The Power in a Name with Bethany Hicks

the Bible is full of this Treasure Trove of the names and what they carry and how they're connected to people's identity their Heavenly identity who God says they are as well as it speaks to their Destiny and what they're called to [Music] do guys welcome to another episode and I'm so excited to have Bethany Hicks with me who is a dear friend she is a prophetic trainer and an author a psalmist yeah and co-founder of the prophetic prophetic company and she lives here in Austin Texas and I've gotten to know Bethany over the last just

maybe two years has it been two or three years wow maybe yeah I think it's been about three years now three years just crazy and she is just incredible and just carries so much uh gifting uh just even Revelation about the gift of the prophetic and empowering people to walk on that so thank you for being here so excited I am so excited just to spend time with you anytime I love it yes yes well today our conversation I'm really excited about it because we're going to be talking about something that you you actually just

wrote a book about and so this is all about the meaning of names and the prophetic destiny that is behind it and so I would just love to start the conversation off with how did you come to this you know how did you get this Revelation and how did the Lord kind of unravel all this for you of like the power of names and the meaning behind it and all that yeah well I actually co-wrote this book with Dan McCollum who's also the co-founder of prophetic company so this is a book that we wrote together

um I remember being a little girl and being absolutely fascinated with names my parents had this name book and I I seriously remember being like maybe six or seven and I would look through all these name meetings and these people's names and I was just like fascinated by it right and of course I wanted to know what my name meant and just kind of looking that up so I actually had this memory just even recently like the Lord reminded me like you've actually always been drawn to this but he didn't give me really Revelation until

really probably in the last about 10 years and and Dana was actually a catalyst for this uh with me within the name meanings and really prophetically what that means now we know that that the prophetic is really just God speaking to us right and and so when I talk about like the prophetic meanings of names it's actually what God is speaking through a name what it is that He is wanting to release through that and so honestly like Dano and what he had uh he had come up with kind of three ways to be able

to prophesy with the name to be able to hear what God is speaking through that originally and then we started doing these trainings uh to help people discover who God says they are through the names and then you start to see it all all throughout scripture and I mean the Bible is full of this Treasure Trove of the names and what they carry and how they're connected to people's identity their Heavenly identity who God says they are as well as it speaks to their Destiny and what they're called to do you know Janessa I think

there's a lot of people on this Earth that are trying to figure out what they're here for right like I think that the two most probably important questions to a person is like who am I and what am I made for what am I here to do I believe that actually those answers that seeds of those answers are actually found in the power of your name and who God says you are wow yeah so that's really what this book is about but as well as his trainings and what we are um really wanting to see

people come alive to their truest identity you know as we know today identity is a big word right and a lot of people are trying to figure out who they are and who they're not and I think what happens is a lot of times if you don't know who Heaven says you are if you don't know who God says you are you're going to be looking for your identity or the definition of who God or who you are yeah from external circumstances from internal you know mindsets or beliefs you're going to be looking to you

know family or friends or culture or disappointments or or feelings even and it's like all of those May contribute to a level but the truest you who who you are actually made to be the very core of your being is who God says you are and one of the most powerful ways to discover who God says you are is actually found through what he says through your name wow you know and so I'm not saying like we're not saying just get a name book or look up the name meaning and boom that's what you are

true it but that is almost a launching pad or Catalyst to invite God into the conversation and say God what is it you're saying through this name meaning what is it you're saying about who you created me to be through this name Association or this name meaning and so um it's a beautiful invitation to a greater conversation of identity but again we see many instances in Scripture that God prophesied frequently through using a person's name yeah so it's it's it's changed my life because when you know who God says you are you live from that

place right you own that and and it actually for lack of a better word it almost like satisfies something in you like I finally know who I am I finally know what I'm creat to be and yet the funniest thing is like we don't just have one name right like I mean my name's Bethany you're Janessa that is a name that's an identifier and that is powerful but we all have multiple names just like how God has hundreds of names I'm also a mother I'm a sister I'm a daughter I'm a prophet you know I

I've I'm a leader there's so many other areas in my life that each one of these names and who God said you are they actually carry within it um a sense of authority and responsibility yeah right and so names are very powerful um I like to use this example like for my children you know they call me Mom and uh and but Mom is more than just an identifier it's it's more than just like you're my mom and every other woman is not my mom right it's more than just oh that woman is my mom

no within the the identity of mom there's an authority as their mother in their life to speak into their life I have an authority in their life that nobody else has as mother I also have a responsibility over my children so that they know that like I'm responsible to nurture them to take care of them to help raise them to be the World Changers that God's called them to be all of those aspects are actually found within the meaning of the name mom yeah right right and so this is a powerful Revelation that that we

need to all have it's names are so much bigger than just an identifier they actually carry an authority and a responsibility and when we start to connect those dots and we realize we're actually living from those names people are living from false names you know people may have grown up and and thought I'm unloved I mean unloved that's a name you know or I'm rejected like it's more than just a thought becomes their identity it is and it's a name that's attached to their identity and so when you start to recognize that oh my gosh

this is a name that I've identified with and now I'm walking in that Authority or I'm walking in that identity and it's affecting your destiny because that's who you're naming yourself to be wow and so even who we like nothing can stick to you without your agree yeah right and so when it comes to names if you are if you're coming into agreement with a false name or false identity then if you that's what gives that name power right so if you are consciously or unconsciously you know back to I am unloved or I am

rejected you're going to live from that identity because you've owned it because you've come into agreement with it so true but that's not the truest you you know Heaven always sees you better than you see yourself and you know Psalms 139 says that God's thoughts towards us are as numerous as the Sands of the seashore they are precious so when God calls who you who you really are there is an upgrade there is a revelation of goodness over us that sometimes can feel a little bit even awkward because you're like wow God says I'm a

mother I'm an Apostolic mother like this is a name that God has been speaking to me about a kingdom mother what does that look like that's bigger than just with my children it's raising up other mothers and fathers and and it's like wow that's seems bigger than who I am yeah but it's the truest you right and and so often when God starts to call and reveal who Heaven says you are in different seasons right like even like you'll you have names we have names but we're often God gives us new names for new seasons

of identity as well you know cuz he knows that you're ready for that new season so um so again it's not that the the other names God's given you are are no longer true they're like stepping stones of identity that's so good right that's so good and I love what it's interesting I feel like that thing we're talking about where the thought of like I'm unlovable or I'm rejected like that all can really start at a young age absolutely and it's interesting the enemy knows he'll start early he'll start when you're innocent When You're vulnerable

because he knows where you're going and so he's like if I can just sew this lie early for you to own that identity right and you know we can see there's a lot of that even today with children owning wrong identities and parents being okay with that and it's just crazy the times we live in but just the power of agreement and I would let's just hit on that for a second because the power of agreement you know life and death are in the power of the tongue and when we have experiences coming against us

or we we're found in unfortunate situations where you know people that we love or trust say things to us and you know or teachers or people that we've trusted and and they speak something like there is a moment where we have to decide am I going to agree open that in and let that in or not and and what could you say to someone that has maybe already kind of Taken on that identity maybe they are like oh my gosh I do feel this thing of rejection like I I carry it everywhere I go and

I don't know how to break out of that how do I get that new identity like how do I swap that how do I tear that down because it's really real it is important to break agreement yeah with that false Identity or that false name so even that recognition of it I think is kind of the first step right A lot of people don't realize that they're actually coming into agreement with false names false IDE identities and so you need to know like first of all like okay unloved we're just going to use that as

an example or you know rejected um you need to identify that is not me that is not true that is a name that I'm no longer going to come into agreement with and so instead of saying I am unloved you say I am loved you know instead of saying or coming into agreement with I am rejected you say I am I am received I am loved I am a daughter of God and so being able to start not just displacing the lie but replacing it with the truth is going to be the key for that

truest you to stick and so um one of the ways that we just encourage people is you really do need to discover who God says you are like you need to know what names he's calling you and the Redemptive lens of even your actual name we believe God speaks through that as well as the names that he's declared over you you know a very uh foundational way that we can discover some names right now is just look through scripture like we kind of say it like this way like scripture reveals your last name and the

prophetic reveals your first name so scripture reveals your last name in that it shows who we are as the family of God right like you know your last name connects you to your parents to your brothers or sisters you know possibly to those uncles and aunts that are crazy it's like hey we are all you know we're all this same last name I know wait is your married name and so it's like hey this connects us all to one another as a family and so it's the same with the kingdom of God like the kingdom

of God is family and the Bible reveals the last names that every single one of us have that connects us to one another and to the father right and so what are some of those children of God yeah you know coars with Christ we are ambassadors we are lights of the world right um there are so many different places in scripture where God says this is who you are yeah and so understanding even the power of the last name like I am the light of the world what does that mean as an identity that means

when I walk into a dark place all I got to do is shine because I am the light of the world and so that's just a a great starting place to to start really diving into in the word like you know Jesus I am a child of God what does that mean that means I am loved that I have a father that I'm not alone that I'm part of a family you know and all of those Revelations carry within it not just an identity but that Authority and the responsibility as a child of God what

does that look like when I walk into a room you know when you see others that are orphans or or people don't know who they are as a child of God how do I pull them into the family of God right so that's just one place that people can discover and then honestly the prophetic again hearing What God Says having God speak to you which God can speak to every believer yeah like everyone is hardwired to hear God's voice but being able to ask the Lord and Lord like what are you saying over my first

name what are you saying over who you've created me to be and being able to walk in the um Authority and the beauty of your heavenly identity um will help displace all of those inferior lines so you got to break agreement with the false names but you also have to start owning who God says you are you know the Israelites um you know remember when they were going into the promised land right and and they sent out the 12 Spies and then they all came back and what's interesting is all 12 Spies saw the same

thing right they saw a land that was plentiful the it was flowing with milk and honey the grapes and the fruit was just huge right but we know that two spies Joshua and Caleb saw rightly and 10 spies they all saw the Giants in the land right but what was interesting was that the the 10 spies who gave the bad report they adopted a false name in a sense cuz they said this they said we were like grasshoppers in our own eyes Joshua and Caleb saw God rightly therefore they saw themselves rightly they're like we

can take this we're the children of God we can take the land but the T spies they came into a false identity a false name of grasshopper they're like we are we are a lowly insect in the sight of these Giants and you know what happened that wrong identity cost an entire generation the promised land wow and I to say it like this is like what you believe about your identity will either promote you into Destiny or cause you to Forfeit it wow because it's a name right it's the power of that name that is

what a name carries what you choose to believe about who you are is actually the Catalyst to whether or not you're going to fulfill the purposes of God on this Earth wow and you know I can hear people sometimes say they're like well it doesn't matter what I say or I think it's what God says which is true but if you don't believe who God says you are you're actually not going to walk or own that Authority and that responsibility so even like Abraham for example Abram God came to Abram and says hey no longer

will you be called Abram which means uh exalted father you know and Abram I believe to some level had experience what it was to be an exalted father at the time he didn't really have children but he had many servants he had many you know he had his nephew lot and I believe he was operating as a father figure to some level but God said but no longer will you be called Abram but you'll be called Abraham right for you will be a father of many nations Abraham means a father of many nations what's interesting

about that passage is that Abram could not have stepped into his Destiny as the father of many nations until God upgraded his identity as and did it through his name yeah because the name meaning even though it's similar there was an upgrade that God added because he was releasing Abraham into a new season of identity and Authority now this is the other thing I just want to say because again I can hear the the questions people would be like well I can just name myself then I can just I can rename myself if God Did

It for Abraham I can do the same thing for me we have to remember it was God who initiated God who called into his identity it was an Abraham who upgraded himself you know what I mean and I see that today like you said like a lot of people are changing their names because they're hoping it changes their identity and they're identifying with something that's honestly so much far lesser than what God actually created them to be and they're hoping that that's going to be the key and it's just not like like I know too

many people that operated in that that lesser name and um and then when they started to walk out of that and they walked into the truth of their Heavenly identity that's when they really saw that freedom that peace and honestly the Fulfillment starting to step into their Destiny as well that's so good that's so powerful um I remember you talked about in another podcast episode that we did together of your your son Ethan and his name meaning and and I just love to kind of count there in that story share that story again and um

cuz it's just so powerful just even the the when we do look at the meaning of names as well like we were talking about earlier and and the destiny that can be attached to that as well that God has in there yeah so my son Ethan when we named him um it was very intentional his name Ethan means strong and steadfast and um and so throughout his life I've noticed that there's like a strength and a steadfast even within him of his character like I could never I could never try to to sway him or

make him do something he didn't want to do necessarily like I could even see the manifestation of that in his life but about two years ago or three years ago now when he was about to graduate high school uh we were just kind of praying like Lord what's the next steps for Ethan and I remember going in his room and just kind of like worshiping the Lord and just kind of picking up his pillow and just asking the Lord and it was interesting within about two weeks from that time um he came home one day

and he's like Mom there was this college fair at school and you know they walk around looking to see if they're interested in colleges and he's like I wasn't really interested in any of the colleges but they had a navy recruiter there and I was really drawn to this Navy recruiter and so he went to him and he's like and I think I'm going to join the Navy and I was like wow I wasn't really expecting that you know like I so honor the military and what they do for our nation um and and the

men and women that serve in the military so thankful but I didn't really have any military people in my family so that was a little bit outside of my grid to be honest and as his mom I just wanted him to be safe you know I mean I wanted him to be strong but I wanted him to be safe and so I remember taking this to the Lord and just like Lord is this you you know like we prayed about this is this you and the Lord reminded me he's like do you remember what you

used to declare over him when he was younger and instantly I remembered seen have I saw this scene where he would be wrestling a little too aggressively with his younger sisters and I would pull him aside and I'd say hey buddy remember his name means strong and steadfast I say hey buddy God Made You strong not to be a bully but to be a defender of the defenseless and I would declare this over him like Hey you're not made to wrestle and Bully younger you know those that are younger or weaker than you God Made

You strong to be a defender of the defenseless and so the Lord's like what better place for your son to be a defender of the defenseless but then to serve in our military in the Navy and I am Telling You Janessa when when the Lord showed that to me I had so much peace about where the Lord had called my son to go and even this choice for him to be able to step into the Navy seen that even as a a not necessarily a fulfillment but definitely a pathway to my son's Destiny to to

be one who is called to be a defender of the defenseless so even as a mother um just being able to have that assurance that we were on track with who God created him to be and it was found in the power in his name yeah and even within that name meaning that's amazing I love that I love that you Steward it you stewarded it and you saw that and you spoke truth into that identity and I think that's so powerful right and I know I mentioned this but Jasper our son he I always felt

like he'd be an Evangel that was the word you know in my when he was in my womb I was like I know he's called to be an evangelist and I mean this kid has loud lungs so when he can he can belt he can yell really loud I'm like wo so I'm trying to like point that back to like hey you have a a great voice it's loud and it's going to you know just pointing it into like truth of like not just shutting it down but yes pointing it in Truth and in their

Destiny and and so how can someone who you know I know may many people might be like what is my name even mean right many people don't even know their name meaning and I've had conversations with people like what's your meaning of your name and they're like I have no idea like if they were to go look it up and and some maybe it's something like really like whoa it means you know mine is God is gracious so there's maybe something in that but for someone that like would you recommend them go look up their

name and pray and ask the Lord like how and then how can they Steward that kind of what's like some advice for those people yeah absolutely I would say you can certainly start with like looking up a meaning of a name um a lot of times there's multiple definitions one of the things that I do like when we're practicing like prophesying over people according to the meaning of their name um I would look up the meaning of their name and then always always always invite Holy Spirit into the conversation you know we're not talking about

just like a kind of a man forced identity you know like meaning we're talking about Lord what is it that you are saying through this meaning of the name what is it who do you say I am through this and so inviting the Lord especially as a parent um you know being able to look through all of your children and maybe even starting to journal like What God Says through the meaning of their name you know I was looking at your name on the way down here you know Janessa and I was thinking about okay

that means god is gracious right or or gift of God or something like that right is that what that means and I think about like you know Grace and gift uh is often used interchangeably and in scripture like the Hebrew word Caris I believe it is it means Grace or gift and just thinking about how like God just even through you like you are a gift of God to the world and like what God's doing through you I know a little bit about you I mean as well so I have a little bit of Intel

but even what you're doing through bringing the beauty of like language and not just the words to say but how to say it and like I believe that you are a sign in a wonder and that you're releasing the grace of God wherever you go there's you're releasing people to be able to see the goodness and the grace of God in a way that they haven't seen before so it's like you are a gift of God to the world not only do you walk in that Grace or you walk in that graciousness but you actually

are are the gift of God to the world and so you're just kind of like learning ways that God can speak there's actually a couple other ways that we train within the name uh component but like my youngest daughter Ellie her name means shining one like she like like God is light and shining and she has a call a prophetic call that she's going to have an audience and she's stepping she really has a call even to acting right now which is so interesting to me but seeing even how God has created her uniquely with

the gifts that he's given her to be called into honestly an area of entertainment that is so dark but God has called her to shine God has called her to be a light in that place and so I'm watching her name kind of unfold right now like her walking in the power and her name even unfold in this in this journey right now but like you said as parents reaffirming who God says they are not what the world says and we have to be so careful that we're not as parents um even with people we

know assigning wrong names or false names or you know when my kids were little I would not let them call each other stupid or idiot or things like that because I knew that the enemy like you said the enemy is so quick to try like allow this false Dart yeah of a name come into them if they come into agreement with that then they'll start living from that like my daughter Faith she lived from the lie of Shy cuz she thought she was shy when she was really little and I saw that not just like

oh you're shy honey okay well what can I do to protect that no I saw that as a false name wow because there is no fruit of the spirit of Shai we know this right and so I would say honey you're not shy I'm like trying to tear off that name you've got the lion of the tribe of Judah living inside of you so I would speak the truth of her Heavenly identity because faith is powerful Faith moves mountains faith is like the lion of the tribe of Judah living inside of you and within a

very short time I saw her no longer come into agreement with that false identity as name but come into that agreement of of who God said she is that she's bold and she's powerful and she's strong and so really just inviting the Holy Spirit asking the Lord Lord who is it you say I am or my child is and then just I believe it's going to be unfolding it's it's it's a Redemptive lens of who Heaven says you are and for those that maybe your parents named you something that maybe had a false god name

meaning you know like we have people that are that maybe had a um Hindu background right and so their name meaning maybe means like Su goddess or something like that well again believing that God redeems all things and reconciles all things I like okay well I believe that God's called You're called to be a daughter of God right as some guys you're called to shine you're you're called to be his light that you are the light of God you know and so like learning how to even not just flip it but to see what God

says through that knowing that he is reconciling all things to himself like there's not there's there's not this secular sacred divide God is actually reconciling all things so there's always a Redemptive lens to who everyone is created to be and we have so many people that like hated their names but when they start to see who God says they are it's like oh my gosh I love my name now we hear this all the time amazing you know like the name Mara means bitter and one of the stories we tell in our book it was

this woman that Dano actually went to and he could see her head hanging down and she's like do you know the meaning of your name she's like yeah it's Mara it means bitter or bitter Waters and he's like no Mara is where the bitter Waters were made sweet and you have a anointing to go into places that are tough or challenging and to turn it into the sweet place and so again always inviting heavenly father who he says you are into the conversation so that you can start to really see the truest you and who

God says you are that's so good I'm glad you touched on that because I know there's people probably been like my name isn't a great meaning but just that reality that we can invite God into that he's reconciling all things back to him and and just the truth that the lens seeing it through the lens of his eyes and and the Redemption and the power through that so you have to you won't you won't actually be able to really see who God's having how God has created you to be without inviting him into the equation

right like a lot of people are trying to find their identity but you don't like by by very nature of a creation it needs a Creator right and too much of creation is trying to Define themselves without inviting the Creator into the equation and so you have to bring God into it because again who he says is better than you could imagine but only he knows who he created you to be and so he's the he alone his voice is the only thing that actually can bring the truth restoration of your truest identity so good

so good so many good things that you released can you talk a little bit real quick about your book and just where they can find it anything else you want to share about that yes we're so excited we just Rel released our uh our newest book called It's called the power in a name and it's by myself Bethany Hicks and Dam M colum you can get it on Amazon right now it's available on eBook as well as in paperback it just launched we will be getting it out on Audible as well soon and so um

yes it's just it will talk about this what we've been talking about but my heart my heart really is to see every person come into the revelation of who heaven as they are and I feel like as people read through this book we're going to give them practical tips we're going to give them a lot more stories a lot more biblical basis for this concept and um I just my heart after this book when people read it of course I want everyone to be able to have the tools to find out who Heaven says they

are um but also just even becoming aware of maybe false names that they've come into agreement with so they can start throwing those off throwing off those names that are hindering them from walking in the fullness of their identity and their Destiny and to be able to discover who God says they are so that they can start walking in the full purpose that they are here on this Earth for and so that's currently where they can find that they can also find uh us at prophetic company.com that's our website as well yay well can you

just pray for everyone yes just listening watching and just whatever you're feeling just impartation and all that good stuff love to do that yeah so Lord I just thank you so much for every person watching and listening right now Lord and father I just thank you God that you formed every person on here from from their mother's womb Lord like you knew them you knew who they were before they were ever formed or created on this Earth Lord God and you have called every person for such a time as this that you today are not

an accident even if that was the circumstances around to which you were conceived God says you are not an accident you were always on purpose and even your name the your name that who he says you are is the truest thing about you in the universe so father I pray that there would be a greater revelation of who Heaven says every person is who's watching this Lord that they would be able to take those seeds of identity they would be able to bring this into a conversation with you Lord and that you would expound and

expand father who you say they are Lord God and even I just see that picture Lord that as they are are um receiving who you say they are lord it's like it's like the anointing that breaks off the Yoke Lord God the anointing of their truest identity would break off the Yoke of every false identity Lord God so father I pray that even as they've been listening to this podcast Lord that there would be names of false identity that they have come into agreement with Lord that they would be able to recognize it for the

lies that they are and and break agreement and some of you it's kind of funny I'm even seeing this picture it's almost like I see it almost like written like on a masking tape or something like a word like I'm unloved or rejected either on your mind yeah I see it on your mind and some of you I even just see this like prophetic Act of just like you're like ripping that off like you're taking off that name of those false names rejected you know unloved unseen um all these you know all these names uh

I'm I'm ashamed you know all of these names you're you're tearing that off so we just rip off those false names in jesus' name and Lord we just receive every true name who you say we are that we can live from that place and Lord that you would reveal that you would release that Lord God and that there would be a greater hunger to even know who Heaven says that they are in Jesus name amen amen