Matthew 6:7-15 - The "You" Petitions

Okay, let’s look at the first petition in the prayer, v.9, “Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.” First, this is to be a model prayer, not something to be recited all the time. The Greek word houtos means ‘like this’ or ‘in this manner.’ So, Jesus is giving us an example, not something to memorize and recite.

Second, the reference to God as ‘Father’ is important. In the book of Matthew, whenever Jesus is addressing those outside His group of disciples, He refers to God as ‘God’. Whenever He is talking to the disciples, though, He refers to God as ‘Father’ and frequently, ‘Your Father.’ We see this quite a few times in the Sermon of the Mount. Another thing to note is the importance placed on the identity of one’s father in the Jewish culture. A person’s identity was tied up in who the father was. If your father was a fisherman, you would be a fisherman. If your father was a tax collector, you would be a tax collector. And famously, if your father was a carpenter, you would be a carpenter. So, here Jesus is pointing out the close relationship between the one praying and the One to Whom he is praying, and the idea that our identity is tied up in our Heavenly Father.

At the same time, He adds, “who is in heaven.” The idea is that God is near, ‘Our Father’, and at the same time far above us, ‘who is in heaven.’ Theologians refer to these to ideas as God’s immanence and transcendence, respectively. I think this shows again, as I mentioned in my last post, that we are able to come to God in prayer boldly since God is our Father, but we must also approach Him in reverence, knowing that He is far above us.

Third, what does ‘hallowed be Your name’ mean? A better translation would be, ‘let Your name be reverenced.’ The Greek word translated ‘hallowed’ could be defined as ‘treated as holy.’ So, here again we have the idea of reverence for God, deference to His holiness, assuming the proper posture of prayer. Another way that the translation ‘hallowed be your name’ fails is that it doesn’t bring across the fact that this is a petition to God asking Him to do something. “Father, let Your name be treated as holy. Make the world to reverence Your name. Take the honor due You.”

It is instructive that this is the first petition made in the prayer. I think this is significant. Our number one objective in everything, including our prayers, should be that God be glorified. Our number one desire should be that the name of God be reverenced and treated as holy in the world. Can you see how this prepares our heart and attitude to come before the Lord? When we come to Him saying, “First and foremost, God, be glorified,” every other concern that we bring to Him is put its proper perspective, that is, is takes its rightful place as secondary. When what we truly want most is for God to be reverenced, glorified, and honored, our hearts are prepared to accept and embrace whatever way God may respond to the rest of our prayer. Jesus is communicating the proper reverence and submission that should be present in our hearts and words during prayer.

Moving on to v.10, we see the second petition, “Let your kingdom come.” This touches on one of the hallmarks of Jesus’ preaching in the book of Matthew, the kingdom of God. It most likely denotes God’s kingly rule and the exercise of His power and authority. This petition then is that God’s rule might be manifested on the earth. It is completely forward looking, not focused on the here and now. It expresses a longing for God Himself above all other things. In my own life, my prayers are almost universally intent on the present or near future. Rarely have I prayed longing for the coming of the last days when God’s dominion will be completely manifested.

The focus on God continues with the third petition, “Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This one is closely tied to the second. It longs for lasting change on the earth, God’s moral will fully realized on earth as in heaven. It shows a complete submission to the Lord. Jesus prays this phrase verbatim in the Garden of Gethsemane in Matt 26:42.

These first three petitions are sometimes referred to as “You” petitions because they are all focused on God. Let Your name be reverenced, Your kingdom come, Your will be done. This model prayer is God-centered and it demonstrates for us the proper perspective of prayer. While we may come to the Lord with our own requests, our bottom-line concern in every prayer should be God’s reputation, God’s kingdom, and God’s will. “Not my will, but Thine.” There is no naming and claiming here. That idea is so grossly foreign to this prayer and it should be rejected.

What a dramatic impact there would be, not only on our prayer lives but also on our attitude and perspective in all things, if every time we came to the Lord in prayer we first aligned our motives and our desires with the Lord’s and sought the accomplishment of His will above all things.

We’ll see next time how even the next three petitions, sometimes called the “We” petitions, are also completely God-centered. Drink deep.