The Medical Missionary, vol. 14
December 1905
“The Holy Name,” The Medical Missionary 14, 12.
E. J. Waggoner
“Hallowed be Thy name.” An essential element in all true prayer is recognition of the goodness and the greatness of God. The more we knew of God, the more understandingly and confidently we can pray to him. “Without faith it is impossible to please him for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” MEDM December 1905, page 376.1
Satan is always ready to try to discourage people with the very truths of Scripture that were written for our comfort; and too often he succeeds. So he tries to frighten us away from God by the thought of his holiness The sinful one says, “I dare not come to the Lord: he is so holy, and I am so vile, that he could not have anything to do with me.” We must learn that just because God is absolute goodness, he receives sinners. Only the wicked turn from the wicked, and point the finger of scorn at them. The good are pitiful and merciful. So the name of the Lord is, “The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, and forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.” When the psalmist, in his extremity and desolation, called on the Lord, he said, “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.” (Psalm 22:5.) God’s holiness is the only hope of fallen humanity. MEDM December 1905, page 376.2
“The name of the Lord is a strong tower.” After the ascension of Jesus, the disciples went everywhere preaching always in “the Name.” When the lame man at the gate of the temple had risen at Peter’s command, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk,” Peter preached Jesus to the wondering multitude, saying, “His name, through faith in his name, hath made this man strong.” The next day he said to the council, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, even in him, doth this man stand here before you whole.” MEDM December 1905, page 376.3
From this last text we learn that Jesus himself is his name. “Jesus” means Saviour, and that is what Jesus of Nazareth is. So God’s name is his own character, his own being; and his name is in Christ, in whose name we pray. Therefore in coming to God and presenting petitions “in the name of Jesus,” it is as though Christ came to the Father in person, making that request. God can not reject any such request made in sincerity, for to do so would be to dishonor his own name. MEDM December 1905, page 376.4
Even among men the name stands for the person. If a business man breaks his word, or fails to meet his obligations, then his name is no longer of any value. The prophet Jeremiah applied this principle to the Lord when, having acknowledged his sin and the sins of the people, he boldly said, “Do not abhor us, for thy name’s sake, do not disgrace the throne of thy glory; remember, break not thy covenant with us.” ( Jeremiah 14:21.) This is in reality what we all say to the Lord when we say in our prayers, “Hallowed be thy name.” it is an appeal to the Lord to remember his name and his covenant,-“forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,”-and not to disgrace his name, but to honor it by doing all that it stands for. But this reminder to the Lord is not on his account, but on our own, for it serves to remind us that “he can not deny himself.” MEDM December 1905, page 376.5
Thus we are taught by the Lord Jesus that in true prayer there can be no shadow whatever of doubt. We are not to pray, and then to wonder whether or not God has listened to our petition, or will answer it. At the very beginning of every prayer we are to express our perfect confidence that God will certainly give us all that we ask for in the name of Jesus, and “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.” The least doubt in prayer is to deny God, and to place him, in our own minds, on a level with the gods of the heathen; for it is a denial that “He is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” His name is holy, and must remain so, and therefore we come with the boldness of absolute trust, making our requests known to God. How natural and easy, therefore, is it to “give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness,” even before we make our request. MEDM December 1905, page 377.1
E. J. W.