This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed by Your Name… (Matthew 6:9 NIV)

When was the last time you used the word hallow or hallowed? Probably not recently—unless you were reciting the Lord’s Prayer. It’s not exactly one of those words commonly used in our everyday conversations.

The word ‘hallowed’ actually comes from an Old English word with German roots. It is translated ‘hallowed’ because that is the English word we have closest to the actual original word in German—holyed. I think the New Living Translation captures the meaning well: “May your name be kept holy”… because it already is.

In a day when God’s Name is often trivialized or taken in vain, grandparents are often in a significant place of influence to teach another generation why it is important to keep His Name holy. There may few, if any, other influences that are doing it.

It is no coincidence that our Lord’s instructions to the disciples about how to pray using what we call, the Lord’s Prayer, begins with a statement of respect and honor for our Heavenly Father’s Name. If our prayers are to begin with a declaration that His Name is holy and worthy of honor, is there not also contained in that declaration an assumption that in all of life we are to keep His Name holy, even when we’re not praying? How we use His Name will communicate to our grandchildren, and the world, that His holy Name is not to be dishonored, but to be revered.        

How do we help our grandchildren understand how holyed His Name really is? Here are a few suggestions:

1. Always honor His Name. The Third Commandment is clear: “You shall not take the name of your Lord God in vain… (Ex. 20:7)”. Teach and model for your grandchildren that ‘God’, ‘Jesus’, and ‘Christ’ are holy names, not to be carelessly thrown around via cursing, jokes or dishonoring conversations.
2. Keep your promises. Unkept promises dishonor the name of God because God keeps all His promises–always. As a child made in the image of God, you display His glory when you do the same, and you dishonor Him when you do not.
3. Watch what you watch! Television, movies and online sites like YouTube are so filled with defamatory and dishonoring language toward God, that most of our society has become numbed by it. Keeping His name holy may mean turning off the TV or iPad. It requires courage and intentionality to keep ourselves and our grandchildren from such numbing exposures in the media. It’s why God says over and over in Scripture, “Watch yourselves closely.”
4. Make God (Christ) look awesome and great in their eyes. When you pray over them, when you bless them in the Father’s Name, when you tell your stories of God’s goodness and greatness in your life, and when you demonstrate your love for those around you, including those not like you, in His Name, you show that Name to be holy… and that makes Him look great. It also means asking God to expose things you do or say that don’t make Him look great.

The apostle Peter said it this way: Just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy’ (I Peter 1:15-16) Make sure that you hallow God’s name today, in word and in deed… in all you do, so your grandchildren will know how to honor His holyed Name too.

Grandpause: What I believe about God is the most important thing about me.  – A. W. Tozer