What's in a name? A lot, when you're speaking about God.
The scriptures are dotted with different names for God, each one describing a separate characteristic.
Learning these names - and praying them - can build our faith as believers and bring hope and consolation in time of need.
We can only know God if we seek to know his character - what he is like. The names of God in the Bible are intimately connected with what he said and did in the lives of real people in real life.
David Wilkerson says he wrote his book Knowing God by Name: Names of God that bring Healing and Hope after discovering "that God revealed these names to his people only as they needed them - in their moments of deepest crisis".
"It dawned on me that this is how I want to learn my Lord's nature also: to understand his heart in our most desperate times."
He adds: "Scripture makes it abundantly clear that, because of our commitment to the Lord, we are going to be put through the fire of testing. That is the very reason God revealed his names to his people in the first place: to bring them encouragement, hope and life."
I can think of some examples off the top of my head.
For instance, the name Jehovah-Jireh means "God will provide, our provider". It pops up in the story of Abraham being asked to sacrifice his son Isaac until God stops him at the last minute, providing a nearby goat caught in a thicket as a sacrifice in place of the young son (Genesis 22).
Abraham passed a major test of faith and God showed he would provide for those who remain faithful to their Lord.
Abraham learned another name for God when the Lord delivered enemies of him and his family into his hand in a memorable battle after his nephew Lot had been carried off by marauders in Genesis 14. Melchizedek, king of Salem and "priest of God Most High", blessed Abraham and "El Elyon", which means "God Most High, creator and possessor of heaven and earth".
As Wilkerson writes, Melchizedek was telling Abraham that God is the creator of the entire universe and everything in it belongs to him - "he is in control of everything". God had delivered Abram and his family - he had a plan for Abram and would carry it through.
Reflecting and meditating on the names of God can draw us closer to the Lord. They take our minds away from our frustrations or personal agonies and remind us who loves us most - God Almighty.
I have kept a list of God's names on my desk for years and I refer to them from time to time in prayer and meditation. They help me in worship and, as Wilkerson suggests, they give me hope.
Sometimes, I think of these names and their meaning as I prepare to sleep at night.
That is a well-trodden path.
The psalmist King David said in Psalm 63:6:
"I lie awake thinking of you, meditating on you through the night."
The scriptures are dotted with different names for God, each one describing a separate characteristic.
Learning these names - and praying them - can build our faith as believers and bring hope and consolation in time of need.
We can only know God if we seek to know his character - what he is like. The names of God in the Bible are intimately connected with what he said and did in the lives of real people in real life.
David Wilkerson says he wrote his book Knowing God by Name: Names of God that bring Healing and Hope after discovering "that God revealed these names to his people only as they needed them - in their moments of deepest crisis".
"It dawned on me that this is how I want to learn my Lord's nature also: to understand his heart in our most desperate times."
He adds: "Scripture makes it abundantly clear that, because of our commitment to the Lord, we are going to be put through the fire of testing. That is the very reason God revealed his names to his people in the first place: to bring them encouragement, hope and life."
I can think of some examples off the top of my head.
For instance, the name Jehovah-Jireh means "God will provide, our provider". It pops up in the story of Abraham being asked to sacrifice his son Isaac until God stops him at the last minute, providing a nearby goat caught in a thicket as a sacrifice in place of the young son (Genesis 22).
Abraham passed a major test of faith and God showed he would provide for those who remain faithful to their Lord.
Abraham learned another name for God when the Lord delivered enemies of him and his family into his hand in a memorable battle after his nephew Lot had been carried off by marauders in Genesis 14. Melchizedek, king of Salem and "priest of God Most High", blessed Abraham and "El Elyon", which means "God Most High, creator and possessor of heaven and earth".
As Wilkerson writes, Melchizedek was telling Abraham that God is the creator of the entire universe and everything in it belongs to him - "he is in control of everything". God had delivered Abram and his family - he had a plan for Abram and would carry it through.
Reflecting and meditating on the names of God can draw us closer to the Lord. They take our minds away from our frustrations or personal agonies and remind us who loves us most - God Almighty.
I have kept a list of God's names on my desk for years and I refer to them from time to time in prayer and meditation. They help me in worship and, as Wilkerson suggests, they give me hope.
Sometimes, I think of these names and their meaning as I prepare to sleep at night.
That is a well-trodden path.
The psalmist King David said in Psalm 63:6:
"I lie awake thinking of you, meditating on you through the night."
What a great thought Bob, drifting off to sleep with a name or attribute of God on one's mind
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