Hallowed Be Your Name - Darren Rowse
Have you ever used the word "hallowed" outside of saying the Lord's Prayer?
Probably not. It's not exactly conversation-starter material. You don't ask for a "hallowed long black" at the café, and you certainly don't tell your parents or roommates that dinner was "hallowed." It's one of those words that lives almost exclusively in one place—tucked into the fifth word of the prayer Jesus taught us—and then we breeze right past it without a second thought.
But what if this easily-skipped word is actually one of the most important things we could ever pray?
This week, Darren Rowse continued our series on the Lord's Prayer by unpacking just four words: "Hallowed be your name." After spending three weeks on the opening phrase "Our Father in heaven," we're now turning our attention to the first petitixon—the first thing Jesus teaches us to ask for when we pray. And as Darren explored this ancient, unfamiliar word, something remarkable emerged: this isn't just religious vocabulary. It's an urgent, bold, world-changing prayer that has the power to reshape not only how we see God, but how we live our entire lives.
You can watch or listen to the full sermon below.
What Does "Hallowed" Actually Mean?
Let's start with the word itself. Hallowed comes from the Greek word hagiazo, which means to set something apart, to treat it as sacred, to recognise that it's unlike anything else. In other parts of Scripture, the same word is translated as "sanctify." Darren even quoted scholar Daryl Johnson, who suggests we could translate this phrase as "your name be holified."
But when Jesus says "your name," he's not just talking about a label we use to get God's attention. In the biblical worldview, a name carries the full weight of someone's character, personality, and reputation. To know God's name is to know something essential about who God truly is.
So when we pray "hallowed be your name," we're not praying that God becomes more holy—he's already as holy as he can get. Instead, we're asking God to reveal himself, to make his character visible, to become undeniable in our lives and in our world.
"We're not reminding God that he's holy. We're not even paying him a compliment about his holiness. We're making a request, a desperate, urgent, bold request that he show himself."
Eugene Peterson captures this beautifully in The Message translation: "Reveal who you are."
The Boldness of This Prayer
It's worth pausing to recognise just how audacious this prayer is. In the Old Testament, people were actually afraid to see the face of God. But here, Jesus is teaching us to ask—with urgency—that God would make himself known.
The grammar backs this up. The word "hallowed" here is what's called an imperative verb—it's not just a polite observation, it's a claim, a plea, almost a command. Of course, we can't actually command God to do anything, but Jesus is telling us to pray this with urgency, with intensity.
At the same time, it's written in the passive voice, which softens it from a demand into a reverent pleading: Let it be done, God. Father, be known. Father, be seen. Make yourself visible. Make yourself undeniable.
And here's what's crucial: this is the first of six petitions in the Lord's Prayer. It comes before "your kingdom come," before "give us our daily bread," before "forgive us our sins." Jesus didn't accidentally put it first. He put it there because this is not how we usually pray.
Most of us come to God with our agenda first. We start with our problems, our needs, our circumstances. Jesus says those things matter—bring them to me—but start here. Start by asking God to reveal who he is.
Why? Because as Tim Keller puts it:
"When we rehearse the character of God in prayer, our problems don't disappear, but they cut down to size."
When you begin by asking God to reveal himself and you sit with that for a moment, your circumstances don't change, but their proportion does. What seemed enormous gets put into proper scale when you remember who you're talking to.
Our identity isn't the starting point in prayer. God's identity is. Our agenda isn't what we should lead with. God's agenda is.
The Question This Prayer Should Ask Us
God is the one who reveals himself. We can't manufacture that. But here's the thing: when we pray "hallowed be your name," we can't ignore the fact that we participate in either revealing or obscuring God's character by the way we live.
The things we do all day, every day—the way we speak, the way we treat people, the way we spend our money, the way we respond to injustice—these ordinary actions either make God visible or get in the way of people seeing who he truly is.
Darren introduced two Jewish concepts that help us understand this:
Kedush Hashem: sanctifying the name—living in a way that reveals God's character
Chalal Hashem: profaning the name—living in a way that distorts or obscures who God is
So here's the confronting question Darren asked:
What conclusions are the people in your life—your neighbours, your workmates, your family—drawing about God from watching the way you live?
Not just from your best or worst moments, but from the everyday texture of how you treat people, handle stress, keep your word, show generosity, speak about others when they're not in the room.
If we're going to pray "God, reveal yourself," we need to be willing to ask, "What am I revealing of God by the way I live?"
"To pray, God, reveal yourself on one hand, and then on the other hand, to live a life that obscures who God is, isn't authentic. It's actually hypocrisy."
Jesus: The One Who Fully Hallowed God's Name
If that feels uncomfortable—good. It should. The standard is high. In fact, there's only one person who has fully lived a life that hallowed God's name: Jesus.
From beginning to end, Jesus made the Father known. Everything he did revealed something of God's character:
He healed hundreds, showing God's heart for wholeness
He touched the untouchable—lepers, the bleeding woman—revealing God's compassion
He welcomed outcasts, showing that God's table is bigger than we think
He wept with the grieving, revealing God's heart for those in pain
He overturned tables in the temple, showing God's anger at injustice and greed
He forgave the guilty, making visible the Father's mercy
Daryl Johnson says:
"The one who teaches us to pray so boldly is himself the answer to the prayer. In Jesus, the Father's name is finally and fully hallowed."
But here's the extraordinary thing: Jesus doesn't just do this and leave. He invites us to participate.
"I am the light of the world," he says. And then: "You are the light of the world."
In Matthew 5:16, just a few verses before the Lord's Prayer, Jesus says:
"Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."
This is Jesus putting Kedush Hashem into his own words: the way my followers live should cause the world to think well of God.
When We Get It Wrong
Of course, Jesus also had a lot to say when he saw the opposite happening—when religious people professed one thing with their lips and lived another way. He always called out hypocrisy.
This tension between what we say and what we do runs throughout Scripture. In the book of Amos, the prophet addresses a deeply religious people who show up to worship regularly, go through all the motions—and yet God says, "I despise your worship."
Why? Because outside the sanctuary, they're trampling on the poor, exploiting the vulnerable, ignoring the afflicted. Their worship means nothing because their lives profane God's name. They make it look like God doesn't care about justice, like he can be worshipped on Sunday and ignored on Monday.
Paul picks up the same thread in Romans, calling out religious leaders who preach one thing and live another. He says it bluntly: "God is being blasphemed because of you." Not because of your words, but because of your lives.
Darren shared a story from New Zealand pastor Jeff New, who asked a non-Christian colleague a bold question: "What about my faith most appeals to you? And what most repels you?"
Her answer was striking. She said, "What appeals to me is that you're here, you're inclusive, you care for us. What repels me is your silence." She went on to explain that when injustice happened in the workplace, when someone was bullied or sidelined, she expected Jeff to speak up—and he didn't.
Jeff realised that it wasn't just his actions that could profane God's name. His inaction and silence could too.
"He was more worried about his reputation and by doing so, he was actually impacting the reputation of God through his inaction."
Closing the Gap
So the challenge for all of us is to think about how we can close the gap between what we say we believe and the way we actually live.
We have the opportunity to reveal who God is in the world we enter tomorrow—through our kindness, our generosity, our thoughtfulness, the way we respond to needs and injustices, the way we speak to and about people.
When we pray "hallowed be your name," we're not just asking God to reveal himself. We're inviting him to search us and draw us into the process of revealing his name.
One Way to Live It Out This Week
Here's something simple and practical you can do—whether you've been a Christian for decades or you're just exploring faith for the first time: Wake up tomorrow and pray "hallowed be your name." Set an alarm to remind yourself. Ask God: Will you reveal yourself today? Will you show me more of your character, what you care about, where your heart breaks? If you're a follower of Jesus, add a second step: at the end of each day, ask yourself, Where did I hallow God's name today? Where did I reveal him—and where did I obscure him? Don't ask to condemn yourself, but to notice. You can't change what you don't see.
A Prayer
Father in heaven, we want to ask boldly that your name would be hallowed. Make yourself known to us. Show us your character, your heart, your essence—as individuals and as a community. We pray you would reveal yourself in our world, a world that so desperately needs you. Help us to let our light shine in a way that others see you and glorify you. We confess that there are times our lives have obscured you rather than revealed you, where there's been a gap between what we've prayed and how we've lived. Forgive us. Transform us. Give us new hearts and new spirits. Make your character visible in our lives, so that the world who is watching might catch a glimpse of you. Hallowed be your name. Amen.
Personal Reflection
When you pray, do you tend to start with your own needs and circumstances, or with God's character and glory? What might shift if you began with "hallowed be your name"?
Think of someone in your life who doesn't share your faith. What conclusions might they be drawing about God from watching the way you live—not just in big moments, but in the everyday texture of your life?
Where have you experienced Jesus transforming you—changing something in your heart or character? How has that transformation revealed God's character to others?
Small Group Discussion
Read Matthew 6:9 together. What does the word "hallowed" mean, and why do you think Jesus teaches us to pray this first, before anything else?
Darren quoted Timothy Keller, "When we rehearse the character of God in prayer, our problems don't disappear, but they cut down to size." Have you experienced this? Share an example.
What does it mean that "God's name" refers to his character, not just a label? How does that change the way you understand this prayer?
Discuss the two Jewish concepts: Kedush Hashem (sanctifying the name) and Chalal Hashem (profaning the name). Can you think of examples from your own life or from the news of each?
Darren asked, "What conclusions are the people in your life drawing about God from watching how you live?" That's a confronting question. How does it make you feel? Is it fair?
Jesus both taught this prayer and lived it out perfectly. How did Jesus hallow the Father's name in the gospels? Pick a specific story or moment that stands out to you.
In Ezekiel 36, God responds to people who've profaned his name by saying, "I will transform you—and that will hallow my name." What does this tell us about God's heart toward us when we fall short?
What's one practical step you can take this week to participate in hallowing God's name? How can we pray for one another as we seek to live this out?