Pray Like This: ‘Hallowed Be Your Name’

Main points

What Prayer Is

Prayer is intentionally conveying a message to God. John Piper shows this includes asking for things (Matthew 7:7), praising him (Psalm 145:2), thanking him for his gifts, confessing your sins (Psalm 32:5), and even complaining to him with your troubles (Psalm 142:1) while guarding against a grumbling heart (Philippians 2:14).

Where and With Whom to Pray

You are called to pray privately in your inner room (Matthew 6:6), with your family as fellow heirs of grace (1 Peter 3:7), with two or three gathered believers, in corporate worship services, and everywhere by leaving the line open to God all day like never hanging up the phone.

Why We Pray

We pray because Scripture commands it many times (1 Thessalonians 5:17, Luke 18:1), because asking in Jesus' name fills our joy (John 16:24), because it is a staggering privilege that causes events to happen which would not occur otherwise (James 4:2), and because it glorifies the Father and the Son (John 14:13).

The Unifying Focus of Prayer

All your praying finds unity and depth when it centers on the first request of the Lord's Prayer. John Piper explains that asking God to hallow his name means pleading for his name to be treasured above all else in every heart and situation.

Key passages

Matthew 6:5–18

This is the main text that corrects hypocritical prayer and sets the priority on praying for God's name to be hallowed.

Romans 8:26

The Spirit helps us when we do not know how to pray as we ought, showing that prayer can include wordless groanings with meaning.

Matthew 6:6

Jesus commands private prayer in your room away from others so your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

1 Peter 3:7