In Heaven, Hallowed be your name
In Heaven, Hallowed be your name
In Heaven, Hallowed be your name
The Lord’s Prayer | In Heaven, Hallowed Be Your Name | Ian Goodman | 9 Aug 2026
The words “...in heaven, hallowed be your name,” teaches us two things:
1) That God is infinitely above us. When we are told to pray to our Father “in heaven” the purpose is not simply to tell us where God lives or to where we are to address our prayers. The purpose is to remind us of God’s otherworldliness, of His sovereign power, and of the fact that we are recipients only and not contributors to God in any way.
We saw this by looking at three of God’s attributes: His aseity (or independence), his immutability (or changelessness), and his incomprehensibility (that He cannot be fully comprehended by the human mind). We can see in these attributes the absolute "God-ness" of God. He truly is, as Anselm put it, “one than whom none greater can be conceived.”
2) That while God is infinitely above us, God has overcome that distance by condescending to us in grace, that we might know Him and relate to Him especially through prayer. We are able to “hallow his name” because he has given us His name and given us means by which we might hallow it.
The question that remains is how we hallow the name of God? David gives a good answer in Ps 63:1-8 “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So, I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So, I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.”
This is a marvellous example of hallowing the name of God. David ponders, praises and beholds God and in so doing he treats God’s name as holy and longs for Him with all his might.
Bible Text: Matthew 6:9 15 | Preacher: Ian Goodman | Series: The Lord’s prayer | The Lord’s Prayer | In Heaven, Hallowed Be Your Name | Ian Goodman | 9 Aug 2026
The words “…in heaven, hallowed be your name,” teaches us two things:
1) That God is infinitely above us. When we are told to pray to our Father “in heaven” the purpose is not simply to tell us where God lives or to where we are to address our prayers. The purpose is to remind us of God’s otherworldliness, of His sovereign power, and of the fact that we are recipients only and not contributors to God in any way.
We saw this by looking at three of God’s attributes: His aseity (or independence), his immutability (or changelessness), and his incomprehensibility (that He cannot be fully comprehended by the human mind). We can see in these attributes the absolute “God-ness” of God. He truly is, as Anselm put it, “one than whom none greater can be conceived.”
2) That while God is infinitely above us, God has overcome that distance by condescending to us in grace, that we might know Him and relate to Him especially through prayer. We are able to “hallow his name” because he has given us His name and given us means by which we might hallow it.
The question that remains is how we hallow the name of God? David gives a good answer in Ps 63:1-8 “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So, I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So, I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.”
This is a marvellous example of hallowing the name of God. David ponders, praises and beholds God and in so doing he treats God’s name as holy and longs for Him with all his might.