Jehovah / Yahweh - The Relational God

 Jehovah / YHWY / Yahweh - the true, personal name of God

The Lord revealed Himself as having a singular original name. How blessed we are to have this name that we can use in prayer to Him. Jehovah / Yahweh means "I am" or "I am the One who is." It gives us a sense of His eternal nature. 

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.  Revelation 22:13

“Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” John 8:58

We first see Jehovah / Yahweh used with Moses. 

Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” Exodus 3:13-14

This is not the first name we have of the Lord in the Bible, but it is the most commonly used name. It appears more than 6,800 times. When Jehovah was preparing for a great deliverance of the Jewish people from slavery, He further revealed Himself to them. 

God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty / Adonai, but by my name Jehovah / Yahweh I did not make myself fully known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners." Exodus 6:2-4

Later, when Jehovah / Yahweh was ready to save us completely, He took on human flesh to show us Himself in the most intimate way possible. 

I will trust and not be afraid. For the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation. Isaiah 12:2

Yah/weh sounds like breathing out (Yah) and breathing in (weh)...like the breath of life. So even in breathing we are declaring the name of Jehovah. 

Jehovah wants to foster a close relationship with all people He has made. Giving us His true name was an act of intimacy that invited mankind to know Him. Jehovah / Yahweh - You are truly present with Your people. 

Prayer

Jehovah, you are worthy of all praise and adoration. You are the God who made the heavens and the earth. You set the stars in their places and hung the moon where it was to remain. You rule over all, and yet you also seek a relationship with your creation. For that and much more, you are worthy of all praise and worship. I lift up your name—Jehovah / Yahweh—as I seek your face. And I honor you as you are seated on your throne above all. You are the great and mighty God, who raises up kingdoms and subdues nations at your choosing. In your mercy, you sustain all life and passionately delight in our souls.

Jehovah, I come before you with a heart of contrition, knowing I often haven’t honored you as Lord and master of my life. You wait for me to come talk to you, to wake up and greet you, or to spend my evenings with you, but I have instead wasted time on futile distractions. You are the relational God, who desires to walk with me in the cool of the day, just as you walked with Adam and Eve in those early days of your creation. Forgive me for often seeking to walk alone and ignoring the blessing and joy of your presence.

Jehovah, thank you for desiring to be close to me. Thank you for not only being high and lifted up but also dwelling with the lowly and with those who are not of a high stature. Thank you for the goodness and depth of your heart, which pours out love time and again in my life. Thank you for your grace and patience, which you lovingly manifest even in the face of my many dismissals of you. I often walk in the midst of the beauty of your creation without giving you the praise and credit you deserve. Please accept my heart of gratitude right now for all you have made and for your desire to know me fully and to empower me to know you as well.

Jehovah, to know you and to be known by you—to experience the depth of this intimacy is my heart’s greatest cry. Give me the capacity to love you deeply and to receive the love you have for me. Where my heart has become hardened or jaded, remind me of the purity of your love and gently massage it open again. Where my mind has become too analytical, give me the gift of wonder at who you are and the works of your hands. Delight my soul with your Word and with the fresh wind of your Holy Spirit. Slow my steps so that abiding with you becomes a way of life. Help me to honor you as King and to advance your kingdom. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. 

(Prayer taken from Praying Through the Names of God by Tony Evans)