Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be thy name. When I kneel to pray lately I stop myself from just barging in, and blurting, and bumbling over sacred ground, with prayers for myself and others. Nowadays, I am overwhelmed by the Hallowed be thy name part that is right up front in how Jesus taught us to pray.
I think of the times, I have gone boldly bungling into the throne of grace, not considering I was taking this mercy for granted, lacking respect , and proper honor to even his name. I am of the opinion that we don't hold the higher, most sacred, valuable things in highest esteem as we ought. We take a lot of things for granted, but the throne and person of the one Holy God should never be. I had not given it much thought before, but, have come to the realization that while I am an earthen vessel that the Holy Spirit of God resides in, it is only because of Jesus. A sin nature still makes itself at home, temptation still presses us to do wrong, almost unconsciously sin is conceived... only we are not unconscious.
If truth be known we like our sin. Even love our sin more than we love God. Use this as a plum line, "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous." 1 John 5:3 The bottom line for those who profess love for Jesus Christ as Savior.
Whether it is hatred, anger, jealousies, lust, stealing, substance dependence, illicit sex of all kinds, pornography, unclean imaginations, adultery, and murder are some of the heavy ones. But, there is the seemingly petty ones even the most devoted of Christians seem to accept such as judging, gossip, slander, defamation, plotting against someone...the list is long but all are forms of spiritual filthiness we like, accept, even love... more than we love God. --“Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why is your face
downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you
do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to
have you, but you must rule over it’-- (Genesis 4:6-7). --Why don't we try doing what's right?
We have the Holy Spirit that will help us.
We are accepted by a Holy God, covered by the blood of Jesus. But not only covered but in practiced communion of the broken body and shed blood of Jesus. When we go before the Father to speak to him in prayer how can we, who operate actively in UN-confessed, UN-repented sin, be so brash...brazen and so disrespectful? I can tell you how. It is because we have not perceived the Hallowed be thy name. The holiness of God.
When you get just a good glimpse of the Holy God,whose very name is hallowed, you will get an awareness of your un-confessed sin and you experience it coming forth like the darkness into His Light. Simple words will come with the tears, "I AM SORRY FOR MY SIN. (I believe he wants us to see the Hallowed be thy name and a true awareness of his Holiness...for our own sake.)
It is important that we realize what John Piper says so well in the following, and I quote : (*1) (How could David say to God—after sleeping with Uriah's wife and then killing him—"Against you and you only have I sinned." ? Sin, by definition in the Bible, is not wronging another person. It is assaulting the glory of God, rebelling against God. Sin, by definition, is a vertical phenomenon.)
2 Corinthians 7:1 (NKJV) Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
(*1)https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews Resource with John Piper Topic:
The Power & Effects of Sin (Page1,1st Paragraph)
