HE KNOWS HIS NAME - JUDAH

It was August 2007 when the Lord began nudging me in the area of praise. I was reading Worship Warrior by Chuck Pierce and in the book he talks about Judah (son of Jacob & Leah) his name means “praise Yaweh”. At the time we were at the tail end of a season of great struggle, but I sensed victory on the horizon. The Lord was teaching me that praise must preceed victory. I also sensed He was giving me the name for my next child. From Worship Warrior, page 14 Judah must go first. Praise must take it preeminence within our lives, churches, cities, states and nation. When Judah goes first, the scepter of authority is then in place for ultimate victory. This is a time that the Lion of Judah will roar louder than the lion that has sought to devour us! Over the last year I have learned to praise Him during the storm. “Worship causes us to move thankfully with our body toward our creator” – Worship Warrior, page 150 In July 2008 as I lay in bed the Lord began to speak to me about Judah. It was a conversation initiated by Him and I just listened and received. At the time I wish I had had the forethought to write down His words to me. That was also during the time that I was experiencing revival and the Lord was just showering me with His love and presence. A few days later I realized I was “late” and decided to take a pregnancy test. I was out of town, so I loaded up my three kids and went to Walgreens. I went into the bathroom and took the test which turned positive before I even stepped away. Again, it was a time of revival for me, but also a time of great difficulty in our home. I read more about Judah and the more I read the more I sobbed and the more I understood. The revelation and timing were breathtaking. The story of Jacob and Leah revealed more of the Lord’s love for me and the perfection of His timing. This baby became another real and tangible way God was expressing His love for me and the revelation of his name a greater, deeper and sweeter expression of that. From Worship Warrior, page 154 Leah, as we all know, was unloved. It was Rachel whom Jacob had wanted and had worked for. But Jacob was tricked into taking Leah instead. Not a good start for a relationship; but she tried hard as she could to gain Jacob’s affection. In those days, a high value was put on a woman who could produce children. God caused Leah to be fruitful, and she bore Jacob three sons, each time hoping to procure her husband’s love because of them, but to no avail. Finally she turned her heart toward the Lord. “She conceived again and bore a son and said, “This time I will praise the LORD.; Therefore she named him Judah” Gen. 29:35 NASB From Worship Warrior, Page 155 Unshakable praise plows through the hardest ground. God says in Hosea 10:11, “Judah will plow.” When the ground is hard, when the circumstances are adverse, God’s favor is on the one who will lead off with praise.

She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, "This time I will praise the LORD." So she named him Judah. Genesis 29:35

HE KNOWS HER NAME - KAIRA

During the hustle and bustle of preparing for Annais’ first birthday party it dawned on me that I was missing something, so while at Wal-Mart picking up last minute items I decided to buy a pregnancy test and take it in the public restroom. Within seconds the miraculous lines appeared and after comparing it to the package directions I dialed my husband at work and blurted “I’m pregnant!” It was as if I had told him we won the lottery, he was ecstatic! “I didn’t wait the full three minutes, I might not be. I’m going to take it again when I get home and I’ll call you back,” I said frantically. Upon returning home I laid Annais down and took the second test in the package and as quickly as the first “positive”. With a few minutes to digest the results I thought about how perfect and awesome God’s timing is. There was none of my “planning” in this pregnancy. In our heart of hearts we knew He intended another child for our family and were overjoyed with anticipation. Settling into our joyous surprise and the thrill of expecting our third baby we began, as is our practice, praying for a name. I felt such a strong call, anointing and purpose for this little one’s life. I just prayed that I would hear Him as clearly as I did when He spoke Annais’ name. During my pregnancy with Annais a friend recommended a book “Hope Resurrected” by Dutch Sheets and ever since I had been meaning to get it. While purchasing videos and books for my little ones online in April I added “Hope Resurrected” to my order. When the book arrived I immediately started reading it. I was deeply moved by the first story in the book and I couldn’t seem to get it out of my mind. The woman had four daughters with the middle names Joy, Faith, Grace & Charity and she wanted another child, but knew the if she had another girl her middle name would be Hope. The woman writes, “…that was impossible. My life was so deluged with hope deferred that there was absolutely no way I could have a child with the name Hope. It would have been the ultimate lie. Thus, I decided not to have a seventh child.” The tragedy of that story and the great result of hope deferred that ensued reminded me of the hope deferred that I had once been imprisoned by, but more importantly the Hope by which I now live in Christ Jesus. Since childhood and well into my 30s I suffered with times of often paralyzing depression (which I will now call hope deferred). I began to think of the child that I carried – Hope? Could it be the name that we’d been praying for? As I lay in the bath one night I asked God that very question just minutes before I picked up my book again and read . . . A mother, the instant that she knows she is with child, lives her every moment in anticipation of delivery. After a time she cannot take a step, make a move, think a thought that is disassociated from the coming of her child. In America, people are supposed to ignore the obvious fact that a woman is with child. In France the case is quite the contrary. If a man is introduced to a woman who is an expectant mother, it is the height of politeness for him to congratulate her. “Je vous felicite de votre esperance” – “I congratulate you on your hope” – is a common phrase among the cultured. After this paragraph Sheets writes: Your heart is being healed and you are becoming pregnant with hope. Congratulations! As I read further in the book Sheets also writes: In the Greek words “due time” (also rendered “appointed season”) are idios kairos, which is a powerful phrase pregnant with hope seeds for us. “Time” is the word kairos, which means “right time; the opportune point of time at which something should be done.” page 66 Such was the case with Hannah and Elizabeth, both barren women who asked God for a child. In each case, the Lord answered with a son but waited for His timing because while they wanted a child, He needed a prophet. They owned a kairos, but God shared ownership; and His kairos involved not only their fulfillment, but also His eternal purposes. page 67 In my daily name search for a name for this child I often tried to find names meaning appointed or called and here right in front of me was a description of what this baby is - our kairos. The name Kaira came to mind and I immediately looked up the meaning and it is “last, final, complete” – perfect! What a joy it is to be free in Christ and be able to name my child, Kaira Hope, after the very Hope to which I have been called in His perfect time. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 (New International Version)

HE KNOWS HIS NAME - ANNAIS

Pregnant with our second child we anxiously awaited the sonogram when we would learn the sex of our unborn baby. We were sue it was a girl. “What do you think it is?, asked the technician. “A boy!?,” I said hesitantly (I had a sneak peak during my echocardiogram; although my husband was still convinced it was a girl). Yes it is a boy! My first thought was “we have no names for a boy.” As we did with our daughter, we had been praying for God to reveal the name He had already chosen for this child. Now that we knew the sex of the baby we could start compiling some boy names and pray over those. The list grew rapidly to seven names; there was Micah, Samuel and Dominic just to name a few. Micah means, “who is like God”, Samuel means, “asked of God” and Dominic means, “follower of the Lord.” All great names with great meanings, but we still could not narrow it down. My husband had his two favorites and I had mine. I was sure we would know when we saw him. We believe as it says in Psalm 139:15-16, “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body, and knit them together in my mother’s womb. You were there while I was being formed in utter seclusion! You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe.” That meant God already had a name for this baby that was symbolic of the call He had already placed on his life. We just had to hear God when He revealed to us what that name was. About a week or two before my scheduled c-section I was beginning to get apprehensive about the baby not having a name, although we waited until the day after our daughter was born to name her. I felt strongly that this baby needed a name BEFORE he was born. I prayed, “Lord, I know I can hear your voice, but I have not heard anything about this baby’s name.” Then I heard it, clear as day, “Anias”. I asked, “Annanias, Lord?” “No, Anias,” I heard again. Barely able to contain my excitement I ran downstairs to check my baby names searchers. I typed in A-N-I-A-S and hit enter. I could not wait to find out what the name meant. “Name not found” appeared on my screen. Disheartened I asked, “Lord, did I hear you correctly? I know you have blessed us with this baby, but what will he be to our family?” “A gift,” I clearly heard in response (Psalm 127:3 Behold children are a gift of the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward.) Knowing I could search a name by meaning I typed in “gift from God” and hit enter. The third name on the list was “Annais!” I had the name right, but the spelling wrong. I immediately picked up the phone and called my husband and asked, “What do you think of the name Annais?” “I like it,” he said. That’s it! We have got a name for our baby. Without any further hesitation our baby boy was Annais (Ah-nigh-us), a gift from God named by God. After reading and re-reading the meaning and characteristics of his name I began to pray that he would be all the things that his name implied. Of all the characteristics, the one that stood out to me was “always gracious.” Graciousness is the very nature of God, our Father and is synonymous with His son Jesus. Psalm 86:15 But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. Psalm 103:8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. Psalm 111:4 He has caused His wonders to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and compassionate. The spiritual characteristic of Annais is “full of hope (Christ)”. 1 Timothy 1:1 Paul, an apostle (special messenger) of Christ Jesus by appointment and command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus (the Messiah), our Hope. What more could any parent want than for their child to be full of Hope (Jesus)?

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:7

HE KNOWS HER NAME - ISABELLA

Names are important to me (read more here) so, I did not name my firstborn lightly. I immediately began praying for a name. God had a perfect plan for her life and I believed her name would be indicative of that, I just had to wait and listen. After more than a year of trying to conceive I got pregnant with my first daughter. I knew it was a girl and had her closet full of clothes even before the sonogram. I had purchased a daily pregnancy prayer journal and prayed for her almost everyday. One day the scripture at the bottom of the page was “I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” 1 Samuel 27-28 The night before I found out I was pregnant I was reading a book, Who Will Love Me? by Joe Jackson and the Lord spoke to me on page 41: Taken word for word from Who Will Love Me? by Joe Jackson "And sometime before dawn God spoke to me. I will never again have any doubt about children. I want to share with you what He told me. He told me that these were not really my children, but they were His. He is just letting me have the joy and responsibility of raising them for Him. He has entrusted me with their future. Listen! Our children belong to God, and we are just instruments in raising them. Someday they will pass away and return to Him if we have done our job. That is our responsibility and duty." It was the first time I ever considered that this child I prayed for was not mine at all, but His. It was a huge revelation. His child? That changed everything for me. It shifted my self-focus and made it God focused and after months of selfish thinking, desires, prayers and actions – I surrendered. My process of conception was a time of great healing. There were things in me that God healed that are of great benefit to me, my children and my relationship with Him. As the pregnancy progressed my husband and I chose two names and said we would name her when we saw her. She was born with big, beautiful brown eyes and a head full of dark hair, but that did not help us decide. The first time they placed her on my chest I looked at her and prayed, “Lord I prayed for this child and you granted my request and I dedicate her back to you.” It was not until the next day that we chose her name Isabella which means “dedicated to God.” Had the Lord not spoken to me the night before I found out I was pregnant I may not have been able to speak, let alone pray the words, “Lord I prayed for this child and you granted my request and I dedicate her back to you.” God’s plan and purpose for Isabella’s life included me surrendering mine to Him (completely).

I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” 1 Samuel 27-28