Hallowed be Your Name

"This, then, is how you should pray:

"Our Father in heaven, 9

hallowed be your name"

Matthew 6:9

In my morning Bible study, I've recently done a big deep dive into the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus' longest section of teachings in the New Testament. I did a big study in the Sermon on the Mount five years ago, just before I moved to the Scottish Highlands and it just seemed like now was the right time to a repeat of that again. It's been rewarding and helpful to have such a focussed and intense period of learning and reading a section of the Bible.

Part of the Sermon of the Mount is the famous prayer that Jesus taught His disciples to pray, The Lord's Prayer. I've shared a number of blogposts over the years on the topic of prayer (you can find them here) but I really love thinking and reflecting on what it means to pray and live in communion with God.

The first of the Lord's Prayer is a part that I feel I often skip over. Hallowing God's name (which I have discovered basically means to praise Him for His holiness) is something I am so quick to skip over when it comes to my prayers. I love being able to thank Him for the good things He has given me and to be able to ask Him for the things I need or want, but how often do I forget to actually praise God for who He is.

I've been thinking and praying about this recently. How different would my prayers look if I remembered to praise God for His holiness, just as Jesus taught us to do in His prayer He taught us?

Want to read more of reflections from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew's Gospel? Check them out here:

• My New To-Do List

• Ask, Seek, Knock