Hallowed Be Thy Name
"He said to them, "When you pray, say: " Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come..." - Luke 11:2
Jesus tells us that when we pray it is important that we praise God. What is praise? Let me first tell you what it's not. Praise is not flattery. Flattery is when we say something good about another person just because we want them to do something for us. It may or may not be true. But praise is very different. We're to simply acknowledge the good qualities of God. We want to acknowledge the fact that there is such a difference between God's character and our sinfulness. Praise simply affirms who He is, and He deserves to hear that.
But there's also a wonderful by-product of praising God. Praise helps us to focus on the greatness of God and acknowledging this greatness lifts us above our troubles. Praising God and thinking about all His attributes has a way of making our problems here on earth seem small. You see, when you begin to focus on the greatness of God and look with faith to the greatness of God, you realize that no matter what trial, no matter what difficulty, no matter what hardship you're facing, God is bigger than all of that. Praise is central to meaningful communication with God.
You are reading a Daily Devotion from Right From The Heart. We invite you to comment, forward it to a friend, and subscribe to the daily email or RSS feed.
Subscribe to the Daily Devotion
We send out the devotion terribly early every morning. Enter your email address to get on the list.
RSS Feed
If you prefer, you can grab the RSS feed and read it in your favorite "feed reader." Huh?
Grab it http://feeds.feedburner.com/rfthdevotions
3 Comments
"God INHABITS the praises of His people!" according to the Bible. Wow! Think on that a while. - Steve
It is "fashionable" for many Christians today to think of God as their "Father-Christmas" and Jesus as their "buddy". What Holy means, is "set apart". Jesus wants for us to come before the Father in reverance, respect and awe. Think of Isaiah's reaction when he came face to face with God. "Woe am I, for I am a man of unclean lips!" God's name was considered so Holy by the Jew that it was not even spoken. Then came Jesus, referring to God as His Father. "ABBA" (daddy!), which infuriated the Pharaisees. Yes, we can come to the Father as Christians, knowing that we have been 'adopted' as co-heirs with His Son. Isn't that awesome! But, we should always rememeber to come respectfully, with praise and thanksgiving. - Grant
Grant made a good point. God is our Father, but He accepted us as His own when we admitted that we are sinners. When we accepted the truth of our short comings, we became the co-heirs of the kingdom of heaven. It's really cool!!!! - Kimberly