Hallowed be Thy Name

My kids and I have been memorizing and studing the Lord's Prayer in school. It is a beautiful prayer and I thought I would go over it in my blog too because I have been getting so much out of it. Memorizing any scripture is awesome. God's word will never return void. I learned the prayer in a public school, if you can believe that. I had an old school teacher that said we were going to recite it everyday and there was nothing anybody could do to stop her. I still hear the Lord's Prayer in that old ladies voice when I say it out loud. God bless her. I'm sure she has gone on to be with the Lord. Now it is our turn to pass it on.

The first two lines in the Lord's Prayer are "Our Father in heaven, allowed be your name." Matt 6:9. This can be a little humbling. I mean, how many of us go to the Lord with our want list when we pray. Sounding something like this, "God, you know me and I have such a limited time for you. Please take care of little Jojo and Mary. Also, please change my husband you know he needs it. Also, whatever else it is I'm suppose to be praying about for my friend from church. Amen"

In verse eight of chapter six, in Matthew, the last thing Jesus says is God knows what we need before we ask and the first thing he starts out with in prayer is praise to God. Maybe, we make the mistake of forgetting that he is always with us, so if we aren't keeping him up to date on our lives we think he won't know. In the last chapter in Matthew, last verse Jesus says, "..and surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Starting out with praise in our prayer time reminds us that He is God and we are not. I grew up in the Pentecostal Holiness church. I once heard a praise and worship leader describe his idea of what took place with congregational worship. A usual service would first play up beat music or "praise" and then slower more chorus type music "worship". He viewed "praise" as entering the outer court and "worship" as entering into the holy of holies. I think this is a beautiful way to be reminded that through Jesus we are welcomed into God's very presence. A place that before his sacrifice on the cross, only few went. If this is the only thing you thank God for in your prayer time. Your good.

If you have trouble getting started in this area open your Bible and take a look at the Psalms.

Psalms 27:1,4&5

The Lord is my light and my salvation-
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life-
of whom shall I be afraid?

One thing I ask of the LORD,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the
LORD
all the days of my life
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple.

David wanted to always be in God's presence. You can see as you read on that through praise, he worked out his struggles being confident that God was in his day to day affairs.

For in the day if trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his
tabernacle
and set me high upon a rock.

Sincere praise changes our view of God and his role in our lives.