“Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” Matthew 6:9

It’s hard to overstate the power of this moment that Jesus has with his disciples. The

second person of the trinity who has been in perfect communion with God the Father

and God the Holy Spirit outside of time and space is about to teach humanity how to

talk with the Triune God of all creation.

Jesus has prefaced this lesson in prayer by stating two cautionary warnings up front in

verses 5 and 6. Jesus wants to guard his disciples from two common misconceptions

when it comes to speaking with the King of King and the Lord of Lords. First, he tells

them to avoid praying in an attempt to impress anyone:

“you must not be like the hypocrites…for they love to stand and pray…that they may be

seen by others.” Matthew 6:5

The second cautionary warning is to avoid the false assumption that the more religious

wording that is used, the more impressed that God is with your prayers and is therefore,

more inclined to hear and answer:

“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think

that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for you Father know

what you need before you ask him.” Matthew 6:6

Having prefaced his lesson in these two cautionary warnings, Jesus begins to teach his

disciples how they should speak to the God of the Universe: “Pray then like this: Our

Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” Jesus’ crash course in prayer begins with a

title and a plea. First, the title “Our Father” describes the relational orientation that God

is looking for from His creation. The word for “Father” used here is a word used by

Jewish children for their earthly fathers. So whether we think of the contemporary uses

of “daddy,” “dad,” or “pops,” the point is that Jesus is calling for a title that communicates

both intimacy and respect that is afforded a father by his children.

Second, Jesus teaches his disciples to begin their prayer with a plea: “hallowed be your

name.” The words “hallowed” means to “sanctify” or “make holy.” However, this doesn’t

work all that well in relation to God’s name because it is already holy and sanctified. It

wouldn’t make sense for us to begins our prayers like this: “Dear Dad, make your name

holy.” To the contrary, Jesus is teaching us to begin our prayers by asking God to cause

his name to become Holy on our lips and treasured in our hearts. It is a plea for a

transformation of our hearts. It is a plea for divine relocation of our greatest desires

away from this world and onto the name of our loving Father.

Application: Begin praying to your “dad” that He would become the most treasured

focus of your life. Acknowledge the idols of your heart that are competing for your

affection. Pray like this… “Father, cause me to love you with more child-like affection.”

By Jimmy Carter

Jimmy serves as the Ministries Pastor at Immanuel Baptist Church. He is married to Carrie, his treasured

wife of 24 years, and they have one beloved daughter named Christy Ann “C.A.” who is a Senior at LCA

and will attend UK and play golf for the Wildcats next Fall.