Jesus teaches us three big picture requests that radically change our outlook: (1) hallowed be your name; (2) your kingdom come; and (3) your will be done. This sermon is part 4 in "Messiah's Reward," Bryan Craddock's expository preaching series on Matthew 6 & 7.
Do you ever think of life as a rat race? It can feel like we’re running through a maze frantically looking for the next piece of cheese to keep us going. We try to look ahead to something better, but we just encounter one dead end after another. Immediate concerns crowd out other thoughts until we fall into bed exhausted at the end of the day. Then we get up and do it all over again.
Living that way is soul crushing. If you pray at all, it’s seldom more than a desperate cry for help with your latest crisis. If things don’t improve, then you wonder, “What’s the point? Why bother?” Seeking God may seem like a waste of time when you have so many other things to do, but he did not create us to live like rats in a maze.
God made us in his image (Gen 1:26). So, in Psalm 8:3-6, David speaks to the Lord and says,
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet.
Crowned with glory and honor? Is that how we live? I’m afraid not. As Paul says in Romans 3:23, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We have all done dishonorable things that turn our world into a rat race. But Jesus left the glory of heaven to seek and save those who are lost in this maze. He offers us a way out. Through his life, death, and resurrection, he promises redemption and hope to all who trust in him.
So, as we wait for Jesus to return, he wants us to pray. In his Sermon on the Mount, he says that it’s not about putting on a religious show to impress people or about unlocking access to some mystical power. We pray to draw near to our heavenly Father and to express our faith in him as we persevere through good times and bad. Jesus even said that God rewards that kind of prayer.
As we continue now in Matthew 6:9-15, he shares a model prayer for us to follow. We often call it, “The Lord’s Prayer,” and many people recite it verbatim. There’s nothing wrong with that, if we do it in a meaningful way. But it’s better to think of it as a guide and an outline. We need to understand it and let it shape all our prayers.
In the first part in verses 9-10, Jesus teaches us three big picture requests that radically change our outlook. He lifts us out of the maze to see where we are headed and how we get there. Rather than expressing our felt needs, these requests reveal what God wants. They express his plan and priorities. So, as we sincerely pray this way, our hearts are brought into alignment with his. But we also come to see that these requests are the ultimate answer to all our deepest needs and wants.
You have probably heard these words countless times, but do you understand them? Matthew 6:9-10 tells us that Jesus said,
Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Hallowed Be Your Name
People’s behavior changes when they first walk into a magnificent church building. Their voices go silent. Their movements slow. Their eyes widen. They are overcome by a sense of awe, and they feel compelled to respond with respect.
Great wealth is required to build such places, and some people justify the cost by saying that it gives people a sense of God’s holiness. But I cannot help but wonder if it has the opposite effect. It trains people to associate God with a building. When they leave, it feels as if they are leaving God behind. So, the awe wears off, and they return to their old way of life unchanged.
Now this problem is not limited to churches. It also happened with the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. The Old Testament Prophets confronted it (e.g., Jer 7:1-4), and Jesus did too. God deserves to be treated with respect and awe by everyone everywhere all the time. So, Matthew 6:9 tells us that Jesus told his followers,
Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
We seldom use the word “hallow” anymore. So, you might assume that “hallowed be your name” is just a fancy old expression to butter God up before you ask for what you want. But “hallowed be your name” is actually a request that people would treat God as holy. But what does that mean, why is it important, and how does it come about?
The word “holy” means different, special, set apart. So, in the truest sense God alone is holy. He is the Creator. He stands apart from everything else that exists, because it is all his creation. Moses spoke of God this way after he parted the Red Sea during the exodus from Egypt. The Egyptians worshiped several deities, but in Exodus 15:11, Moses says,
Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
Since God is holy, anything or anyone connected with him must reflect his holiness. When he rested on the seventh day of creation, that day became holy (Gen 2:3). When he appeared to Moses in the burning bush, the ground around it became holy (Exo 3:5). When he rescued the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt, he called them to reflect his holiness in how they lived. That is why he gave them his commandments. In Leviticus 20:26, he said,
You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.
The holiness of God must be reflected in the obedience of his people. Peter repeats this idea for Christians in 1 Peter 1:15. But when we fail to obey him, it profanes his name. It suggests that he is not special or worthy of respect and devotion. It offends his holiness and merits his judgment, and that makes his holiness frightening. How can anyone ever measure up to its demands?
We all fall short, but in Matthew 6:9, Jesus teaches us to address our prayer for people to be holy to, “Our Father in heaven.” How is it possible for unholy sinners like us to call a holy God, “Our Father”? Jesus came so that we could be born again as children of God. John 1:12-13 says,
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
We receive new life in Christ. He brings us into this relationship with the Father. His death on the cross cleanses us from our sins. He clothes us in his perfect righteousness. He redeems us from bondage to sin and sanctifies us, setting us apart to God. In 1 Corinthians 1:30, Paul speaks of God and says,
And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
In one sense, everyone who believes is already holy and righteous in God’s eyes because of Christ. At the same time, he also calls us to grow in the practice of righteousness and holiness in daily life as we seek to obey his Word. So, when we pray, “Hallowed be your name,” we start with ourselves. I need God’s help to reflect his holiness. I need his Spirit to correct me when I go astray and to strengthen my resolve to think, say, and do what is right.
When we pray, “Hallowed be your name,” we pray for ourselves and then for others--our family, our church, other believers, our unbelieving neighbors, our country, and our entire world. Why? Because God deserves to be treated as holy by everyone everywhere all the time. That is what we’re made for! So, Psalm 96 calls the whole world to sing his praise. Verse 9 says,
Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!
That psalm serves as an example for us. It’s not enough to pray for others, we must also reach out to them, declaring the glory of God. We must tell them about his holiness, our sinfulness, and his gracious gift of salvation in Christ. God has chosen to work through all of us as his messengers to proclaim the good news of Christ that transforms people’s lives. At times it seems like an impossible task, but God assures us that he will ultimately bring it about. Revelation 15:4 says,
Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.
If we know that this hallowing of God’s name is going to happen, then why do we need to pray for it? We pray, “Hallowed be your name,” to bring our hearts into alignment with who the Lord is and what he is doing. That’s the outlook we need, and it leads us to a second request.
Your Kingdom Come
When I was young, my only knowledge of Jesus came from what I heard in Christmas carols. I loved listening to them every year. They said that at his birth there were angels singing, shepherds with their sheep, three kings following a star, and a little drummer boy. But the night was somehow still silent and holy. They all came to adore him as the king of Israel, and he was supposed to bring joy to the world.
As much as I loved those songs, the holidays brought out the worst in my family. So, I was desperate to find some of that joy. But I didn’t see it anywhere in my world, and I could not figure out how the story in those carols had anything to do with me. I’m not from Israel. Plus, school gave me the impression that kings are always bad, and only democracy is good.
When I was in high school, my best friend invited me to his youth group, and on the first night that I was there the pastor talked about joy. I still didn’t understand, but my interest was piqued. So, I kept going. Over the course of a few months, God helped me understand that Jesus died for my sins, so that I can have a relationship with him. He led me to place my faith in Jesus, but I still didn’t understand all the talk about a kingdom, particularly when it’s mentioned in the Lord’s Prayer. In the first part of Matthew 6:10, Jesus gave his followers a second request in his model prayer. He told them to pray,
Your kingdom come…
You may feel a similar sense of confusion. What is the kingdom of God? Why does it matter? What does it have to do with me? To answer those questions, we need to track the storyline that runs throughout the Bible from beginning to end. We start with the creation of man in Genesis 1:26, where it says,
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
God made Adam and Eve in his image so that they could exercise dominion on his behalf over his good and perfect creation. They were granted the incredible privilege and responsibility of ruling paradise. As far as we know, God only gave them one restriction. They must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But when the serpent tempted them, they chose to ignore God’s rule.
That’s when humanity’s rebellion against God began, and there were terrible consequences. Their relationship with God was broken. They experienced guilt and fear. They were driven out of Eden. Sickness, pain, and death became part of human existence. Plants and animals were affected too, so that life became hard.
But God did not abandon his kingdom plan. He chose to build a kingdom within our fallen world through Abraham and Sarah. Over time their descendants became the nation of Israel. After God rescued them from slavery in Egypt, Exodus 19:5-6 tell us that he said,
Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel."
They were to be a model kingdom to lead other nations to the one true God. He gave them his Law to guide them. In time, he gave them David and his descendants as their kings. But the people kept failing to obey God. So, he sent them prophets to confront their sin and to show them the big picture of his plan. Isaiah 9:6-7 foretells the coming of a perfect king. It says,
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
That prophecy leads us to the birth of Jesus over 700 years later. He is the promised king that will bring the justice and peace that we long for. But something else had to happen before that prophecy could be fulfilled. People needed to be saved from their sins. Without that no one could enter that perfect kingdom. In 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Paul explains,
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
When we believe in Jesus, we receive this salvation and become citizens of his kingdom. The church exists to proclaim this good news to all nations. So, in a spiritual sense the kingdom is spreading and growing. But Jesus said that one day he will return in power and glory to judge the earth and to lead his followers into his kingdom.
The Book of Revelation says that his return will be preceded by cataclysmic events and great spiritual opposition. But ultimately, Christ will rule and paradise will be restored. Revelation 22:3-5 tells us,
No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
There is no doubt that God’s kingdom will come. So, why should we pray for it? The coming of the kingdom is the answer to the first request. God’s name will finally be hallowed by everyone when his kingdom comes. We will all join in worshiping him.
When we pray this way, we also remind ourselves that this kingdom is what we really need. Anything less will not satisfy the longing in our souls for beauty, peace, joy, and love. So, praying for the kingdom gives us strength to persevere with the hope of this glorious future. We are also reminded to pray that everyone we know would prepare for its coming by placing their faith in Christ. Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, and there is one more request.
Your Will Be Done
Have you ever watched a foreign film overdubbed with English dialogue? What you hear doesn't quite fit with what you see. The more different the language is, the more out of sync it seems. It can be hilarious. You can sort of follow the plot, but you don't know whether the translation is accurate. Even though the video is the same, the audio might be telling a very different story.
We have a similar problem with life in our fallen world. It's out of sync with God’s story, and it's not funny at all. People ignore him to make up their own plot, and the consequences are devastating. Peace is shattered by conflict and suffering. Evil seems to be taking over. So, in the second half of Matthew 6:10, Jesus tells his followers to pray to our heavenly Father and say,
…your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
The Bible speaks of God’s will in two different ways. In this request, Jesus refers to God’s will as it is expressed in his commands. For instance, in the garden of Eden, God revealed his will to Adam. God said that he must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but Adam and Eve disobeyed. So, with that choice, human beings and our entire world departed from God’s revealed will.
Earth was set on a different track from heaven, but God did not give up. He revealed his Law through Moses. When people did not listen, he sent prophets to call people to repent, turning aside from their own storyline to start obeying his will. John the Baptist and Jesus brought the same message. Mark 1:14-15 tells us,
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."
There’s no point in praying “your will be done,” until we repent and start doing his will. That decision is what prepares us for his coming kingdom. It is the starting point for treating his name as holy. Thankfully, no matter how far astray we’ve gone, the good news is that God graciously welcomes us back. He sent his Son to pay the penalty for our sins. He also gives us his Spirit to help us continue our repentance so that we grow in doing his will.
Part of doing God’s will, then, is praying for his will to be done. We should pray for everyone who is going their own way to come to repentance and faith. We should also pray for ourselves and for other believers to grow in understanding and doing God’s will. Paul prays this way in Colossians 1:9-10. He says,
And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
In this sense, God’s will is not secret. There is no mystery. He has revealed it in his Word, and we need to pray for ourselves and others to understand and obey it. But as I mentioned, the Bible also speaks of God’s will in a second way. We could call it his sovereign will. Paul uses the term this way in Ephesians 1:11-12 when he says,
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.
Going back to our analogy of overdubbed films, we could say that even though the audio track is different from the original, it’s still God’s movie. Even though people depart from his revealed will, he is still in control directing the story according to his sovereign will. In this sense, everything that happens is according to his will.
He did not lose control when Adam and Eve sinned. Their rebellious choice served his purpose. He allowed them to be tempted, to disobey, and to experience the consequences. But why would he do that?
Go back to the beginning of the Lord’s Prayer. He wants us to treat his name as holy. He did not create us as robots. He allows us to make real choices. That ability can put us at odds with him. But when we experience his grace in repentance, we end up praising him and hallowing his name in a way that we would not have otherwise done.
We also discover, as Paul says here, that we were predestined according to his purpose. When you repent, it seems as if it is entirely your own doing. But in hindsight with insight from Scripture, you realize that it was always God’s doing. He prepares our hearts. He brings people across our path to tell us the gospel. He opens our eyes to the truth and leads us to repentance and faith. He causes our growth and then works through us to carry on the same process in others. We would never do his revealed will apart from his gracious sovereign will.
So, if God works all things according to his sovereign will, how does that affect our prayers? Sometimes we pray for something that lines up with his revealed will. Our request is consistent with his character, purpose, and promises. We might ask for provision, protection, healing, or the salvation of someone we love. We say, “Your will be done,” but it does not seem to happen. In those moments, we must trust the wisdom and goodness of his sovereign will by saying, “Your will be done” as an expression of humble acceptance.
Jesus also modeled that kind of prayer for us. It was not during his Sermon on the Mount but during his time in the garden of Gethsemane on the night before he was crucified. Matthew 26:39 tells us,
And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will."
When he spoke of the cup, he was referring to all that he would suffer on the way to the cross. Though the leaders of Israel knew God’s revealed will, they contradicted it by rejecting their king, abusing him, mocking him, and unjustly seeking his execution. But Jesus knew that God was sovereignly bringing about this suffering to provide the way of salvation. So, he humbly submitted to the will of God.
Aren’t you grateful for his choice? Without it, no one would be saved. The kingdom would be empty, and no one would survive to celebrate God’s holy name. Are you willing to follow his example? Pray for his revealed will to be done. If it does not seem to happen, trust that his sovereign will is unfolding and will ultimately triumph. Nothing will derail God’s story.
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There is more to the Lord’s Prayer. We will return to it next time. For now, I encourage you to consider whether your outlook has been shaped by praying these three big picture requests to our Father in heaven. Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done.
If you have never done so, the first step is to become a child of God. Turn from going your own way and ask the Lord to give you new life. Place your faith in Jesus who died and rose again to give us eternal life and citizenship in his coming kingdom. If you want to learn more about the ideas that we have considered today, the tenth chapter in the New Testament letter to the Hebrews would be a great place to read.
If you’re already a child of God, do you need to change how you pray? Do you only talk to God about urgent crises? If so, you need to lift up these big picture requests. Let them change your outlook. Pray for his name to be hallowed, his kingdom to come, and his will to be done. Let these requests shape your prayers for yourself, for others, and for our world. Then go out and declare his glory, invite people into his kingdom, and make his will known by sharing the gospel.
May God work through our prayers!
Reflect
How have you used the Lord’s prayer in the past?
What stood out to you about these three requests from this study?
What do you need to change about how you pray?