READING: Matthew 6
“Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy.”
Matthew 6:9
Jesus was clear in the model prayer that our prayer should begin with a recognition of who God is: “Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy” (Matt. 6:9). It’s easier, though, to write that statement than it is to live it out. Hence, I’m contemplating today how our lives might change if we genuinely respected God as deeply holy and treated Him likewise. For example:
- Perhaps we would fight temptation more forcefully since the God to whom we answer is holy
- We would be much more constrained in the flippant ways we use God’s name (even as an occasional curse word for some)
- We would want to be different from the world, knowing that it is God’s holiness in us that makes us unique—and that ought to be attractive to a lost world
- We would be less hesitant to give sacrificially to His work
- We would sing His praises with more fervor
- We would be humbled by His willingness to speak to us through His Word and to listen to us when we speak to Him with our words.
And, on this Lord’s Day . . . I think we would worship differently if we genuinely recognized God as holy. We would not take worship for granted, nor we would complain over things we don’t like as if worship were more about us than about God. When we truly say, “Your name is honored,” all we can do is fall on our face before Him.
May our worship in our respective places today take us to this position.
ACTION STEPS:
- Change the way you approach worship today if necessary, based on your recognition of God’s holiness.
- Pray the Model Prayer in full as you being the day today.
PRAYER: “God, You are holy and honored. Praise You!”
TOMORROW’S READING: Matthew 13:1-53, Mark 4:1-34, Luke 8:1-18