holy, not God. But something else is going on here. This is a prayer that God's name would be treated as holy, not just in the sense that people wouldn't say things like “Oh my God” when they don't mean it. In the Bible, a person's name was connected to their character. God promised to put his “Name” in the temple that Solomon built, meaning that his presence would be there. If God's name is treated as holy, he will be given proper respect.

With this meaning in mind, it becomes clear that this isn't something you can just pray and not do anything about. How could we pray “make your name holy,” and then walk away to an unholy life? If we mean this petition, it will change how we live, especially when we recognize that as Christians, our lives bear God's name. In this sense, we begin to answer our own prayer.