The Lord's Prayer starts off with teaching us to pray "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name." But what does it mean when we say God's name is "hallowed?"
Hallowed is another word for Holy or Sacred. We say those words so many times, but do we truly know what it means for God's name to be holy? Do we truly understand the power in the name of God so that we are to view it as powerful and sacred and not something to be taken lightly?
Exodus 20:7 commands us, "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain." The word 'vain' used in this context is the Hebrew word 'shav', which means emptiness of speech, vanity, falsehood, lying, deceptive uselessness. Taking God's name in vain refers to treating the Lord Himself in a frivolous, light manner.
One of God's names in the Bible is 'Yahweh', which is the name we refer to when we speak about God the Father. And to Hebrew scribes, the name 'Yahweh' is one of the most revered words. It's so revered that when a scribe writes the name, he has to wash his hands before and after he writes it.
That's how revered, magnified and glorified the name of God is. We may not wash our hands before and after we write the name of God, but we are to inspect our hearts as we speak of His name because it is so holy to God.
The holiness of God's name also speaks to us of how much power it has. Jesus teaches us to start off prayer by getting a revelation of God's hallowed name because it is in His name that we find the power that grants our prayers. It's by His name that His identity marked by grace and love gives us even the right to come into His presence. It's by Jesus' name also that we pray all these things and declare that things be so.
Proverbs 18:10 tells us, "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe." There is power in God's name because it is hallowed and holy. If it were not then God would not be God at all and we would not have refuge and safety. But thanks be to God that there is no name holier and more hallowed than the name of God.
God's name is a name that roars like a lion to the principalities of this world and causes them to shrink back. In God's name, mountains move, chains are loosed, sickness is cancelled, things that aren't are called into being. There is amazing, awe-inspiring power in the hallowed name of our God.
