February 14-20: Praying with Jesus in Reverence

For most of these 40 days of prayer, we're going to use the Lord's Prayer as our guide. After all, that's what it really is, a model prayer. So we're going to break it apart starting this week with the first line "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name." Here's the full prayer that Jesus taught us:

Our Father in heaven, 
hallowed be your name. 
Your kingdom come, 
your will be done, 
on earth as it is in heaven. 
Give us this day our daily bread, 
and forgive us our debts, 
as we also have forgiven our debtors. 
And lead us not into temptation, 
but deliver us from evil. (Matthew 6:9-13)

(If you need help knowing how to use this prayer guide, see our brief overview to our 40 days of prayer that has some tips on praying.)

Sunday February 14

Since Lent is associated with fasting, sorrow, and death, and since Sundays are associated with feasting, joy, and resurrection, Sundays have never been counted as part of Lent. In keeping with that, even this guide won't give you an assignment on Sundays. Pray anyway! Pray in joy for the resurrection of Christ that guarantees our resurrection, and join us for worship. 10a every Sunday.

Monday February 15

Our Father in heaven, 
hallowed be your name. 

Jesus is praying that God's name would be "hallowed" or treated with reverence. Using normal-person-speak, we might phrase it as "Heavenly Father, you always amaze me" like Jon Foreman does in his song about this prayer (you can listen or watch here). In other words, Jesus is praying for God's glory to be recognized throughout the earth.

So pray with Jesus today. Pray that you'd recognize God's glory. Pray that you'd experience His goodness. Pray that your heart would be filled with awe and reverence at the thought of Him. Pray that your family would know Him as glorious. Pray for your neighbors and coworkers and this whole city, that everyone around us would worship Him.

Tuesday February 16

Our Father in heaven, 
hallowed be your name. 

One of the ways we can pray this kind of prayer along with Jesus is to pray with the other authors of the Bible. Paul, who wrote about half of the books of the New Testament, is the kind of guy who can set your soul and heart on fire for God, and he does that by bursting out in these random little exclamations in his letters praising God for His glory. Two of my favorites come from one of his letters to Timothy.

In 1 Timothy 1:17 he says:

To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. 

And in 1 Timothy 6:15-16 he continues shouting about God the Father's majesty:

He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

Today, pray through these exclamations of Paul over and over. Linger on the words and the phrases. Picture God's goodness. Picture Him in charge of all of the ages of history. Praise Him for being the only immortal God. Be awed by Him.

Wednesday February 17

Our Father in heaven, 
hallowed be your name. 

It wasn't just Paul who praised God in the New Testament. Jesus' half-brother Jude shares a glimpse into his worship too in Jude 24-25:

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Pray today in worship of God along with Jesus' half-brother. Pray that you'd recognize all glory that you encounter as deriving from Him. Pray in thanks for the future and permanent joy you're going to have when you're made completely pure and holy by Him. Pray in thanks for His provision and protection. Praise Him in wonder of the fact that His glory has always been and will continue throughout all ages.

Thursday February 18

Our Father in heaven, 
hallowed be your name. 

So far we've prayed with Paul and with Jude. Today we're going to pray with angels. When Jesus' best friend John was an old man exiled on an island, God gave him a vision where he saw amazing heavenly beings worshiping at His throne.

Here's one of my favorite scenes of worship in all of the Bible, from Revelation 4:8-11:

And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, 

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, 
who was and is and is to come!” 

And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, 
to receive glory and honor and power, 
for you created all things, 
and by your will they existed and were created.”

Pray with these angels. Praise God for being almighty, all-powerful, able to do all things. Pray in thanks that He always has been, continues to exist even now, and will always be. Tell Him of His worthiness, and devote all glory, honor, and power to Him. Pray in humble adoration of the One who owns all things because He created all things and because He continues to give them existence moment by moment.

Friday February 19

Our Father in heaven, 
hallowed be your name. 

In John 17:1-5, Jesus follows His own advice and prays for God's glory:

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed."

Let's pray with Him today. Pray for God to be seen as glorious because of Jesus. Pray for people to see God through Jesus. Pray for the glory that we see in Jesus point us to the same kind of glory in God the Father. Pray that this would be true for you as well as for everyone around you.

Saturday February 20

Our Father in heaven, 
hallowed be your name. 

We're going to end this week by praying for God's glory alongside people who lived thousands of years ago, centuries before Jesus walked the earth. Today, we're going to simply pray through Psalm 148:

Praise the LORD! 
Praise the LORD from the heavens; 
praise him in the heights! 
Praise him, all his angels; 
praise him, all his hosts! 
Praise him, sun and moon, 
praise him, all you shining stars! 
Praise him, you highest heavens, 
and you waters above the heavens! 
Let them praise the name of the LORD! 
For he commanded and they were created. 
And he established them forever and ever; 
he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away. 
Praise the LORD from the earth, 
you great sea creatures and all deeps, 
fire and hail, snow and mist, 
stormy wind fulfilling his word! 
Mountains and all hills, 
fruit trees and all cedars! 
Beasts and all livestock, 
creeping things and flying birds! 
Kings of the earth and all peoples, 
princes and all rulers of the earth! 
Young men and maidens together, 
old men and children! 
Let them praise the name of the LORD, 
for his name alone is exalted; 
his majesty is above earth and heaven. 
He has raised up a horn for his people, 
praise for all his saints, 
for the people of Israel who are near to him. 
Praise the LORD!