What's in a Name?

Have you ever looked into the meaning of your name? I am fascinated by names, their meanings. and their predictive power. In the Bible, names reveal people’s character and often their fate. Have you ever stopped to think that our names hold identity, meaning, and often destiny? I love all my children, but when I say their names, I’m reminded of my special love for each of them and I am communicating that I love them uniquely. I love you, Chloe. I love you, Colin. I love you, Lauren.

Names evoke emotions, purpose, and memories. They are more than practical ways to differentiate people from others. Isaiah 43:1 tells us that the God of the Universe calls us each by name. Let that sink in for a minute. He has an entire universe to run, but He calls you by name. Why? Because your name matters to Him. How much?

Let me tell you a quick story: In 2016, our daughter Chloe was hospitalized with near-complete amnesia and could not walk or open her eyes. She didn’t even know her own name. A few hours after her neurologist said Chloe would never walk again, a pastor from São Paulo reached out to me on WhatsApp. I didn’t know him, but he had mobilized several churches in Brazil to pray for her. It meant the world to me that people were praying for Chloe when she couldn’t even remember her own name. They weren’t praying generic prayers; they were praying for her specifically. The Lord whispered to me: “‘Everyone’ is my Chloe. I want everyone prayed for by name because I love them even more than you love Chloe.” Drop-the-mic!

I want to invite you into the impossible task of praying for every person in the world by name, as 1 Timothy 2:1-6 commands us. In those verses, the Apostle Paul makes 3 significant points:

• God commands us to pray for all people.
• God wants all people to be saved.
• Jesus gave His life as a ransom for all people.

No generation has ever prayed personally for every human alive. This is an unfulfilled mandate in Scripture that we can’t ignore any longer. God’s love compels us to pray for every person by name so they can know the only name that has the power to save them.

God not only calls us by name—He has engraved our names on the palm of his hand (Isa. 49:6). He also writes our names in His book of life (Rev. 3:5). In other words, God includes your name in the story He will tell for all eternity! Since God knows every person by name, He wants us to get to know people by name and pray for them. Once we know people by name, they are no longer strangers, but people who matter to God. When you pray for people, God puts His love in your heart for them and moves you to share Jesus with them.

GUIDED PRAYER

Thank you, God, for calling me by name and engraving my name on the palm of your hand. Your love for me is amazing. Help me to remember that you love each person in the world as much as you love me and that you are pleased when believers pray for them by name. Lord, show me the 5 people in my circle of influence that I can begin praying for daily by name. As I pray, give me your heart for them and opportunities to share your love with them with words and actions.

REFLECT

1. What emotions came up when you read about God calling you by name and writing your name on the palm of His hand? Take a minute or two to meditate on this and ask God to show you how precious you truly are to Him.
2. Think of a person you see often but whose name you don’t know. Now think of a person whose name you do know. Is there a difference in the way you relate to them or think about them?
3. There are 8 billion people living on Earth today, and yet my challenge for you is to pray for five of them who do not know Jesus yet. Is that doable for you? What measures could you take to faithfully pray for those five people on a daily basis?

GO BLESS

Write out the 5 names of people in your circle of influence that you are committing to pray for by name on a daily basis. Place those names on your fridge, in your Bible, or wherever it can remind you to pray for them daily.