Did you know God has nicknames? Now I know someone reading this blog may be slightly offended by what I just said but give me a chance to explain. By no means is this meant to take away the sacredness of God’s Holy Name, which I reverence entirely. By definition, a nickname is a familiar name that given to a person or a thing in place of or as well as the real name. So it becomes a substitute name for a proper name.  

Growing up, the name God was pretty much the only name I knew He had for Himself. As I got older, I would hear people say the term Deity. Did I know what that meant? No. I just acted as I did, and I suspect many others di did not understand this term either. But somewhere along the way, I started getting a bit curious about these terms people would throw out. So, I decided to do some probing. I learned Deity meant the divines or greatness of God. It means that which makes up His nature, character, personality, and temperament. What was so amazing was that there were no other persons in all creation with the same attributes as His.  

I moved from my relationship with God to understanding Gods’ relationship with me. God desired to have a special relationship with His people, and I was one of those people. He knew they (we) would need to call upon Him in and under different circumstances. I would compare this to a newborn baby. The baby cannot speak or gesture any recognizable commands in a dictionary. However, the baby communicates a different cry for hunger, wet diaper, need to be held, swaddled, burped, and more, and yet we know what each means, and we yearn to meet that need each time we hear it.  

God, in His infinite wisdom, knew His children would need Him under different circumstances, and He gave Himself other names by which we could call upon Him as our Father, just like that baby. He, in turn, reveals Himself and His Deity according to His names based upon our cry. So when we need provisions, we call upon His name Jehovah-Jireh – The Lord will provide. When we cry out to Him in our time of sickness, heartache, and pain, His name is Jehovah-Rapha – The Lord, our healer. Years ago, I learned many of the names of God by writing them on name cards and practiced using them in my prayers. My favorite name of God is – Jehovah _ Sabaoth (Lord of Host). This name speaks of God marshaling forces in heaven and earth to act and move in behalf of His people.

As we conclude this blog today take your Bible or Google the names of God. Write them down somewhere. Why don’t you call upon God according to His Holy name(s) for which you have a personal need? God loves it when you call Him by His mighty (nicknames) names.

Let me know what names you learned and what names you use in your prayers. Has this been helpful to you?

Click here to read more in my book Sorting Through God’s Love Chapter One Hallelujah God Loves Me.