Tuesday January 14, 2025

Today is Tuesday, January 14, and we begin the year of 2025 with a study on the Practice of Prayer. This week we explore what it means to talk to God and how Jesus taught us to pray with the words of The Lord’s Prayer.

At the dawn of a new day and the beginning of a new year, I seek God’s presence – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I find a quiet space amid a busy day. I pause and become still, calm my thoughts, silence my mind, and breathe deeply and slowly. Lord Jesus, as the disciples once asked you to teach them to pray, I also ask you to teach me to pray. Instruct me in Your school of prayer and strengthen this practice in my life. Teach me to talk, speak, listen and respond. Amen.

In this manner, therefore, pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” Matthew 6:9-13 (NKJV)

In Matthew’s record of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus closes his lengthy teaching on a grassy knoll by providing a model of prayer. The followers of Jesus have long called this prayer, “The Lord’s Prayer.” In Christian worship this has become the most common corporate prayer, spoken by every denomination and faith tradition, cherished for centuries, translated into every language, spoken in every nation at all times and places. It is the way Jesus taught His people to pray.

Yesterday we considered how Jesus began His prayer, directed to “Our Father, in Heaven.” Today we consider the next phrase, “Hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come.” Even though “hallowed” is a clumsy, old-fashioned word, it feels poetic and rich on the lips. We are so familiar with it, we seldom pause to ponder the depth of the word’s meaning.

Jesus likely knew we would have a tendency to start off praying in the wrong place. He instructs us to begin where we should begin – with God. Before we start asking for anything or sharing our feelings, we focus on who God is. God is hallowed. He is holy. We name God as holy in prayer. When we do this, we position ourselves to experience His majesty, mystery, power and goodness. When we name God as holy or “hallowed,” we experience His presence and sense of holiness.

Jesus says we are to ask God’s kingdom to come. God’s kingdom has already come in Jesus, but it is not fully realized yet. God is still bringing His kingdom into being on this earth. When we pray, “Your kingdom come,” we are emphasizing that we are aligned with God’s will and long for His kingdom to reign on earth, in our world, in our neighborhoods, in our workplaces, in our families, in our homes and in our hearts.

Prayer Prompts:

• Meditate on the phrase, “Hallowed is Your name,” focusing your whole being on the holiness of God.
• Pray for places where God’s kingdom has yet to come and Christ’s healing, love, reconciliation, justice and peace are not fully realized.
• Pray to fully experience God’s kingdom in your own heart and life.

Pause and Pray

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

Resources utilized: The Workbook of Living Prayer, Maxie Dunnam, Upper Room Books, Nashville, TN, 1994, p. 63-88.

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