#Bible Timeless Truths. Calling Home Part 2a. Why Don’t We Call God by His Name?

Last week was part one of this series.
The next several weeks continue the focus on the Lord's Prayer, Jesus' description of the way we all need to "call home" to our Father. The key verse each week is highlighted in the passage below.

Prayer

5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

9 “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,[a]
    but deliver us from the evil one.[b]’

14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Matthew 6:5-14

Due to a lack of organizational strategy when I was taking the sermon notes some Timeless Truths turned into, "I don't have all the parts in some sermon series." Part two of the current series is one of those.

Dr. Keith Newman, my pastor when I heard him preach this message, graciously sent me his expanded sermon notes. You get a lot more good stuff in Part 2a (today) and 2b (next week) because of that.

I don't think it's a coincidence it was Part 2 I can't find.

Sometime, someone, somewhere decided that unless a pastor was preaching in church, there should be music--songs or instruments. Even during prayer time. When that happens, it removes the opportunity to hallow God's name by "being still." 

Keep reading.

I broke Part 2 into two posts on purpose!

This past week I called home while I was driving, while I was waiting, while I was walking the dog, while I was sitting in my office,  and in a wide variety of places.  That's what the Apostle Paul meant when he said, “Pray continually.”

People have all sorts of names for God.  Many of those names could be described as anything but Hallowed.  What did Jesus mean when He gave instructions about prayer saying, “When you pray, say, Our Father in heaven….”

“hallowed be your name”

Hallowed comes from the Greek word “HAGIO” which is also the word for holy.   

Last week was about OUR RELATIONSHIP. This week is about OUR REVERENCE, or  

What place do you give God in your life?

The church's greatest loss today was the loss of reverence for God Himself.  It was his firm conviction that God would honor any group of believers who honored Him.  A.W. Tozer

What place do you give your Heavenly Father in your life?  Is He more than just 

• the man upstairs? 
• the Big Guy in the Sky?  

Have you set Him apart as Lord?  
Do you approach prayer with a Reverence reserved for only Him?

Three Primary Names of God in the Old Testament:

Elohim – God the Mighty Creator.

Yahweh – The Lord who is the Covenant-Keeping One.

Adonai – Master or Lord.  

In Jesus’ time, the Jews so reverenced the name of God that they would not say the sacred name Yahweh because it was so holy.  They took the consonants out of the name Yahweh and the vowels out of the name Adonai, put them together and formed a new word that King James writers translated JEHOVAH.  

When Jewish scholars copied the Scriptures, they selected a new pen with which to write God’s name so they would not dishonor God by writing His name with a pen that had been used to write other words.  After using the new pen to write God’s name, they broke it so it could never be used again.

God’s name was very serious to them.  While their practice could be considered very Legalistic, today we too often approach God in a very lazy manner.  

Put a BIG RED STOP SIGN immediately following the words, “Hallowed be your Name” in your Bible.
That is exactly what Jesus wants you to do, 

• to stop, to set apart, 
• to see God in His holiness, 
• to revere Him 

before we really get started in prayer.

Have you been to any Hallowed Places?

• Hospital maternity wards. Neonatal Intensive Care Units. 
• Snow-capped mountains with water running down the side into streams, blue skies, and an eagle with wings spread riding the air currents.
• Worship services when God’s presence is so very real and there really aren’t any words that need to be said. 

When We Hallow God’s Name:

1. We are Silent and Still!

Jesus puts up this Stop Sign. 
He doesn't want us to roll through it.  
Come to a complete stop and not just look both ways, but stop and look up.  
See God and be silent and still.

Honoring God’s Name Restores Order in Our Lives.

When we pray, “Hallowed be Your Name”, we are honoring the holiness of God.  And the holiness of God is like a Tent Pole holding up everything.  When it is no longer there, or when people no longer respect and revere it, then there is no longer reverence for anything.

Very little is reverenced anymore. When you take the center tent pole down (reverence of God), everything else comes down as well.

You can raise that tent pole in your life.  Hallow the name of the Father.  Stop and honor the name and bring order back into a chaotic world.

Remember the Scripture...

“Be still and know that I am God.”

Psalm 46:10

Job learned the “be still” lesson. 

• Enemies slaughtered his cattle, lightning destroyed his sheep, strong winds left his children buried in the rubble of what once was a house.  
• All happened on the first day.  
• Before the insurance claims adjuster could get out to make an inspection, Job came down with leprosy and boils covered his body.  
• His wife told him just to Curse God and die. 
• Job four friends came to visit him and began to try and convince him that his problem was sin, and if he would just confess his sin then things might get better.
• Nobody was still, nobody was silent for 23 chapters!  
• Then Job tells us all about God for 6 chapters! 
• In all, thirty-seven chapters go by before God decides to speak.  Chapter thirty-eight starts with these words:  
• “Then the Lord answered Job!”  

Listen to some of what God had to say: 

“I will ask you questions and you must answer me. 

1. Where were you when I made the earth’s foundation? Tell me if you understand.  
2. Who marked off how big it should be?  Surely you know!  
3. Who stretched a ruler across it?  
4. What were the earth’s foundations set on, or who put its cornerstone in place while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted with joy? 
5. Have you ever gone to where the sea begins or walked the valleys under the sea?  
6. Have you ever gone to the storehouse for snow or seen the storehouses for hail?  
7. Are you the one who gives the horse his strength or puts the flowing mane on its neck? 
8. Do you make the horse jump like a locust?  
9. Is it through your wisdom that the hawk flies and spreads its wings toward the south?” (Selections from Job 38:1 - 39:26. What follows is a sampling of God's questions! Numbers added)

You may be like Job and think you have it all figured out.

Maybe you just have lots of questions.  

Jesus says, take time to stop and honor the Father’s Name, be still, be silent, let order come back into your life.

Job got the message.  Chapter 40, verse 4 records Job’s response:  

“I am not worthy; I cannot answer you anything, so I will put my hand over my mouth.”

There are times we all need 

• to put our hands over our mouths, 
• to be still, 
• to be silent, 
• to know that God is God.  

That’s what happens when we really hallow His Name.

Take time to BE STILL AND KNOW GOD this week.

Thanks to Dr. Keith Newman for the primary teachings in this blog post.