The third commandment states, “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain” (Exodus 20:7). The Jews historically were so careful to obey this commandment that they would take great pains to avoid speaking God’s covenant name (YHWH, which is translated with all capital letters as LORD in most English translations). In fact, when Jewish scribes wrote this name, they would first undergo a very involved cleansing ceremony—including taking a bath—before penning the name. Of course, the command was never intended to prohibit speaking God’s name but rather to guard the weightiness of who the name represents.
It is a travesty to hear people use the name of the Lord flippantly, irreverently, and, of course, blasphemously. Yet, sadly, it is a common and even daily experience. TV shows, movies, interviews on the radio, podcasts, chat around the office coffee station, classrooms, boardrooms, sports venues, strolling through the mall—everywhere there are people—it seems that the name of our glorious triune God is spoken of without due consideration of who he is. And this malady can happen even in Christian homes, in the believer’s “prayer closet,” and, yes, even in our churches. Though we are probably careful—and rightly so—to avoid speaking God’s name flippantly in conversation with one another, and we are rightly horrified at the thought of using God’s name as an expletive, nevertheless it is quite likely that we at times pray God’s name in vain. Before explaining what I mean, let’s take a moment to understand what it means to “take the Lord’s name in vain.”
The Hebrew word translated “vain” means “empty” and connotes that which is worthless and/or false. Thus, to take God’s name in vain is to use (the meaning of “take”) his name in a way that is careless and thoughtless; that is, to speak of God without due consideration to the one of whom we are speaking. To use God’s name in a way that is “weightless” is to treat him as worthless and, in doing so, we spread the falsehood that God is “no big deal.” To use God’s name in vain—whether speaking, writing, or texting—is, in effect, to dismiss his glory, his weightiness. It is to speak of God in a way that dishonours his being. Hence, taking his name in vain is verbal irreverence. Even when we are speaking to him.
At the risk of discouraging our praying, but in an attempt to help us to be guiltless with reference to the third commandment, I want to challenge how we use the Lord’s name, literally, when we use his name in prayer.
If you are like me, you find that prayer is not always easy and, in fact, you find it a bit frustrating as you are at a loss for words. Sometimes, the mind wanders, forgetting what we were praying about or unsure what to say next. It is in these mindless gaps when we fill the void by violating God’s commandment as we speak his name without due regard of whom we are speaking.
Have you ever found yourself using God’s name as a “filler”? There may be times when we thoughtlessly insert “Lord” mid-sentence having lost our train of thought about what we were praying. On the other hand, due to familiarity with traditional phrases, we might be accustomed to use God’s name as a means of securing his attention losing sight that our Saviour has secured a hearing with our Father at his throne of grace (Hebrews 4:14–16).
In light of this irreverent (albeit unintentional) tendency, we should discipline ourselves to guard against using the name “Lord” or “Father” or “God” (or “Jesus,” for that matter) in a way that is empty of content. When we speak to the Lord, calling him Lord, we are to do so considering him as Lord! As the writer of Ecclesiastes observes, “Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few” (Ecclesiastes 5:2). In other words, give respectable thought about our glorious triune God.
Of course, the point of this article is not to make us self-conscious in our praying (especially not in our corporate praying—for many, public praying is daunting enough!) but rather to help us to be increasingly mindful of the Lord—his goodness, his glory, his grace—therefore deepening our devotion in prayer.
A frequent prayer of mine is “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer” (Psalm 19:14). Among other truths evident in this prayer is that, if my heart is rightly considering the LORD, then the words of my mouth in prayer will be anything but vain.
May God help us to avoid the empty use of his glorious name. Including when we ask him “in his name.”
Doug