“Holy is your name.”
Do you know the power you have?
One of the wildest power trips I have ever experienced was driving a snowmobile. The speed control was literally at my fingertips, unlike the pedal of a car under your foot. With the wide open spaces of the Colorado Rocky Mountains, it was open throttle for me. I felt on the edge of exhilaration and extermination.
The feeling of utter delight, simultaneously with the fear of wiping out, was from the power of driving a wheeless machine that gracefully glided across the powdery snow at 50 mph. The power I felt driving a man-made machine pales compared to the power we have when praying. Jesus taught us to begin our prayers by acknowledging our power source.
“For your Father knows what you need before you ask him. “Pray, then, in this way: Our Father in heaven, may your name be revered as holy.” (Matthew 6:8b-9, NRSVUE)
When we are in a situation requiring us to keep praying and never give up, we need to remember our source of power.
“For your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”
God is all-knowing. He even understands what we will say before we say it. (Psalm 139:4) His foreknowledge does not obstruct from delighting in His relationship with His children. We are invited into a conversation with Almighty God. God lovingly listens; unlike a parent who has heard their child’s story a thousand times and tolerates the 1001th time, God listens with great pleasure and is thrilled we have stopped to share with Him.
Who can truly grasp what happens in the spirit realm when God’s power is matched with His children’s humility through prayer?
“Pray, then, in this way: Our Father in heaven.”
God’s sovereignty deserves our respect, and we offer our reverence when we acknowledge God by name at the beginning of our prayers. In this example of how to pray, Jesus highlights the name He most often refers to God, “Father.” The name “father” encapsulates the multiple-faceted power source we pray to.
The perfect heavenly Father is the provider and protector of His children. He lovingly corrects and readily forgives. He towers over us, leading the way, and pulls us onto his lap, wrapping us in His arms.
The name “Father” is mighty on its own, but the preceding possessive pronoun also speaks to the power we have as children of God through His Son, Jesus. By using the term “our,” Jesus communicates the open door we have to share in accessing the power of the “Father.”
Focusing on who we are praying to at the onset of our prayers sets the tone when we embrace the name of God or address His character. “You will keep in perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast [that is, committed and focused on You—in both inclination and character], Because he trusts and takes refuge in You [with hope and confident expectation]” (Isaiah 26:3, AMP).
“May your name be revered as holy.”
The Jewish people had a profound awe for God’s name. They would have understood His name to be holy, set apart from all other gods or names or sources of authority and power. Stating the holiness of God’s name is an act of praise.
Jesus modeled for us to include praise in our prayers, and the power of praise is incredibly impactful when we are praying through a difficult situation and need to persist. Praise resets our brain and affects our entire body. When we are struggling, praise can be healing for our souls.
David recognized the benefits of praise, resulting in many of the psalms he wrote. Praise redirected his mind to the power of God rather than the drain of his circumstances. “Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me” (Psalm 103:1-2, NLT).
When praying through a challenging situation, we will need to be persistent. We will also need to meditate on, remember, and call on the mighty names of God. Persistence and power are the first two “Ps” of 5 and provide a winning combination to begin our journey of how to pray through it.
I pray that a desire to know God and His power is planted deep in your soul and that He grants you a lifetime of growth in your understanding of Him. May praise be frequent on your lips despite your circumstances, and the peace of God engulf you as you turn to Him. In Jesus’ name, so be it.
Meditate: I praise the holy name of Jesus.
Reflect: How can the fact that God is all-knowing affect how you pray? What characteristic or name of God best fits your “praying through it” situation? How can you incorporate praise as a regular rhythm in your life? What can you be grateful to God for right now?
Deeper: Matthew 6:7-13; Psalm 63:1-7; Psalm 103
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(Bible References: NRSVUE – New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, NLT – New Living TranslationAMP – Amplified Version)
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