The Lord’s Prayer - “Is Thy Name”
Think about it this way, if you were starting a new country and you had to come up with a list of the 10 most important laws, would one of your laws be about how to speak the name of God? Well, Moses did exactly that and he wrote those laws under God's direction. That tells us something about how God feels about His own name.
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The Lord’s Prayer - "Is Thy Name"
Isaiah 42:8
“I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another..."
In The Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray “Hallowed be Thy name.” What does it mean to have a name that is holy? The Bible has a different perspective on names than you and I. When we say a name, we are just using a word that identifies someone. In the Bible, a name means so much more than that. A name is like a miniature portrait of a person. The name often becomes their identity and this is particularly true of God. The Lord is holy so His name is also holy. As a result, we see a reluctance in some of the people of the New Testament to even speak His name.
The 10 Commandments tell us to revere God's name and to not use it in vain. God's name is sacred and uttering it improperly is a serious offense. It is an insult to God. Think about it this way, if you were starting a new country and you had to come up with a list of the 10 most important laws, would one of your laws be about how to speak the name of God? Well, Moses did exactly that and he wrote those laws under God's direction. That tells us something about how God feels about His own name.
He sees names in a very different way than we do. His name is holy so it should mean something to us when we utter it. When you speak the name of God, you enter into His presence and you place yourself before Him. It’s a time to kneel at His throne, not a time to regard Him lightly. You have called upon the name of a holy God who is waiting for you to honor Him. It would be wise to do so.
Philippians 2:9-11
"For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Take some time, today, to contemplate the way that you use God's name. It is not a profanity. It is not an exclamation. It’s not just another word. It is a form of worship to our God.
