“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…”
I don’t know if you are one of the people who are chosen for the team, the party, the wedding, the friendships…or maybe you are often overlooked. If you are a Christian, the marvellous truth is that God has chosen you! The church are God’s holy people; we have been chosen and separated for God - this is the essence of holiness, to be set apart for God. Peter writes,
‘But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.’ (1 Peter 2:9)
We are God’s holy people, and this means that He has separated us from a life of sin and selfishness, and separated us for His service.
When we pray “Hallowed be your name”, we can also understand this as a prayer that the Father would be treated as holy in, and seen as holy through His church; that His people would seek to live for Him and worship Him in deeper ways.
Nehemiah is a book about rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem; we could apply this book to rebuilding the church. Nehemiah on hearing that the walls are broken down responds,
‘When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.’ (Nehemiah 1:4)
The church in this nation is in great need of restoration and the Spirit’s empowering - she needs to be rebuilt! Do you notice that the first thing that Nehemiah does is to pray? He, in essence, cries out, “Hollowed be your name in your people who represent you."
Do you pray for your church and the church in the world? Do you desire that she would cry “Hallowed be your name”? Do you have a deep desire that the church be a light in the darkness, rather than becoming dulled by compromise? Peter writes,
“As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:14-16)
Perhaps you would like to pray for the church using one of the texts in today’s devotional as a guide.
RESPONSE
During this series, let's aim to memorise and meditate on The Lord's Prayer.
TIPS ON MEMORISING SCRIPTURE
We will only do this, and persevere in doing this, if we believe that it's truly important to hide God's word in our heart. So get faith!
Don't disqualify yourself if it's hard - it is hard!
Write the text somewhere that's easy to find and use - a note on your phone, a post-it on the fridge...
Include the reference (book/chapter/verse) throughout the process
Read it slowly and carefully x 10 (Don't rush or dismiss this accurate repetition)
Recall it, without looking as much as possible x10
Do this a few times through the day - a habit is best formed by doing this at the same times, and places each day.
Revise regularly (and revise previously memorised verses)
Make it a habit to learn new verses - skill comes over time
USE IT! Actively use it to pray, worship, counsel, prophecy, and counter temptation and lies by quoting truth - it’s the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17).
TIPS ON BIBLICAL MEDITATION - THE 'COME TO JESUS DAILY METHOD'.
Biblical meditation is to prayerfully read, repeatedly, a section of the bible and pray, worship and respond as God leads. Here are a few tips and questions, what I call the 'come to Jesus daily method', to help you when meditating:
PRAY - Ask for the Spirit to help you and to speak to you. Keep the goal in mind - having a relationship with God!
WRITING- Writing/journaling is often a great help as you answer the questions below. Remember, don't allow worry about spelling, punctuation, grammar, perfection... to stop you from writing - it's between you and God. In meditation, I encourage you to write in the first-person, speaking to God - "I see that you are...I sense you speaking to me about...I pray for...."
GOSPEL- What does God, through this text, say to you about salvation through Jesus?
UP- What does God, through this text, say you about Himself – His worth, character, attributes, will, promises…?
IN- What does God, through this text, say about you, His church and how we are to relate?
OUT- What does God, through this text, say about non-believers and our mission?
RESPONSE – Is there anything else that you want to pray, worship God about, do, ask forgiveness about, ask God to help you to change…?