God rules. On your toes, everybody!  He rules from his angel throne—take notice!
Honor God, our God; worship his rule!  Holy. Yes, holy.

Psalm 99:1, 5, MSG

When was the last time you sat outside and looked up in awe at the night sky?  Or stopped to smell the roses?  Or watched the sunrise or sunset?  When was the last time you paused to appreciate the majesty and wonder of God?  I know I miss those things a lot, those little moments of wonder that fly right by as I rush through my day.  But, what would it look like if we took time to give God praise for all those moments, big and little?

In our walk through the Lord’s Prayer our next phrase can be a difficult one to understand, it is a word that is not in our common everyday vernacular… Hallowed be Your name.  Hallowed is an adjective that means holy, sacred, or greatly revered. It describes something that is honored, set apart, and treated with deep respect.  Another way to say it… Holy are You, God!  Jesus is reminding us to whom we pray and the significance of God’s name. 

When I was younger I learned a way of praying, known as A.C.T.S.  (Adoration. Confession. Thanksgiving. Supplication.)  It was a formula for how to pray which emphasized all the things that should come before asking God for things.  It was a great tool for me, a way to structure my prayer and keep my focus on the greatness of God.  Little did I know then how similar this idea is to the framework Jesus gives us in the Lord’s prayer.

Holy is Your Name…Our prayers begin by pausing and praising God.  Taking a moment to experience the awe and wonder of who God is and what God has done for us.  Adoration is the act of showing profound, devoted love, reverence, or worship toward someone or something.  May your eyes be open to the awesomeness of God that surrounds us and fills us with words of adoration.

Blessings,
Pastor Jenni

Our Prayer Experiment: Daily pray the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13). 
Speak it out loud, slowly, deliberately and from the heart.

This week’s Prayer Experiment:  Focus your prayers on this phrase: “Holy is Your name.”  Reflect: What does it mean to you that God is Holy, full of awe and wonder?  How can seeing God through eyes of wonder change your perspective?  Practice: As you go about your day, take notice of five things of wonder.  At the end of the day give God praise for each of those wonder filled things.