Our God, He is an Awesome God
Rightly Approaching the Lord in Prayer
Howdy!
In the Lord’s mercy as we come before Him in prayer it is important for us to remember who it is we are speaking to in that moment. Just as we would faint not to approach the queen of England with a slap on the back and a bro-hug we should never make our way to the throne of grace without humbling ourselves before the One who has made the Heavens and the Earth. That’s really what our Catechism lesson is about today. When Jesus is teaching the disciples about prayer He first uses the negative example of the arrogance of the Pharisees and then paints a picture of a person who does all things in secret and without public approbation. Why is this the case? It is because remembering the lesson of the first answer of the catechism: We are to Glorify God and Enjoy Him Forever is what enables us to successfully lift up our needs to the Lord. The Old Testament is littered with examples of men who seek out God and are dismissed from His presence and the reasons for it are always tied into how those individuals understand themselves in relation to Jehovah. While it is right and good to believe and confess that we can call Him our Father and we should not be in fear of Him in the sense of being afraid there must be a recognition of His authority and majesty which tempers our informality. Let’s look at the Q/A’s for this week:
Q. 101. What do we pray for in the first petition?
A. In the first petition (which is, Hallowed be thy name) we pray, that God would enable us and others to glorify him in all that whereby he makes himself known; and that he would dispose all things to his own glory.
Q. 102. What do we pray for in the second petition?
A. In the second petition (which is Thy kingdom come ) we pray, that Satan’s kingdom may be destroyed; and that the kingdom of grace may be advanced, ourselves and others brought into it, and kept in it; and that the kingdom of glory may be hastened.
Some folks at Bethany know I overuse the word Awesome. It’s almost my catchphrase, but when you look at that term and break it down you’ll notice that it starts with the utterance Awe. That is meant to draw us to almost have a physical reaction to it. As we would in the presence of a T-Rex, bow down and be impressed with its massive size so to do we in a sense of Awe react to the name of God, at least we should. Humility begins and ends with understanding once again that God is God and we are not, and because of our fallenness in Adam we should never presume to deserve to speak to Him. It is only by His grace and love through the mediatorial work of our great High Priest Jesus Christ that we are made able to communicate our needs to the Almighty.
The very name of God is what gives us hope and provides strength of trial. When troubled by the events of his day the prophet Daniel gives meat to the point when he shouts, “’Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.’”. (Dan. 2:20-21). His mighty hand is the cause of our thanksgiving to the LORD and it can’t help but move us to consider again our right to say those kinds of things. We are able because God is who He is. He is a God of His word and we have no reason to doubt His promise unto us through His Son Jesus Christ. Another Old Testament example comes to us from the Psalms, a repository of prayers of adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication. Here David writes:
But I am poor and sorrowful; let Your salvation, O God, set me up on high. I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bull, which has horns and hooves. The humble shall see this and be glad; and you who seek God, your hearts shall live. For the Lord hears the poor, and does not despise His prisoners. (Psalm 69:29-33).
There is something else of course that we should take from David’s frame when it comes to the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer. His modest testimony of his relative lack of worth is met with the rapturous truth of the salvation purchased by Christ, who is very God of very God. When we hallow the name of God we are testifying to His wonderful work of redeeming us out of a deserved death and a hell-bound destiny. It is this very thing that causes someone like the Apostle Paul to say what he says towards the end of the 11th chapter of Romans. There he notes, “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor? Or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to him? For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.” It is likewise why we approach Jehovah with an unpretentious air of love and mercy.
He is God.
Meditate on that for a moment. Take your time. Consider its weight. Let it marinate over your heart and soul. Then, go back and read the two catechism questions and come back down here. What has that exercise taught you? Hopefully, it has give you more depth of concern for your prayer life. Not only the reasons why we pray, but also why it is so damaging to our piety to ignore or waste the right to go to Him with all of our needs.
We get to talk with God. He hears us, knows us, and answers our prayers.
So wonderful, almost without words. Praise be to Him.
Here is another look at the matter:
https://www.reformation21.org/blog/the-lords-prayer-in-heaven
Blessings in Christ,
Rev. Benjamin Glaser
Pastor, Bethany ARP Church