How to Hallow God’s Name — from Matthew 6:9-13

Posted on November 30, 2022 by Stephen Nielsen

First of all we should discuss why we should hallow His name? There are several reasons to hallow His name. Two reasons stand out to me. First, the most obvious reason is because He deserves it. He is God and He is holy; therefore we ought to treat Him as holy. He is the one that is high and lifted up. Hence we ought to cry out daily (in our mind or even verbally) as the angels do, saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory” (Is. 6:1-3).

A second reason to treat God as holy is so that others around us will treat Him as holy, and likewise, believe and obey Him. For when we show God (or anyone) respect, others who observe us will tend to follow our example (Heb. 13:7). But when we disrespect God…

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Hallowed Be Your Name – What It Means To Hallow God’s Name

Posted on November 23, 2022 by Stephen Nielsen

Prayer A to Z

This first petition in the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) is designed to bring us further into the presence of God, but with the aim that God would be glorified. Hence, when we pray “Hallowed be Your name,” we are in fact praying as such: “Lord, let Your name be hallowed in me so that I will experience who You are and give You praise; and let Your name be hallowed in my friends so that they also can know You and praise You.” Therefore, though we are asking God to show Himself to us in all His glory, and though we are seeking to ascend further into the heavenlies to experience the awesomeness of God, the aim is not to get our personal needs met, rather it is that God would be lifted up and glorified. Hence, in this first petition, Jesus is teaching us that we should start our…

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Complete Holiness

Posted on July 8, 2022 by Stephen Nielsen

Prayer A to Z

The nature of holiness is that it is not satisfied to be in just one area. It wants to penetrate into all areas; it wants to purify the whole; as light it wants to brighten every corner and crack. In this study of personal holiness, I want to discuss every possible area of holiness in our lives—complete holiness. As I see it, there are generally two areas of personal holiness: outer holiness, or holiness in the body, and inner holiness, or holiness in the mind and the spirit.

HOLINESS IN MIND AND SPIRIT

These areas of our inner being must be considered of primary importance when it comes to holiness; for without holiness in these areas, the outer body will neither be holy.

The mind.The mind is that place from where we think and reason and imagine. And though we believe that these things originate in the brain…

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7 Things to Practice for Holiness

Posted on June 28, 2022 by Stephen Nielsen

Prayer A to Z

1. Practice consecration with prayer. Consecration is the act of giving ourselves completely to God through prayer for His will and service, recognizing that our life and all that we have is His. E.M. Bounds has said: “Prayer enters into every phase of a consecrated life…Consecration is really the setting apart of one’s self to a life of prayer.”

And how does all this affect holiness? If affects it directly and in every aspect. We cannot be holy without it. Why? Because consecration is that which prepares the heart for holiness. It is the act of giving ourselves to God by bringing our desires in line with His, thus by making our attitude right before him. Moreover, by consecration we both prepare ourselves for holiness and we enter into that holy life. A holy life in every phase is a life of consecration with prayer.

2. Practice…

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God Has Gifted Every Christian for Holiness

Posted on June 21, 2022 by Stephen Nielsen

Prayer A to Z

Sinceit is God’s will for every Christian to be holy, He has given us the following gifts as necessary resources for holiness.

Jesus Christ

When you were saved you received Jesus as a gift (Jn. 1:12). In Him you were justified and made righteous—absolutely holy. “For He [God] made Him [Christ] who knew not sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). Hence, His righteousness is credited to us. That means that positionally, we are eternally righteous and holy before God; we were made holy forever in Christ.

Now, though we are holy and sinless in our position or standing before God, practically we are not sinless and holy. In fact, though we have a new nature and desire not to sin, we still have our old sinful flesh; and so we find that…

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Six Reasons to Be Holy

Posted on June 18, 2022 by Stephen Nielsen

Prayer A to Z

Not everyone desires holiness. But just in case you do, just in case God has put it on your heart to be like Him, I think you will find these point helpful. Here are six reasons to be holy.

1. To be like God. God created man and woman in His own image, according to His likeness (Gen. 1:26). This of course included His holiness. God wanted all mankind to be holy like Himself.

After the fall of man sin marred that image. But God’s purpose for us did not change. He has always wanted us to be holy like Him, even in a sinful world (Gen. 2:14, 15). In fact, throughout the Old Testament He commanded His people to be holy, saying to them, “Be holy because I, The Lord Your God, am holy” (Lev. 19:2, NIV).

And we can be holy! God has provided a way for us…

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The Meaning of Holiness

Posted on June 15, 2022 by Stephen Nielsen

Prayer A to Z

I think we have a good definition of holiness in Psalms 15:1-2. Here David asks, “Lord, who may dwell in Your sanctuary? Who may live on Your holy hill? Then he answers himself: “He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous” (NIV). Hence holiness is two things: being blameless, or not doing what is wrong; and it is also doing what is right.

We have this same definition in Job 1:1. Here we read, “In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; “he feared God and shunned evil” (NIV). Thus, those who are holy fear God—have a reverent respect for God and seek to obey Him in everything. They also endeavor to conform to His holy character, which would include shunning or hating sin

In the simplest terms, holiness is living “without sin.” That is what…

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