Tuesday
Tuesday
Concern for God’s Glory
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Matthew 6: 9–10
The Lord’s Prayer contains six petitions. The first three are concerned with the glory of God (his name, his kingdom, and his will), while the second trio is concerned with us and our needs (daily bread, forgiveness, and deliverance). A similar priority is recognized in the Ten Commandments, as the first five handle our duty to God and the second five our duty to our neighbor.
Today we will focus our attention on the glory of God in relation to his name, his rule, and his will. A name stands for the person who bears it, for his nature, character, and activity. So God’s “name” is God himself as he has revealed himself. His name is already holy in that it is exalted above every other name. Yet we pray for its hallowing, that is, that it may be given the honor due to it in our lives, in the church, and in the world.
The kingdom of God is his royal rule, not so much in its absolute sovereignty over nature and history, but as it broke into the world with Jesus. To pray for its coming is to pray both that it may grow, as through the church’s witness people submit to Jesus, and that it will be consummated when Jesus returns in glory.
Because God’s will is the will of him who is perfect in knowledge, love, and power, it is folly to resist it and wisdom to discern, desire, and do it. We need to pray, therefore, that God’s will may be done on earth as it is in heaven.
It is comparatively easy to repeat the words of the Lord’s Prayer like a parrot, or indeed like a heathen “babbler.” To pray them with sincerity, however, has revolutionary implications. Our priority becomes no longer the advancement of our own little name, kingdom, and will, but of God’s. Whether we can pray these petitions with integrity is a searching test of the reality and depth of our Christian profession.
For further reading: Ephesians 1:3–14