Are you good at remembering names? As a newly ordained minister, I visited an elderly lady. After a lengthy conversation, I concluded by offering to pray with her. ‘Dear Lord’, I said, ‘I pray for erm, for erm … ‘ Could I remember her name? No – despite having used it throughout our little chat! Thankfully, she smiled graciously and whispered in my ear, so that, with a little embarrassment, I could proceed.
Now, we should not be in doubt as to who God is because he makes himself known to us through His power and character. This was stressed to the prophet in Jeremiah 33:2: “This is what the LORD says, he who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it—the LORD is his name: … ”
The Lord is the One ‘who made the earth’ By revealing that ‘the LORD is His name’, God was emphasising that He’d kept His promises in the past and will be faithful in the future. In other words, God’s name carries a promise of performance. We should note that, in Genesis, it’s when the heavens and the earth were finished that the Creator is called ‘LORD’ (2:4).
Maybe today, when God’s name doesn’t come readily to your lips, or you forget the power of His name, its time to let the wonder of creation whisper the Name above all names in your ear.
Prayer: Forgive me, Lord, for forgetting your faithfulness and power. Amen.
Copyright Rev. Anthony D. Miles May 2006
