RR The Pattern Prayer by David Harwood

Shavuah Tov,

Yeshua taught His disciples to pray, Our Father in heaven, sanctify Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:9-10)
 
We often treat those words as warm-up praise, a way of entering God's presence before we get to the requests. But are they? They are far more than that.
 
They are an impassioned plea for the sanctifying of God's Name that will come when He reigns in glory upon the earth. This is the pivotal petition, the foundational one. Everything else in the prayer depends upon it and flows out of it.
 
To pray it as it was meant, let us consider where  and when Yeshua and His disciples lived.
 
The Jewish people were surrounded by heathen darkness, divided at home into rival sects, and cruelly oppressed by Rome. Israel was scattered among the nations and an object of scorn. They groaned beneath a heathen yoke.
 
And yet they believed. They believed that Adonai would restore Israel in the Messianic kingdom, and that in that kingdom His will would be done and His Name absolutely hallowed.
 
So when they prayed sanctify Your Name, what was the object of their petition? A restored people under a reigning God.
 
The Name signified God's presence, His dwelling with His people. It became a synonym for His person, His nature, His acts, and His reputation.
 
Unlike an idol, the Name cannot be seen. Yet it is something in which a person places his faith. (Joel 3:5)
 
And God's reputation is inextricably bound to His people's condition.
 
Prayer for the Name to be honored has always been connected to prayer for Israel. David prayed that way, as did Jeremiah, and Daniel, and the psalmists, all of them pleading for Israel's restoration for His Name's sake.
 
The nations who reject Israel's election, in doing so, mock the Name, and Adonai's answer to that mockery becomes the means of Israel's restoration: He vindicates His Name through Israel’s restoration.
 
Now, through the Messiah, the remnant of Israel and the remnant of the nations praise the Name together. (Romans 15:9-10) And one day all nations will honor it. (Revelation 15:4)
 
Meanwhile, apart from a remnant, Israel lies under a judicial blindness. That condition will endure until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. (Romans 11:25) In fact, even Israel’s watchmen are blind. (Isaiah 56:10)
 
So, who is left to keep watch? The united remnant of Israel and the nations, one body of two heritages. For Adonai has said that His House will be called a House of Prayer for all nations. (Isaiah 56:7) And for what shall they pray? The Sanctifying of His Name.
 
It is written that David would not offer Adonai what cost him nothing. (2 Samuel 24:24) My perspective is that neither shall Israel's blindness be removed except by costly intercession.
 
Adonai has set watchmen upon the walls of Jerusalem who will never hold their peace. He charges them to take no rest for themselves, and to give Him no rest, until He establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. (Isaiah 62:6-7)
 
They join Paul in his agony, whose heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is for their salvation. (Romans 10:1) They pray for the Vindication of God’s Name.
 
So let us pray for the peace of Jerusalem. (Psalm 122:6) And let us mean by that peace not merely the end of bloodshed, but salvation, justice, and the worship of God through Messiah Yeshua saturating the Jewish people.
 
The Name will not be fully sanctified on earth as it is in heaven until His Kingdom is established over Israel and the nations. May we, who have tasted that reign, pray for Israel's restoration. Paul says that will mean life from the dead. (Romans 11:15)
 
And will these prayers be answered?
 
They will. Yeshua will return, and the expectations of the prophets - the restoration of all things - will be fulfilled. (Acts 3:19-21)
 
The Name of Adonai will be sanctified in all the earth. His Kingdom will surely come.
 
Pray:
 
Our Father in heaven, for the sake of Your Name, restore the heart of Israel to Your Son and to Your purposes, that Your Name may be sanctified in all the earth.
 
Let Your Kingdom come.
 
Send Messiah Yeshua to reign from Jerusalem, that Your will may be done on earth as it is in heaven.
 
Amen.
 
Scriptures Referenced
 
But the king said to Araunah, "No, but I will surely buy it from you at a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to Adonai my God that cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for 50 shekels of silver. (2 Samuel 24:24)
 
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem — "May those who love you be at peace!" (Psalm 122:6)
 
... these I will bring to My holy mountain, and let them rejoice in My House of Prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar. For My House will be called a House of Prayer for all nations. (Isaiah 56:7)
 
His watchmen are all blind. All of them know nothing. All of them are mute dogs unable to bark, dreamers lying down, lovers of slumber. (Isaiah 56:10)
 
On your walls, Jerusalem, I have set watchmen. All day and all night, they will never hold their peace. You who remind Adonai, take no rest for yourselves, and give Him no rest until He establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. (Isaiah 62:6-7)
 
Then all who call on Adonai's Name will escape, for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be rescue, as Adonai has said, among the survivors whom Adonai is calling. (Joel 3:5)
 
Therefore, pray in this way: "Our Father in heaven, sanctified be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:9-10)
 
Repent, therefore, and return, so your sins might be blotted out, so times of relief might come from the presence of Adonai and He might send Yeshua, the Messiah appointed for you. Heaven must receive Him, until the time of the restoration of all the things that God spoke about long ago through the mouth of His holy prophets. (Acts 3:19-21)
 
Brothers and sisters, my heart's desire and my prayer to God for Israel is for their salvation. (Romans 10:1)
 
For if their rejection leads to the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? (Romans 11:15)
 
For I do not want you, brothers and sisters, to be ignorant of this mystery, lest you be wise in your own eyes, that a partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. (Romans 11:25)
 
... and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy. As it is written, "For this reason I will give You praise among the Gentiles, and I will sing to Your name." And again it says, "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people." (Romans 15:9-10)
 
Who shall not fear and glorify Your name, O Lord? For You alone are Holy. All the nations shall come and worship before You, for Your righteous acts have been revealed! (Revelation 15:4)
 
Condensed from David Harwood's mid-1990s essay "The Pattern Prayer." Content and teaching by David Harwood; prose condensed with Claude (Anthropic) from his essay and edited by him. Scripture quotations are from the Tree of Life Version.

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