| The Golden Gate of Prayer |
Chapter 5 |
Page 3 |
What then is meant by the hallowing of God’s name? In what sense can we honor God? What is implied in this petition? It is a prayer that God himself shall hallow his name; also, that he would make its real glory appear before men, and that he would enable us to hallow it in our life. There are several ways in which we may do this.
We may add to the honor in which we hold God’s name in our own heart. Some persons live year after year and give little serious thought to the divine character, not studying the Scriptures to discover its glory and its beauty. The more we know about God the more will we revere and honor his name. Every new revealing of him shows us something more that is wonderful in him. In a Russian palace there is a gallery in which are hung several hundred portraits of young maidens. These pictures were painted by Count Rotari, for Catharine II. The striking feature in the collection is that those who were familiar with the empress and her habits and tastes could find in each portrait, half concealed, half revealed, something that reminded them of her. In one it was a jewel that she admired; in another, a flower that was dear to her; in another, some feature of her face; in another, a scene which had some connection or association with her life. The whole gallery was a glorifying of the empress.
Everything in this world has in it, for a devout mind, some suggestion of God. Every flower that blooms, every cloud that flits across the sky, every star that shines, every human face, suggests something about God, the Creator, reveals some feature of his power, his wisdom, his goodness. In the Bible there is not a chapter, scarcely a verse, in which the child of God may not find something which speaks to him of his Father. In every true Christian life and character, also, there are revealings of God, qualities in which something of him is reflected. As we thus learn about God, the honor in which we hold him in our heart becomes greater and greater. Every new glimpse of him makes him appear greater and more glorious to our thought and love.
This is a prayer that God would make himself known to us in new ways. “Show me thy glory,” was the prayer of Moses, as he pleaded for some visible manifestation. Our prayer here is not, however, for a theophany, but for deeper knowledge of God as our Father, for new experiences of his love, his goodness, his mercy, his faithfulness, for new revealings of his character. “They that know thy name shall put their thrust in thee,” was the testimony of a devout psalmist. The deeper cry of our heart should be to know God better, for then we shall love him more and serve him more devotedly.
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