by Jerry Senn
Hallowed isn’t a word we use often. It means “to be holy.” But, God is already holy before we make this prayer and nothing we say or do will add to his absolute holiness. So to pray for our Father’s name be “hallowed” or made holy we are asking that his holiness be respected and treated with respect and honor.
It therefore becomes our will, even deep desire for our Father to receive what is deserved and demanded of all men, especially of his disciples. We must acknowledge his holiness and set him apart from everything on earth and in heaven. “You shall have no other gods before [besides] me” (Exodus 20:3). He is to be number one with us!!! And, we pray He will be honored by all mankind as well.
However, no one can fully understand what it is to be holy, since none of us and nothing on this earth is perfect or without defect since the fall of Adam and Eve. “We are fallen beings–spiritually, morally, mentally and physically. We have fallen in all the ways that man can fall… Our noblest heroes are soiled heroes, all of them.” (A W Tozer).
In this life, we will never be able to fully define God’s holiness and we will never reach a state of complete holiness on our own. But as the redeemed of God, we can learn to revere and to respect God’s holiness, becoming more like him.
God has created us so that after we sin, two things happen: first, we know that we have sinned. We feel bad about it, knowing we have done wrong. We didn’t create our conscience, it is endowed by God. But, we can resist, deny and ignore this reality. Second, after we sin we want to be right. It is an innate awareness and desire to appease something outside ourselves, a holy God. We can try to squelch it and suppress it, but we know we need forgiveness.
The most significant fact at the basis of all worship is that God is holy. His holiness demands that we seek His forgiveness. Our acceptance of God’s holiness, coupled with His love (as seen in Jesus Christ) brings forgiveness and God’s holiness to our hearts. We are made holy because He is holy.