Luke 11:2

And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.

I was reflecting on the second point of the Lord's Prayer, "hallowed by Thy Name", and spent some time thinking about the nature of holiness.  What does it mean that our Lord is holy?  I think this passage in Exodus, in which Moses encounters the Lord in the burning bush, give me some things to think about.

Exodus 3:5-7

Then He said, "Do not draw near this place.  Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground."  Moreover He said, "I am the God of your father-the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."  And Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look upon God.  And the Lord said; "I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows." 

Note:  We approach the Lord His way and in His timing.  He chose to wait until Moses was 80, and told him to stand at a distance and to be vulnerable, removing the sandals from his feet.  Moses was afraid, and if we understand the holiness of the Lord we should be in awe as well.  God is the God of his ancestors, and ours.  We stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us and they should be remembered.  Our Lord is also the Lord who knows, intimately the sorrows people feel today.  He knows them as if He experiences them Himself.  Even in glory He is a "man of sorrows, acquainted with grief."  He is authoritative, august, yet intimate and well aware of our challenges and difficulties.  We need to grasp both sides of this to understand His holiness.