Perdomo Lot 23 Maduro Robusto
I love how the first thing Jesus does after greeting the Father is to praise His name. This is one of those interesting little paradoxes of scripture that could blow one's mind. Here is God the Son praising God the Father. They are indeed one person but separate entities. So is God in a sense praising Himself? Well He certainly has earned that honor, you think?
This is interesting though. We tend to think of prayer as asking for things. We ask for help, forgiveness, blessings - all kinds of stuff. But look at what Jesus does; He starts off by praising the Father. If you've ever done this in any sort of depth, the concerns of earth sort of disappear when you consider the Greatness of the Almighty. It's like that old Keith Green song "...and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of Your Glory and Grace."
When we, when I praise the Father, what I came to Him to ask about doesn't really seem that important. The stuff of earth is put in perspective with those simple words "Hallowed Be Thy Name."
What does "Hallowed" mean? Webster's Dictionary defines it as "Holy, Consecrated, Sacred and Revered". The name of God the Father is all of these things.
The Name of the Father is so important, He went so far as to say "Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain." This is the first of the ten commandments given to Moses in Exodus. We are not to speak the Name of the Father flippantly. The Hebrews went so far as to not even write the name of God. They addressed Him by His character rather than directly.
If we are not to speak the name of God flippantly, it would make sense then that we shouldn't approach His Throne through prayer in a flippant manner. When one addresses a king, all manner of respect is paid. How much more should we honor the King of kings?
To summarize, I think the nature of our prayer life could change dramatically for the better if we reflected fully on the ramifications "Hallowed Be Thy Name".
