Hallowed be Your Name – adoration (Prayer day 14)

Holiness is a foreign concept in our secular society.  This is not surprising, since the opposite of holy is secular, or common. So how can we understand what it mean to pray “hallowed be Your name?”

Today’s devotional reading will be greatly enhanced by this well-known hymn by Reginald Heber (1783-1826).

Scriptures

Psalm 99 – The Lord Our God Is Holy

¹ The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble!
He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
² The Lord is great in Zion;
he is exalted over all the peoples.
³ Let them praise your great and awesome name!
Holy is he!
⁴ The King in his might loves justice.
You have established equity;
you have executed justice
and righteousness in Jacob.
⁵ Exalt the Lord our God;
worship at his footstool!
Holy is he!

⁶ Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
Samuel also was among those who called upon his name.
They called to the Lord, and he answered them.
⁷ In the pillar of the cloud he spoke to them;
they kept his testimonies
and the statute that he gave them.

⁸ O Lord our God, you answered them;
you were to them God-Who-Forgives,
but an avenger of their wrongdoings.
⁹ Exalt the Lord our God,
and worship at his holy mountain;
for the Lord our God is holy!

“The Lord sits enthroned above the cherubim (Ps 99:1).” These are angelic beings with a human body and also with wings. They are assigned to vindicate the holiness of God against the sin of man.– Description from Believers Bible Commentary.

 Observations and reflections

1. A simple way of understanding the message of the psalmist is by rewriting the Psalm in your own words:

• V1
• V2-3
• V4-5
• V6-8
• V9

2. This psalm is a lesson to us.

• What is the chore call of this Psalm? (hint: look for repetition verses 3, 5, 9)
• This Psalm has three main lessons about our relationship to the Holy God (hint: look before the repeated phrases, i.e. at verses 2, 4, 6-8)

3. Mark the (a) names of God and (b) attributes of God praised in this psalm.

Personal reflection and Prayer

To say that God is holy means that he is not like us, that his ways are different, and that his character and nature is unique. And this is the call of praise in Psalm 99: God is high above all people, his governance shows no favouritism, is fair and free of corruption; yet although God is awesome and untouchable he saves those who call on Him, has relationship with sinful people, forgives freely yet punishes wrongdoing.

1. What makes God unique in your eyes? Tell him that.
2. In your own words pray along the lines of this Psalm:

• Tell God in which way He more powerful than humans, angels or any force in creation.
• Praise God for his
  • justice without corruption
  • mercy: His saving and forgiving nature
  • that He is relational, and cares about you too.

 

 

Stewardship 13 – relationships

The aim of this devotional study is to reflect on the stewardship of your relationships.

Scripture

John 17:1-26

1  When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2  since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3  And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4  I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5  And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

6  “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7  Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8  For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.

9  I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10  All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11  And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 12  While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

13  But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14  I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15  I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16  They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

17  Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18  As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19  And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

20  “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21  that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22  The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23  I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24  Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

25  O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26  I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

Observations

Note 1: This prayer of Jesus in the night of his arrest is very rich. Today we will study it in terms of Jesus’ stewardship of his disciples, for in this prayer Jesus gives account of his work on earth and prays for his disciples who will remain.

1. Jesus prays to the Father for his disciples who will remain in the world. Briefly summarize:
   1. What do you learn of Jesus’ relationship with the Father in this prayer?
   2. What do you learn of Jesus’ relationship with his disciples in this prayer?
   3. What do you learn of Jesus’ relationship with the world in this prayer?
2. Jesus prayed “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.” (v4). Let’s consider His work:
   1. What had Jesus taught his disciples (as seen in this prayer)?
   2. What had Jesus done for his disciples (as seen in this prayer)?
   3. What does Jesus pray for his disciples (as seen in this prayer)?

Application and Prayer

A great component of Jesus’ work on earth was the teaching of and modelling for the disciples – his relationship with them.

Jesus gave account to the Father of “those you have given [entrusted] to me.”

1. Reflect on your relationships and note the key relationships you believe God has entrusted to you, for their benefit and God’s glory.
2. As is easily seen in marriage and parenting relationships, it is so easy to miss the main goal of the relationship in the business of life. Take a moment in prayerful reflection and write the main purpose God has in assigning these people / these relationships to you.
3. If you were to give account of these people/ relationships the way Jesus prayed in the text above, what would you say to the Father? Do that now – give an account of the top relationships God entrusted to you and pray for grace to steward these relationships “for His glorious purpose”.
4. Consider the people you will interact with today – what will you do to glorify God in your interactions?