A Little of Eternity

Why does Jesus insist that our first consideration in prayer should be the honor of God’s Name? Is this a device (as some have suggested) to appeal to the vanity and egotism of the Almighty? Can it be that our loving heavenly Father wants us to give Him what He wants (admiration and praise) before He gives us what we want?

No, of course not! God encourages us to focus on Himself because He knows that in contemplating Him, we complete ourselves and bring all parts of our personality to health. To admire, appreciate, respect, and venerate the character of God is to awaken ourselves to reality. Not to do so is to deprive ourselves and bring about a depletion of spiritual power. We are designed for the worship and contemplation of God, and when, therefore, we stand before Him and gaze at His majesty and glory, the machinery of our inner being whirs into activity, and our characters take on the features of His character.

God, therefore, has our interests at heart more than His own when He asks us to venerate Him. We “hallow” His Name, and our own name (our character) is hallowed. We gaze at His character, and our own character is made better for the gazing. A shop assistant put it this way: “I just go quiet and empty into His presence, gaze at His glory and loveliness, and give myself time for His disposition to get through to mine.”

Yes, that’s the secret. Give God a little of your time, and He will give you a little of eternity.

Further Study

2Pt 1; Rm 8:29; Php 3:21; 1Jn 3:2

How do we become partakers of the divine nature?

List some of these characteristics.