Live in Harmony With the Model Prayer Part I

"LET YOUR NAME BE SANCTIFIED" 

What a privilege it is for us not only to know God's personal name but also to bear it as  "a people for his name."  (Acts 15:14; Isaiah 43:10) We implore our heavenly Father:  "Let your name be sanctified."  Your making such a request may move you to ask Jehovah to help you avoid doing or saying anything that would dishonor his holy name.  We do not want to be like some in the first century who did not practice what they preached.  The apostle Paul wrote of them:  "The name of God is being blasphemed among the nations because of you." -Romans 2:21-24. 

We want to sanctify God's name. After the untimely death of her husband, a sister in Norway was left alone with a two-year-old son.  "It was a very difficult time in my life," she explains.   "I prayed every day, nearly ever hour, for strength to keep my emotional balance so that I would not  give Satan reason to taunt Jehovah because of any unwise decision or unfaithfulness on my part. I wanted to sanctify Jehovah's name, and I wanted my son to see his father again in Paradise." -Proverbs 27:11.  

Did Jehovah answer such unselfish prayers?  Yes. This sister received support from her regular association with caring fellow believers.  Five years later, she married an elder. Her son, now 20 years old, is a baptized brother.  "I am so happy," she says, "that my husband helped me to raise him."

 What is needed for God's name to be sanctified and cleared of all reproach?  For that to happen, Jehovah must act to remove all who willfully reject his sovereignty. (Read Ezekiel 38:22, 23.) Mankind will gradually be brought to perfection. How we long for the time when all intelligent creation will treat Jehovah's name as holy!  Then, at last, our loving heavenly Father will "be all things to everyone." -1 Corinthians 15:28. 

Next time: Live in Harmony With the Model Prayer Part I - "LET YOUR KINGDOM COME"

From the Watchtower magazine