Hallowed Be Your Name: Living as God's Family

Devotional

Day 1: A President’s Child Plays in the Oval Office

The image of JFK’s son hiding under the Resolute Desk reveals the radical access of God’s children. When Jesus teaches us to pray “Our Father,” he invites us into a relationship where the Creator’s power and the parent’s tenderness meet. This closeness reshapes identity: we are not subjects groveling before a distant ruler, but children welcomed into the throne room. God’s fatherhood means care that notices secret struggles, concern that values hidden faithfulness, and authority that rewrites our worth. [45:30]

“But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
(Matthew 6:6, ESV)

Reflection: Where do you instinctively look to define your worth? How might living as God’s child free you from others’ opinions or your own performance?

Day 2: Stadiums Chant “Messi!” – Heaven Chants “Holy!”

The World Cup crowd’s frenzy for a footballer contrasts with heaven’s eternal cry of “Glory!” over God. To pray “hallowed be your name” is to reject the world’s obsession with self-promotion and human idols. God’s holiness isn’t a cold demand but the fire that purifies our worship. When we prioritize His glory, we align with reality’s deepest rhythm – the universe exists to magnify its Maker. [49:46]

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
(Revelation 4:11, ESV)

Reflection: What everyday choice – a conversation, a social media post, a private compromise – might shift if you sought God’s glory over your own?

Day 3: The Reward Hidden in Plain Sight

Jesus’ threefold repetition of “your Father who sees in secret” transforms mundane acts into eternal investments. Giving, praying, and fasting become not performances but love letters to a watching Father. The God who numbers hairs on heads delights in unnoticed kindnesses. Our culture shouts for viral moments; Christ whispers that eternity treasures quiet faithfulness. [48:43]

“But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
(Matthew 6:3-4, ESV)

Reflection: What ‘secret’ act of love have you undervalued? How does God’s attention to hidden things change your view of today’s ordinary moments?

Day 4: When Thunder Claps Over Cedars

Psalm 29’s stormy imagery – shattering cedars, shaking deserts – reveals God’s voice as both terrifying and life-giving. The same power that splinters Lebanon’s forests tenderly strengthens His people. To pray “hallowed be your name” is to embrace this paradox: the God who rules hurricanes also whispers peace. His might doesn’t intimidate – it anchors us. [07:55]

“The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders... The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.”
(Psalm 29:3-4, ESV)

Reflection: What ‘storm’ in your life feels overwhelming? How might God’s mastery over chaos reshape your fear into awe?

Day 5: Tolkien’s Farthing-Sized Prayer

The challenge to write the Lord’s Prayer microscopically mirrors our call to internalize its priorities. Each cramped word on a post-it note trains us to shrink self-interest and enlarge God’s kingdom. Like Tolkien’s tiny script, a prayer-focused life may seem insignificant, but carries eternal weight. The discipline of small faithfulness reshapes our spiritual vision. [23:12]

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
(Matthew 6:9-10, ESV)

Reflection: Which phrase of the Lord’s Prayer feels hardest to ‘write small’ into your daily life? What practical step could help engrave it deeper this week?

Sermon Summary

The Lord’s Prayer stands as God’s way for God’s family, not as random religious words dropped into Matthew 6. Jesus sets the prayer inside the life of the kingdom, where the kingdom is not first a patch of land but wherever the King is. Jesus on the mountainside echoes Moses on the mountain, giving the family ways of God’s people, yet Jesus makes clear that these ways do not earn God’s favour. These ways display God’s favour.

Jesus contrasts true prayer with show off prayer. The hypocrites pray on street corners, dressed up and longing for people to notice them. Their prayers go in the wrong direction because they are really saying, “hey guys, look at me.” The Lord’s Prayer turns the whole life back in the right direction. Life in the right direction is all about God and not about me.

The opening words teach God’s people to make God the closest. “Father in heaven” is an incredible name to use, because Jesus alone is the true Son who hears the Father say, “This is my Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Yet Jesus brings those who trust him into his family, through his death in their place, so that God is known not as distant or scary but as Father. The picture of President Kennedy’s little boy playing under the desk in the Oval Office shows the point plainly. The child has access, not because he is powerful, but because his daddy is the president.

God’s fatherhood means closeness, care, and concern. God sees what is done in secret, not so that hidden faithfulness becomes frightening, but so that God’s people stop needing everyone else to notice. The Father who sees in secret is the audience of one. His care is dependable, and his concern reaches even the quiet places where no one else is watching.

“Hallowed be your name” then teaches God’s people to make God the greatest. Hallowed means honoured, made great, given the glory due to his name. Football crowds may treat Messi like a messiah, and whole teams may play for one man’s name, but only God deserves that honour because he created all things and holds all things together. God’s glory is not in competition with human good. God’s glory is human good, because life works best when God’s name comes before personal reputation.

The fatherhood of God frees identity from the tug of war between what others say and what the self tries to invent. God says, “you are mine,” and that changes everything. Psalm 102 shows the deepest reason God’s name should be praised: the Lord looked down, heard the groans of prisoners, and came in Jesus to rescue people condemned to death.

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Key Takeaways

1. Prayer has a true direction Jesus does not treat prayer as religious self-expression, but as life turned toward the Father. Show off prayer bends holy words back toward the self, asking people to admire what only God should receive. The Lord’s Prayer retrains desire so that the first concern is God’s name, not personal reputation. [41:03]
2. Favour is displayed, not earned The ways of God’s family are not a ladder into the kingdom. Jesus gives them as the shape of life for those already brought near by grace. Obedience becomes evidence of belonging, not a payment for acceptance, which protects the soul from both pride and despair. [38:51]
3. Fatherhood gives identity freedom God’s fatherhood cuts deeper than the changing reactions of other people. Social identity is exhausting because it waits to see which version of the self gets applause, pity, or rejection. The Father’s word, “you are mine,” gives a settled place from which a person can live without being authored by the crowd. [51:27]
4. God sees the secret life The Father’s sight reaches the hidden room, the quiet gift, and the unseen fast. That truth exposes performance, but it also comforts unseen faithfulness. God’s concern means that holy things do not need to be advertised in order to matter. [46:59]
5. God’s glory orders life “Hallowed be your name” is not God demanding empty praise from needy creatures. God’s name in first place puts creation back into proper order, because God’s glory is human good. Regret often grows where personal name-making has ruled, but peace grows where God’s name is honoured first.

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Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[05:29] - Anniversary Cake and Church Notices
[06:55] - Psalm 29 and God’s Glory
[16:53] - Lord’s Prayer as God’s Family Way
[21:31] - Memorising the Lord’s Prayer
[34:37] - Matthew 6 and Prayer’s Context
[37:50] - God’s Kingdom Where Jesus Is King
[38:51] - Displaying, Not Earning, God’s Favour
[39:50] - Show Off Prayers and My Way Living
[41:45] - Make God the Closest
[48:43] - Make God the Greatest
[51:01] - Identity as God’s Child
[53:23] - God’s Glory Is Good
[54:30] - Rescue That Makes God Worthy

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Matthew 6:9-13
“Pray then like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’” [21:54] [35:48]

Matthew 6:5-8
“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” [35:13]

Psalm 29:1-2
“Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.” [07:25]

Psalm 102:18-22
“Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD: that he looked down from his holy height; from heaven the LORD looked at the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die, that they may declare in Zion the name of the LORD, and in Jerusalem his praise, when peoples gather together, and kingdoms, to worship the LORD.” [54:40]

Observation questions

In Matthew 6:5-8, what do the hypocrites love, and what reward does Jesus say they receive? [39:50]
What two names or descriptions for God stand right at the beginning of the Lord’s Prayer, and what do they show about how the prayer begins? [41:54]
In Matthew 6:5-8, what does Jesus say the Father does in secret, and how often does that hiddenness come up around prayer, giving, and fasting? [46:59]
In Psalm 102:18-22, what actions of the Lord lead people to declare his name and praise him? [54:40]

Interpretation questions

Jesus says, “Do not be like the hypocrites,” and then gives “Our Father in heaven” as the pattern for prayer. What makes these two approaches to prayer so different in direction? [41:31]
The kingdom is where the King is. How does that help explain why the Lord’s Prayer is not just a set form of words, but a way of life for God’s family? [37:50]
God’s family ways display his favour rather than earn it. Why does that matter so much when reading the commands and requests in the Lord’s Prayer? [38:51]
“Hallowed be your name” means God’s name comes first. Why is that good news rather than a burden, and how does it put life back into the right order? [53:23]

Application questions

Jesus warns against prayers that are really aimed at other people. In what settings is there most temptation to sound spiritual, impressive, or put-together? What might it look like to turn prayer back toward the Father there? [41:03]
God is not distant to those who belong to Jesus, but Father. Is prayer usually approached with closeness and confidence, or more with distance and hesitation? What might help that change? [45:06]
The Father sees what is done in secret. Are there areas of quiet faithfulness that feel unnoticed or unimportant right now? How does it help to remember that they are seen by him? [48:29]
Many people build identity from the reactions of others, or from trying to invent themselves. Where is identity most likely to be pulled around by approval, criticism, or comparison? What would it mean to live from “you are mine” instead? [51:27]
God’s glory is human good. In everyday life, where does personal name-making most easily take over—work, parenting, friendships, church life, online life, or something else? How might “hallowed be your name” reshape that area? [53:54]
Regret often grows where a person has been chasing their own name. Can anyone think of a time when wanting to be seen, praised, or proved right led somewhere painful? What would it have looked like to want God’s name honoured first? [53:23]
Psalm 102 says the Lord looked down, heard groans, and set prisoners free so that his name would be praised. How does remembering rescue in Jesus make “hallowed be your name” more than just words? [54:40]

Sermon Clips

49s

#InGodsFamily

“``But how how can this little boy get in into the Oval Office and muck about and play hide and seek? Because his daddy's the president. He's got that close relationship. And so this what Jesus is saying in the Lord's prayer that his people, his family, we're to know God as father. We have that close relationship with God. Isn't that incredible? We couldn't get into heaven, into God's new creation on our own, could we? We could never do that. We could never earn our way. We could never come into the presence of God to to to ask him of anything. But in his family, as a son or daughter, we can. Isn't that incredible?”

37s

#AudienceOfOne

“Just do what you're doing in private and the Lord, your Father, who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And the point is this, that God is our Father and so he sees everything that we're doing. Now that might be quite a scary thing to you, but it should be a good thing as well. When we're serving him, loving him, God sees. It really doesn't matter who else sees. It's God's concern that we're to have, isn't it, as our father. We've got that audience of one always. So make God the closest.”

57s

#GodsGloryFirst

“Secondly, if God's glory is our good, then life works best when we give him glory. And actually, can you think of times in your lives where there's been deep regret or remorse or hurts in your life? Maybe you've known that. Oftentimes, when we've been the the protagonist, as it were, we've been the the person at fault, it's because we've been seeking our name. I can think of lots of those regrets and remortis. It's probably because I'm seeking my name and that's not how life works best. But if hallowed be God's name, that is how life works best. And so it reorders our world, doesn't it? That we're thinking of God's name before my name, even in the details. Maybe in the conversations that you have with people. I'm talking to someone and actually I'm wanting God's name to be honored, not mine.”

37s

#GraceNotWorks

“Now here's a really important thing, to remember, not just for children's church you're in with us, but all of us as the adults. When we're doing these things and living as Jesus said, we're not earning God's favor, we're displaying God's favor. So all of these things which the Lord's prayer asked us to do and said this is the the right direction for living, these are Jesus' priorities, That is not earning our way into God's kingdom. It's not earning God's favor. It is displaying God's favor.”

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Bradley Stoke Evangelical Church This sermon · AI assistant

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