Praying the Names of God

In the first article in this series on the names of God,[1] I included this quote from A.W. Tozer’s book Knowledge of the Holy:

“…the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like. We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God…. Always the most revealing thing about the Church is her idea of God, just as her most significant message is what she says about Him or leaves unsaid, for her silence is often more eloquent than her speech. ...”[2]

If we “move toward our mental image of God,” that alone should make it very clear that our thoughts about who God is and what He is like are vitally important. It’s not enough just to believe He exists. R.C. Sproul humorously quipped that only qualifies you to be a demon! No, we must know that He exists, and become familiar with the various aspects of His character that are revealed by His names.

But there’s another side to this matter of learning more about God. We were made in His image! By learning more about Him, we can learn more about what He expects of us. Now, to be sure, some aspects of who and what God is are certainly not things we can ever be. But there are things about Him that He does expect us to emulate; for instance, to forgive, to love our neighbors, to look for needs and help meet them, to pray for one another,… I could go on.

As you think about each of these names of God, praise Him for who He is; thank Him for what He has done, and what He will do; ask Him, through His Holy Spirit, to show you what you need to do to display His image to others. Learn to love Him as:

Elohim – The Strong and Mighty One

YHWH (Yahweh) – God’s Memorial Name

Adonai – Lord, Master

Jehovah

El Shaddai – The All-Sufficient One

El Elyon – The Most High God

El Olam – The Everlasting God

El Roi – The God Who Sees Me

Yahweh-Jireh – The God Who Sees and Provides

Yahweh Rapha – The God Who Heals

Yahweh Nissi – The Lord My Banner

Yahweh Shalom – The Lord is Peace

Yahweh Sabaoth – The Lord of Hosts

Yahweh Tsidkenu – The Lord Our Righteousness

Yahweh Mekoddiskem – The Lord Who Sanctifies

Yahweh Shammah – The Lord is There

Yahweh Rohi – The Lord is My Shepherd

[1] See Knowing God by His Names.

[2] A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy (Fig Classic, p. 2012), p. 1, emphasis added.