What name do you call God when you pray?

Question

Heavenly father, god, lord, lord god, jahweh, yahweh

There are so many choices. Which works best?

Answer 1

Dear UFO,
The Name I use in prayer depends on the situation or circumstances under which I am praying.

I started with Dear God when I was younger and progressed
to Heavenly Father.

It was really wonderful when I first read Jeremiah 3:19 -
I myself said, 'How gladly would I treat you like sons and give you a desirable land, the most beautiful inheritance of any nation.' I thought you would call me 'Father' and not turn away from following me.

That was written hundreds of years before Jesus and yet it was Jesus who showed us the proper way to address the awesome uncreated Creator of the universe.

I was equally amazed by Matthew 23:9 -
And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven ...

The name that works best is the one that shows RESPECT.

Earlier this year my Secret Sister gave me a wonderful book - The Peace & Power of Knowing God's Name by Kay Arthur.

The chapters are -
Introduction: The Names of the Lord
1. Elohim: The Creator
2. El Elyon: The God Most High (I use Most High a lot)
3. El Roi: The God Who Sees
4. El Shaddai: The All-Sufficient One
5. Adonai: The Lord
6. Jehovah: The Self-Existent One
7. Jehovah-jireh: The Lord Will Provide
8. Jehovah-rapha: The Lord Who Heals (I use this one a lot!)
9. Jehovah-nissi: The Lord My Banner
10. Jehovah-mekoddishkem: The Lord Who Sanctifies You
11. Jehovah-shalom: The Lord is Peace
12. Jehovah-sabaoth: The Lord of Hosts
13. Jehovah-raah: The Lord My Shepherd
14. Jehovah-tsidkenu; The Lord Our Righteousness
15. Jehovah-shammah: The Lord Is There

I also use Abba Father and The One Who Promised to Love Me Always.

I have several relatives who get upset with me for not using Jehovah. They claim that people have names and it is important to show respect by using their name. I counter that by saying that I showed respect for my dad and mom by calling them Dad and Mom. I did not use their names.

Answer 2

Jesus prayed "Father....". You can''t do better than that.

Heavenly Father, Lord, Lord God are all OK.

If you want to get into the Hebrew name thing, it's not as straighforward as it seems. Jehovah and Yahweh are both attempts (Jews would say inaccurate or even ludicrous attempts) to pronounce the Name, or the Tetragrammaton (the 4 part name) which means "Ï am" and which no-one knows how to pronounce anyway since only the High Priest was allowed to say it and then only once a year. It is written with 4 letters in Hebrew, which represent only the consonants, and is transliterated into Latin script as YHWH.

The Jews had other, more speakable names for God, including Elohim, Shaddai and Adonai, each with its own shade of meaning (these three are something like The Supernatural, the Almighty and my Lord). They may pray to Adonai, but in normal speech, talking about God, they would say HaShem, meaning The Name. This reverance extends to not even writing God's name; this is why, in English, they write G-d.

Answer 3

Father in Heaven, Father, Lord, God.

Answer 4

It changes...sometimes I feel like calling him Heavenly Father or God other times I call him Lord Jesus. There are so many different names. A couple ones are Immanuel, Great I AM, Lamb of God...etc. It just depends on the person.

Answer 5

Heavenly Father

Answer 6

I use God, Father, Father God, Lord...sometimes Daddy=)

Answer 7

Usually either Heavenly Father or Dear Lord

Answer 8

God and I communicate on a first-name basis. He calls me Peter. I am not sure why as my name is David. But the lord works in mysterious ways so who am I to argue ?

God asked me to call him Jeff. But I asked him if I could call him Dorothy and he said OK.
( He's good like that ).

Answer 9

An example from Jesus:
Luke 11:2 When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
Give us day by day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us
not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

I don't see any dood or hey you or any other disrespectful names mentioned.
Be careful less ye fall. Please be serious about the Father and his desires. Your last breath is in his hand.

Also we do not pray to Jesus, Jesus prayed to God. The Bible teaches us to pray to the Father through Christ.

Answer 10

Heavenly Father, or Father in Heaven. Also use reverential language - Thou, Thee, Thine. Sometimes shorten the first to Father. Prayers can be ended 'In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."