How to Pray
Your Name
When God spoke to
Moses in the burning bush He told Moses
"I AM WHO I AM”
God also said
'The LORD, the God of your
fathers …This is my name forever, the name by which
I am to be remembered from
generation to generation.
God’s many names the
Biblical writers gave Him are to reveal that whatever our need,
God is the “I AM” to our need
God said to Moses, His
name was the LORD
From the Old
Testament we call His name Jehovah
From the New
Testament we call His name Jesus
When we pray
"'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name”
In prayer, we come to
the name of Jesus, the highest authoritative name
We also come to the Great I AM
The Biblical writers
give us over 300 name of God to describe Him
He is the I
AM to all our needs
Your Name
I can still remember the struggle I
had with finding the name I would
call my children when they were born.
Picking out the clothes they would wear
for the first time and soon out grow them
was one thing, but a name they would live
with for the rest of their lives, WOW!
Names have meaning.
They have meaning because there was something
or someone in the past that had that name.
Whether your name is a simple name like, Bill,
or sophisticated,
your name has meaning.
The Greek word for name means “to know”.
Names help us identify things and people.
Can any one name fully identify a person?
My name is William.
The name became popular after 1066.
Its meaning is “resolute protector”
comes from William the Conquer.
I would say the name fits me
but does not fully describe me.
I am a man, husband, father, grandfather, pastor, etc.
No name can fully describe a person,
we are all too complex for that.
We know god is a title not a personal name.
The Bible writers talk about lots of gods,
but the Bible writers want us to
know God the Creator, the one true God.
God has no beginning and no end,
so where could He get
a name to identify Him
as there were no names, no words before Him.
When Moses saw the burning bush in the
wilderness, He asked God who shall I say
sent me, God responses with two answers…
God said to Moses, “I
AM WHO I AM.
This is what you are
to say to the Israelites:
‘I AM has sent me to
you.’”
“I AM” (Heb.
Hayah) “to exist”
The Bible is one unified text revealing
who God is and His relationship with us.
When God says “I AM
WHO I AM”
He is telling us “He
exists”.
I am the Lord Almighty,
I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
I am the Alpha and Omega, etc.
The Scriptures give us many names to describe
our God because no one word can define all He is.
God is defined as a shepherd, a physician, a husband.
He is described as an
object like a rock, a shield, a shadow.
A part of the body, an ear, eyes, heart.
The “I AM” answer
is so important because
through it we are introduced to many aspects
of who God is and how He related to us.
But God also said to
Moses…
God also said to
Moses, "Say to the Israelites,
'The LORD, the God of
your fathers — the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac and
the God of Jacob — has sent me to you.'
This is my name
forever, the name by which I am to be
remembered from
generation to generation.
Exodus
3:14-15
The “LORD” …This is my
name forever…”
There is a lot of theological thoughts
about the proper name of God.
Ancient Jews believe God’s name
was so holy you were not to speak it.
Others translate the Hebrew word
for LORD in Exodus
3:15 to mean…
Self-Existent or
Eternal; Jehovah,
Jewish national name
of God: OT:3068
In the New Testament, we see like in the
Old Testament, the importance of the name of God.
We see the phrase over and over
again “in the name of
the Lord”.
But the writers in the New Testament
tell us that Jesus was given a name
far above every name that is named.
Ephesians 1:20-21 NKJV
The name Jesus means “Jehovah-saved”.
The New Testament writers tell us…
For there is one God
and one mediator between God
and men, the man Christ Jesus,
1 Timothy
2:5 NIV
I tell you the truth,
my Father will give you
whatever you ask in my
name.
John 16:23
So when we pray
"'Our Father in
heaven, hallowed be your name”
It is the name “Jesus”
that we are given.
But when we pray it is so helpful
to know God says “I
Am”.
We are not looking for some magic word
but an understanding of who God is
and what He wants to accomplish.
The name of Jesus is the highest authoritative name.
There is no one with more authority for us to address.
The some 300 names the Bible uses as names
of God help us to see the fullness of who He is.
I am more than “William”.
Many other words must
be used to describe who I am.
Some of those names I am ashamed of
because they reveal my weaknesses.
But every name the Biblical writers use
for God is to reveals God is GOOD and
He is able to take care of your need.
Scripture Reading
9 "This, then, is how you should pray:
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.'
Exodus 3:14-15 NIV
14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you
are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'"
15 God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The
LORD, the God of your fathers — the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the
God of Jacob — has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which
I am to be remembered from generation to generation.
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