Matthew 6:9-13
“This, then, is how you should pray:‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 3 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'
In the model prayer that Jesus gave us the second phrase of this example is "hallowed be your name". This portion of the prayer focuses on the Name of
God. In the Old Testament, names were significant and expressed something about the character and nature of the one who bears that name. In this prayer we are encouraged to honor and exalt the names of the One who is our God and King. I have been meditating on some of the names that are given to describe who God is. What a powerful thing that it is to understand who He is and what that means to us as His children. i will right about His wonderful names in two installments so that my blogging is not to laborious to read.
In Genesis 22:14, God is referred to as "Jehovah Jireh", the Lord our Provider. In the most basic sense this means that God is our source on every level. He is to be praised and revered as the One that we look to for every need and supply. Many people only cry out to the Lord in times of desperation. How hypocritical this must seem to God who stands ready to give His children every good and perfect gift. He has given His only Son, Jesus so why would He withhold from us those things which we need to serve and thrive as His heirs? When we pray it is important for us to acknowledge that God is the One who we are dependent on for life itself. How pleased God must be for us to praise Him for everything we have and need in life...prayer should be our "declaration of dependence" to our God.
Exodus 15:26 God Himself declares that he is "Jehovah Rophe", the Lord our Healer. We are in need of many types of healing. Physical, emotional, and mental. The most important healing of all is our spiritual healing. We sometimes are consumed by our needs for healing and neglect to praise Him who brought us the greatest healing of all through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. When we acknowledge our God and thank Him for the awesome gift of ultimate healing and the security of our souls for eternity, we are ready and open to receive the benefits of that salvation - healing in our bodies, souls, and minds. Thank Jehovah Rophe for His loving care and healing.
The scripture in Ezekiel 48:35 refers to Himself as "Jehovah Shammah". This is a proclamation that He is the Lord who is here. God's presence is with us. Jesus declared as well that He is with us always, in every circumstance, every situation, and every moment of our life after we receive Him. What a great and lasting promise from the God of the Universe that He lives in us and will never leave us. We have no fear of ever being alone again. Praise the Lord for all that this promise implies.
When we pray we should remind God of His names that describes His everlasting Character and Nature toward us His children. When I think of all He is it blesses me with faith to approach Him based on His promises to us. That's what I've been thinking....
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