Our prayers are occupied mainly with our own wants and needs and desires. It is a case oftentimes of “self first.” When we pray even this prayer, the petitions that we utter with the deepest fervour and earnestness are petitions for personal blessing. “Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses. Deliver us from evil.” But the true order is the one observed here, “God first.” The King of all the petitions is the one that stands in the forefront. The Westminster Confession says that the chief end of man’s life is “to glorify God.” The old divines who drew up that confession had gained a clear glimpse into the true relation of things. Above all personal interest, above all selfish advantage, stands the glory of God. In the soldier’s thought, far above any consideration of personal comfort or safety, or even of life, stands the thought of the honour of the flag and his country’s weal. And so in the Christian’s mind far above the thought of self must stand the thought of God. “First things first.” Before the prayer for daily bread, for forgiveness, for deliverance, comes the prayer that God may have the glory due unto His name. My object this morning is to point out, if I can, the sweep and grandeur of this petition, so that we may understand what it is we pray for when we say, “Hallowed be Thy name.” Let me first of all try to explain what is meant by _the name of God_. As Bishop Westcott points out in his “Revelation of the Father” no thoughtful person can read the Bible without being struck by the importance which is attached to the Divine names in the different books. And the _names_ of God are important because they are revelations of God’s nature. You remember that when Jacob wrestled with the angel till break of day by the side of the brook Jabbok his last request to his antagonist was this, “Tell me I pray Thee, Thy name.” What was it Jacob really wanted to know? I will tell you. He wanted to know the nature, the character of the mighty Wrestler. He wanted to know whether it was love or wrath that had constrained him to pass through that terrible agony. “Tell me, I pray Thee, Thy name,” tell me Thy character, reveal to me Thy heart, “to me Thy name, Thy nature show,” that was the real meaning of Jacob’s cry. Well, the Bible is a great book of “names.” If you will turn up your concordances, you will find in them a long list of “names” for God. And the point to notice is that every name applied to God means something; every name tells us something about Him; every name is a light upon His nature. When you hear a man’s name, it tells you nothing about his character. You are not a whit nearer knowing what a man is really like for hearing that his name is John, or David, or Thomas, or Joseph. The names of men mean nothing, or perhaps it would be truer to say, their meaning has absolutely no relation to character. They are mere labels. But it is different in the case of God. Every name applied to Him is significant.