As Jesus taught his disciples on a mountain in Galilee, he took time to elaborate on prayer. He taught them to pray simply and in secret, since God knows what they already needed (Matt. 6:5-8).

He then gave an example of what to pray, and it’s in this example—known traditionally as “The Lord’s Prayer”—that we see the goal of God.

Jesus taught his disciples in Matthew 6:9,

“Pray then like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.’”

Before addressing anything else (like praying for needs to be met, forgiveness, etc.), Jesus strikes the centre of everything: God.

As disciples of Jesus in the 21st century, we ought to seriously consider the fact that Jesus first taught us to seek and ask the Father for his name to be hallowed.

As the footnote in my English Standard Version writes on this verse, for God the Father’s name to be hallowed means, “Let your name be kept holy,” or, “Let your name be treated with reverence.”

So, what is Jesus teaching us here?

Firstly, God’s name is who he is. It encompasses his whole Being. We’re not talking simply about his “name.”

Now, God doesn’t need us to pray that he keeps himself holy, or treats himself with reverence. God knows who God is, and perfectly upholds his name in holiness and reverence.

Therefore, for us to pray for God’s name to be hallowed is to for us to pray that we revere God as holy. And even though Jesus rightly teaches us that we are to treat and commune with God in holiness and reverence, he more importantly teaches us that the Father plays a necessary role in bringing that about. If he didn’t, then Jesus wouldn’t teach us to pray this way.

In other words, we need God’s supernatural help to revere God and keep his name holy in our lives.

And in all of this, we find the goal of God: for creation to reverently know his holy name.

God is glorified when we live in reverence of him.

So, how does God answer our prayer to hallow his name?

One word: Jesus.

No one lived in reverence to God’s holy name more than Jesus. He never once lost sight of his Father, nor said or did anything that would misrepresent him.

And thankfully, the gift of the gospel is union with Jesus! Our old self that revered only ourselves was crucified with Christ, and we became new creations in him—the same Christ who perfectly hallowed the Father’s name. To be in him is to have him as our life, and to actually live out his life in ours.

Therefore, our part in God’s goal is twofold:

Pray to the Father that his name would be hallowed every day—in your life, in your family’s life, in your church’s life, etc. Jesus’ teaching still stands: “Pray then like this…” So, obey!
Recognize your new life in Christ Jesus, and walk in him. Realize that he isn’t an addition to your life, but is truly your life. As you walk and live in him, you will naturally revere God’s name as holy.