by R.C. Sproul

Who Art in Heaven
Another debate raging at the time Jesus delivered these words was over the precise location of God's presence. In the discussion between Jesus and the woman at the well, Jesus was quick to point out that God is spirit, and as such could not be pinpointed to one particular place. He was neither at Mt. Gerizim, as she thought, nor in Jerusalem, as some of the Jews believed.

To be sure, God is omnipresent. There are no finite restrictions to his divine presence, yet Christ spoke of the Father's being in heaven. Why? Christ was speaking about God's transcendence. Since God is not part of this worldly process, he is not part of nature. He cannot be confined to a locality. The God whom we address is the God who is above and beyond the finite limits of the world.

The opening line of the Lord's Prayer presents a dynamic tension for us. Although we are to come before the Lord in an attitude of intimacy, there is still an element of separation. We can come to God and call him Father, but this filial relationship does not allow us to have the type of familiarity that breeds contempt. We are to come with boldness, yes, but never with arrogance or presumption. The "Our Father" speaks of the nearness of God, but the "who art in heaven" points to his otherness, his being set apart. The point is this: When we pray, we must remember who we are and whom we are addressing.

Hallowed Be Thy Name
No matter how close God invites us to come, there is still an infinite gulf between our sinfulness and his majesty. He is the heavenly one; we are of the earth. He is perfect; we are imperfect. He is infinite; we are finite. He is holy; we are unholy. We must never forget that God is wholly "Other" than we.

The sacred "otherness" of God is a fact the sons of Aaron forgot, but they forgot it only once. In Leviticus 10:1-3 we read:

Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer, and put fire in it, and laid incense on it, and offered unholy fire before the LORD, such as he had not commanded them. And fire came forth from the presence of the LORD and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. Then Moses said to Aaron, "This is what the LORD has said, 'I will show myself holy among those who are near me, and before all the people I will be glorified.' "

God demands to be treated as holy, for he is holy. He is jealous for his honor. He does not plead for respect in this passage. Rather, it is a statement of fact: "I will be treated as holy." We must never make the fatal mistake of Nadab and Abihu and approach the sovereign God in a flippantly casual attitude.

Looking at the first petition of the Lord's Prayer, we can see that this is the first priority of which Jesus speaks. His initial request is that the name of God be hallowed. It is the Greek word hagios, which is literally translated "holy." The top priority for the Christian is to see that God's name be kept holy, for it is holy. If that were the only prayer request the Christian community ever made and they made it earnestly and regularly, I suspect the revival we pray for and the reformation we so earnestly desire would be accomplished in no time. Everything -- our work, our ministry, and all aspects of our daily lives -- would be affected.

In the Old Testament the stated purpose for Israel's election and for their religious and dietary laws and ceremonies was to establish them as a holy nation, set apart from the commonplace cultures of antiquity. Was it for their honor? No, it was for God's honor. God's honor must become the obsession of the Christian community today. Honor must go not to our organizations, our denominations, our individual modes of worship, or even our particular churches, but to God alone.

Consider the words given in Ezekiel 36:22: "Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came." What a shift. The nation chosen to have the matchless privilege of showing forth the greatness of God had instead chosen to profane his name publicly. God had to rebuke them for their treason. In the final analysis, our names, our organizations, and our efforts are all meaningless unless we honor God's name.

Today a frightening lack of fear of God prevails in our land. Martin Luther once remarked that those around him spoke to God "as if he were a shoe clerk's apprentice." If that was true in Martin Luther's day, how much more so today? And yet, the top priority that Jesus establishes is that the name of God be hallowed, honored, and exalted.

God's name is an expression of himself. We are the image-bearers of God. Where God is not respected, it is inevitable that his image-bearers will also suffer a loss of respect.

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This is part four of R.C. Sproul's small book Does Prayer Change Things?. Over the coming weeks we will be posting the complete text of this short but profound and practical book right here at the Ligonier Ministries blog. We have already posted Chapter 1.