To ‘hallow’ means to honour as being holy, to be set apart, to be praised and adored. When we pray this it means we want to honour God’s name and to see God’s name honoured in all the world. We want all people to appreciate who God really is.
But what does it mean to ‘hallow’ the names of God? Names are important because they mark identities. In the Bible we see God often changed a person’s name, like Saul to Paul, Abram to Abraham. So names are significant. People’s names may change, but God’s names are unchanging, because His nature is unchanging (Psalm 9:10; Proverbs 18:10).
Jesus taught us to honour the name of God as we pray (Judges 6:24) There more than 300 names for God in the Bible! Each one gives a greater understanding of His nature. There are many examples in the Bible where the name Jehovah is linked to an aspect of God’s character. It is good to have a grasp of at least some names and how they apply to our lives.
1. Jehovah Jireh (Genesis 22:10-14; Romans 8:32)
2. Jehovah Rapha (Exodus 15:22-26)
3. Jehovah Nissi (Exodus 17:15; 1 Corinthians 15:57)
4. Jehovah Mekoddishkem (Exodus 31:13; Hebrews 13:12)
5. Jehovah Shalom (Judges 6:24)
6. Jehovah Roeh (Psalm 23:1; Matthew 6:8)
7. Jehovah Tsidkenu (Jeremiah 23:6)
8. Jehovah Shammah (Ezekiel in 48:35; 1 Corinthians 3:15)
Apply
1. Jehovah Jireh (Jee-reh) (Genesis 22:14) means ‘The Lord Will Provide’ and teaches us that God can meet our deepest needs. In Genesis 22 Abraham was going through the toughest trial of his life, preparing to sacrifice the most precious thing in his life, to the God he devotedly trusted. Here we see that God Himself provided the sacrificial lamb, and Abraham encountered God who ‘will provide’. We too can declare the name of Jehovah Jireh in prayer, confident that “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).
2. Jehovah Rapha (ra-fa) (Exodus 15:26) means ‘The Lord That Heals’ and teaches us that God has the power to heal and restore us. God declared this as his name (Exodus 15:22-26) promising that if His people were faithful to Him, He would save them from diseases and heal them. This story reminds that we have a God with the power to remove physical diseases as well as the contamination of our hearts, such as bitterness and grumbling. When we pray Jehovah Rapha, the LORD, who heals you, we are declaring he is cleansing and healing us both physically and emotionally.
3. Jehovah Nissi (Ni-si) (Exodus 17:15) means ‘The Lord Is My Banner’ and teaches us that God gives victories in our battles. When the Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites, Moses held his staff and hands up over the battlefield. “As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.” So when Moses hands grew tired, Aaron and Hur came and held them up until the battle was won. In v15 we read “Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner.” Moses’s staff was like a military banner strengthening the troops. As long as his staff was raised, the Israelites were able to fight victoriously. In prayer we can remember and lift up this name of the Lord – Jehovah Nissi – finding confidence that no matter what battle we fight, no matter how overwhelming the enemy, we have victory. His banner of us is love, favour and conquest (1 Corinthians 15:57).
4. Jehovah Mekoddishkem (Me-ka-dish-ghem) (Exodus 31:13) means ‘the name Jehovah sanctifies you’ and teaches us that God makes us holy. This name of God was linked to the Sabbath, where the Jews were taught to cease from their striving and rest in God. We cannot make ourselves holy, but God can make us holy, He sanctifies us (Hebrews 13:12). Through the blood of Jesus we are separated from sin, set apart to God, made holy with God’s holiness When we declare the name of Jehovah Mekoddishkem we remind ourselves that we can find rest in the God who sanctifies us.
5. Jehovah Shalom (Shah-lom) (Judges 6:24) means ‘The Lord Is Peace’ and teaches us that God provides peace in all that we face. An angel approached Gideon and commissioned him to save Israel from the oppression of the Midianites. In that encounter Gideon experienced a revelation of both the awe and the mercy of God, who had proclaimed peace and protection over him. It moved him to build an altar and called it “The Lord Is Peace”. In the Hebrew language the word Shalom derives from a word that means to "be complete" or "sound". It is translated as "peace" or "absence from strife." You can declare that God is Jehovah Shalom. He is your Peace.
6. Jehovah Roeh (Row-eh) (Psalm 23:1) means ‘The Lord My Shepherd’ and teaches us that God cares for us and guides, like a shepherd. In Hebrew the word Roeh means “shepherd”, but also translates as “friend” or “companion”, showing the intimacy that God desires between Himself and us. A shepherd is someone who feeds you, leads you, and cares completely for you. God knows what we need before we even ask Him (Matthew 6:8). When we pray Jehovah Roeh, The Lord is my shepherd, it reminds us we have no need to fear – even in the darkest and direst of situations – because He is with us, guiding us.
7. Jehovah Tsidkenu (Tsid-kay-noo) (Jeremiah 23:6) means ‘The Lord Our Righteousness’ and teaches us that it is not our own works that make us right before God – GOD Himself makes us right before Him. Jesus is our Jehovah Tsikdkenu, our righteousness. Declaring this name reminds us that He is righteous and has made us right before Him.
8. Jehovah Shammah (sham-muh) (Ezekiel in 48:35) means ‘The Lord Is There’ and teaches us that God is always with us. The last nine chapters of the book of Ezekiel describe a vision of the restoration of the temple, priesthood and nation of Israel, with the glory of God’s presence returning to His temple and a river of life flowing out from within it. This vision reassured Israel that God would one day restore all things, and physically dwell among them. When we declare Jehovah Shammah, that ‘The Lord Is There’, we have that hope and remind ourselves that God dwells with us now too (1 Corinthians 3:15).
