[Steve Myers] In Matthew chapter 6 we've been talking about prayer. Jesus Christ was teaching His disciples how to pray and in the model prayer, sometimes known as the Lord's Prayer, Christ gave specific instructions on how we are supposed to pray. Now we've talked about some of the various aspects of that already and now we're to the point where He begins that instruction where He says to pray, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Thy name" (Matthew 6:9). What does it mean when you say those words, when you think about God in His holiness? How do we approach the Father? Many often have questions about what that really means.
[Gary Petty] We know hallowed comes from the word in Greek, that the root word is holy. And what that means there is that we are to see and understand the absolute holiness of God—that He is separate from everything else in His creation, because He is the Creator. It's a very powerful word and a very powerful concept that when we get on our knees before—yes, our Father—we have to understand that we should be in awe and absolutely respect of the greatness of the Creator God.
[Steve Myers] Yeah, in Matthew 6:9 where it talks about that it says very clearly that His name is hallowed. And sometimes we forget what that all encompasses because just the word "name"—what does the Father's name, what does it mean? What does it have for us and what should it bring to mind? Well, I looked up some of the meaning behind that Greek word in Thayer's and Smith's Dictionary and it talks about how that name can be used for everything that it covers. Well, what does the Father cover? Everything, everything! So it goes and talks about mentioning the hearing, the remembering, the rank, the authority, everything He's interested in, the command, the excellences. I mean, just think about the expanse of what is covered by the Father's name. It really does bring awe and a hallowedness when you begin to think of that.
[Gary Petty] You can't separate God from His name. When you say "Our Father" just as Jesus said there, which is one of the titles of God, but when you use a title or name for God, when you use that title, that encompasses everything He is. That's why the commandment says that we shouldn't take His name in vain because when we take His name in vain, what we're actually doing is we are disrespecting our great and awesome God.
[Steve Myers] So, let's have the proper respect. Let's have the proper awe for our great Father and remember that every time that we pray. That's BT Daily. We'll see you next time.
