Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. Matthew 6:9–13

The Lord’s Prayer is a wonderful gift; Jesus’ pattern for prayer. It is a deep mine of spiritual insight which a lifetime of use cannot exhaust. One golden vein in Jesus’ prayer is too lightly mined by too many: “hallowed be Thy name.” When I teach the Lord’s prayer, I find that this phrase is often misunderstood. Every time I teach it, I ask learners what “hallowed be thy name” means. Most Christians misunderstand the phrase as a statement: “Your name is holy.” It is not a statement. It is a petition. Not “holy is,” but “holy be;” not “your name is holy,” but “make your name to be honored as holy.”

In the centuries since William Tyndale first translated the Bible into English, the translation of the Lord’s Prayer has remained the same. As long as English speaking Christians have prayed in English, we have prayed, “hallowed be.” It’s a beautiful phrase, but difficult to understand for the modern English speaker. Even those who understand that “hallowing” has to do with holiness misunderstand the petition as a statement, and that misunderstanding has a significant effect on how we experience the structure and the meaning of the prayer.

The structure of the Lord’s prayer begins where prayer should; by addressing God. The opening words teach us to address God according to His Fatherhood (Our Father) and His heavenly glory (which art in heaven). After the introduction comes a series of three petitions in parallel; a petitional parallelism which is rudely interrupted by understanding the first petition (“hallowed be”) as a statement (“hallowed is”). The chart below illustrates the parallel structure: an imperative verb followed by something of God’s; His name, His kingdom, His will.

“Hallow Your name! Bring Your kingdom! Do Your will!” Understanding the first petition as a petition completes the triadic structural balance of the first half of the prayer; a three-shot salvo pleading that God would bring Heaven to Earth.

Of course it would be right to pray “holy is Thy name;” the Lord’s name is holy. “Holy and awesome is His name!” (Psalm 111:9, ESV) “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts.” (Isaiah 6:3, ESV) In praying “hallowed be,” we do not ask for God to become holier; that would be impossible. Instead, we ask that His name and His person would be worshiped and set apart as holy on Earth as He ought to be; that our holy God would be treated as holy in the hearts and on the lips of men.

In praying that God’s name would be hallowed, we pray that God Himself would be hallowed. Names signify so closely the named that to celebrate (or to denigrate) the name is to celebrate (or to denigrate) the named. When the students in my High School rearranged the Principal’s name to spell the name of a cartoon character on a bathroom wall, they weren’t just making fun of his name; they were insulting the man. Sinful men do not honor their Lord or regard His name as holy. The Lord’s name does not grace the lips of men in reverence as it should; instead most walk in ignorance and rebellion against Him. His name is regarded casually; scrawled with dishonor on the bathroom walls of sinful hearts. To pray “hallowed be Thy name” is to long that the Lord Himself would be hallowed on this wayward Earth.

As I pray the Lord’s prayer, my usual practice is to expand the application of the petitions beginning with myself outward. “Lord, hallow Your name in my heart and life today. Keep me from treating Your name and Your person casually. Teach me an adequate fear of You that may I cherish the knowledge of Your name and Your self as my greatest treasure.” The petition can then grow outward. “Lord, hallow Your name on the lips and in the hearts of my wife and child. Hallow your name in our Church, in the lives of my brothers and sisters.” The petition has powerful application in praying for the unconverted. “Father, hallow Your name in the hearts of _____ and _____. Convict and soften and melt and renew their hearts to reverence You and to hallow Your name as they ought.” The application can then expand exponentially outward. “Father, hallow Your name in all the Earth and to the end of the heavens. May every soul, every star, every atom in all creation sing Your praise and honor Your name.” We make this far reaching petition with the assurance that the Lord means to answer it. We pray with confidence knowing that one day, “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” (Habakkuk 2:14, ESV) Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Amen.