What Does 'Hallowed Be Thy Name' Mean?

“Hallowed be thy name” is the first petition Jesus teaches, and it comes first for a reason: before we ask God for anything for ourselves, we ask that he be honored. But the wording puzzles people—if God’s name is already perfectly holy, why pray that it be “hallowed” (made holy)? Luther answers with beautiful directness: “God’s name is certainly holy in itself, but we pray in this petition that it may be kept holy among us also.”

So the petition is not asking God to become more holy—he cannot. It is asking that his holy name be honored, revered, and rightly used in the world and in our own lives. God’s name is dishonored constantly—through false teaching, careless speech, and lives that contradict the faith they claim. This petition asks that this stop, and that instead his name be treated as the holy thing it is.

And here is the part that turns the petition toward us and makes it searching. Luther explains how God’s name is hallowed among us: “when the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity, and we, as the children of God, also lead holy lives according to it.” In other words, God’s name is kept holy by two things—sound doctrine (his Word taught truly) and holy living (our lives matching our confession). The opposite is chilling: “anyone who teaches or lives contrary to God’s Word profanes the name of God among us.” So to pray this petition sincerely is to ask that the truth be preached and that our own lives not make a mockery of the God we name.

This is why the prayer starts here. It reorders the heart. We are naturally inclined to put our own needs first and God’s honor somewhere further down the list. Jesus reverses that: “Seek first the kingdom of God” (Matthew 6:33). To begin prayer with “hallowed be thy name” is to say, before anything else, let God be God—in the world, in the Church, and in me.