📎 Presentation: Hallowed Be Thy Name
Source: View original Google Doc Converted: 2026-04-22
The Lord’s Prayer: The First Petition
After addressing God as “Our Father in heaven,” the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer is:
“Hallowed be Your name.” — Matthew 6:9
Before asking for bread, forgiveness, or deliverance from evil, we pray for the hallowing of God’s name. This is not an accident of ordering — it reveals what should be first in the Christian’s heart.
Greek Exegesis: ἁγιασθήτω (Hagiasthētō)
The word translated “hallowed” is the Greek ἁγιασθήτω (hagiasthētō):
- Root: ἅγιος (hagios) — holy, set apart, sacred
- Verb form: aorist passive imperative — “let it be made holy”
- The passive voice is significant: we do not make God’s name holy. God’s name is intrinsically holy. We pray that it would be treated as holy, acknowledged as holy, manifested as holy — in us, through us, and around us.
So the petition means: “Let Your name be recognized and honored as the holy thing it truly is.”
Why Is a Name So Important?
In Hebrew culture, a name is not merely a label — it is the revelation of character, identity, and authority.
- Adam named the animals, which meant he understood their nature and had authority over them
- When God changed a person’s name, He changed their identity: Abram → Abraham, Jacob → Israel, Simon → Peter
- To invoke someone’s name is to invoke their presence and power
God’s name is His self-disclosure — it is how He has chosen to reveal Himself to us. To “hallow” His name is to respond to His self-revelation with the reverence it deserves.
How God Has Revealed His Name
1. “I AM WHO I AM” — Exodus 3:14
“God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And he said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you.’” — Exodus 3:14
The divine name YHWH (from the Hebrew hayah — “to be”) is the most holy name in Judaism. It is the name of the One who simply is — uncaused, self-existent, eternal.
2. “The LORD of Hosts” — Isaiah 6:3
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” — Isaiah 6:3
The seraphim hallow God’s name in the heavenly liturgy. The thrice-holy (Trisagion) is the model for all human worship.
3. “My Name Will Be Great Among the Nations” — Malachi 1:11
“For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering.” — Malachi 1:11
The hallowing of God’s name is a global, eschatological project — it will be accomplished when all nations worship the one true God.
4. “Father, glorify Your name” — John 12:28
“Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” — John 12:28
Jesus Himself prays for the hallowing of the Father’s name. And the Father responds: it has been glorified and will be glorified again — through the Cross and Resurrection.
How Jesus Glorifies the Father’s Name
“I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world.” — John 17:6
“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.” — John 17:26
Jesus glorifies the Father’s name by:
- Revealing His character — “He who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9)
- Living in perfect obedience — “I always do the things that are pleasing to him” (John 8:29)
- The Cross — “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him” (John 13:31)
How We Hallow God’s Name
We hallow God’s name not primarily by saying the right words, but by living in a way that honors who God is:
“Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” — Matthew 5:16
We profane His name by:
- Living in ways that contradict the Gospel
- Bearing the name “Christian” while practicing cruelty, dishonesty, or lovelessness
We hallow His name by:
- Living visibly and joyfully as His children
- Treating others with the dignity that reflects the image of God in them
- Worshiping with reverence and understanding
- Praying, fasting, and giving — which Jesus assumes in Matthew 6
Patristic Commentary
“When we pray ‘Hallowed be Your name,’ we are not praying that God becomes holy — He is always holy. We are praying that we become holy, that His holiness may shine through us.” — St. Cyprian of Carthage
“To hallow the name of God is to contemplate His glory with reverence and to respond to that glory with a life worthy of the name we bear.” — St. Cyril of Jerusalem
“The name of God is hallowed when we who bear His name live in such a way that those around us see His light.” — St. John Chrysostom
Practical Steps
- Before you say God’s name — in prayer, in conversation, in teaching — pause. Remember that this is the name above every name (Phil 2:9).
- Examine how you bear the name “Christian.” Does your life hallow or profane it?
- Pray the Trisagion with attention: “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal — have mercy on us.” Let these words move from the lips to the heart.
- Ask yourself this week: In what one area of my life does God’s name need to be more hallowed by my actions?