Having just experienced the glory of Easter, it seems more than appropriate to look at praise in the context of the Lord’s Prayer.
The importance of praise cannot be overstated. Derek Prince (Secrets of a Prayer Warrior, p. 139) writes about a confrontation between Jesus and the religious leaders:
“Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise’?”(Matthew 21:16). David wrote the words ordained strength. Jesus interpreted them as perfected praise. What does that tell us? That the ordained strength of God’s people is perfect praise. When you praise the name of the Lord perfectly, you shut the devil up.
Therefore, it isn’t surprising that, in the Lord’s Prayer, we find praise immediately following the relational greeting. We are simultaneously honoring God and silencing the enemy.
–hallowed be your name: To “hallow” is to honor as holy (an aspect of praise). In other words, to hallow is to set apart something as worthy of reverence and respect. The object of this reverence is the name of God, and names are very important in the biblical context. Names are not just identifiers but are related to power and sometimes life changing events (Jesus changes Simon’s name to Peter after his confession-see Mat 16:13-20).
Here, we are talking about the name that is unparalleled in power and importance; the name some consider “too holy to pronounce.” For us to truly hallow the name of God is to acknowledge the life changing experience initiated in our conversions and symbolized in our baptisms. To earnestly pray the phrase, hallowed be your name, is an acknowledgment of the unique nature of the One we have addressed. It is also claiming a spiritual weapon. Appropriately invoking a name of the Trinity with reverence is wielding a mighty weapon against evil and darkness. It is one of the ways we let our lights shine (see Mat 5:16).
Brothers, let your lights shine, honor God and shut up the devil. Hallow the name of God in all you say and do.
(TO BE CONTINUED with God’s purpose— “Your kingdom come,
your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”)
The Barnabas Strategy is an initiative of the Holy Spirit free of institutional constraints. … Ron Bellomy