The Lord's Prayer (The Model Prayer)Sample

Yesterday we looked at God as a loving Father. The last part of verse 9 shows another aspect of His character: holiness. God is a loving Father to His children, but He is still a holy God who deserves to be approached with reverence and awe.

The Bible is full of passages that show us God’s holiness. One of my favorites is in Isaiah 6. Isaiah had a unique experience in which he found himself in the presence of God Almighty. He says, “I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and His robe filled the temple.” He heard the angels shouting, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts; His glory fills the whole earth.” Isaiah’s response was to say, “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts.”

Isaiah seems to be a good and righteous man. He was a prophet and seemed always to be obedient to God’s instructions. If anyone deserved to be in the presence of God, it would be a man like Isaiah. But when he saw the Lord, he realized immediately that he was a sinful man standing in the presence of a holy God, and he was terrified.

John Phillips said, “We may use the name Father for God, but there must be no careless familiarity. His is a high and hallowed name, one to be employed with reverence and awe.” As we pray, let us remember that we pray to a holy God, worthy of all our worship.

Go deeper: Exodus 33:12–23; Revelation 4