Our Father who art in heaven

Hallowed be thy name

We start our prayer with the stability of the Father in a place of authority in heaven, and then we praise Him and give Him due reverence. We affirm who He is. He is the Holy One. “There is none beside Thee.”

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty

Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee

Holy, holy, holy, merciful and Mighty

God in three Persons, blessed Trinity

God requires praise. It is what we do. We were made for this. All creation praises Him as part of its existence. The mountains break forth into singing; the trees of the field clap their hands. The heavens declare the glory of God; the earth shows forth His handiwork. That’s automatic. But we choose to praise Him. We are the only beings with the ability to choose. So our praise is more significant because it is conscious. We choose to do this or not. So God rejoices in the praise of His people. It is our participation in our relationship with Him.

Praise is recognizing who God is and who we are in relation to Him. It humbles us, but it paradoxically exalts us as well. We find our worth in praise of our Father. This is what we were made for and what we will do throughout eternity. And we will never get tired of it or bored, because praise fills us with great joy.

So when you pray, before requesting anything or unburdening yourself with your concerns, before even thanksgiving, recognize God for who He is, and acknowledge Him for that. He is the only wise God; there is none beside Him.

I think of how often I rush into God’s presence with my own concerns weighing heavily me, and instead of holy, holy, holy, it’s more like help me, help me, help me before anything else. Jesus is asking me to set aside my stuff for a while and just focus on the Father and appreciate Him — His power and glory — and recognize His nature, His holiness and the fact that He has no equal and that my worth comes in bringing Him praise. “Hallowed beThy name.” Could it be that in realizing my purpose in glorifying Him, my issues might seem just a little bit smaller?