“Your Great Name,” a song that praises the healing power of God, nabbed Worship Song of the Year at the 43rd Annual GMA Dove Awards.
“I am completely blown away by the way God has taken this song and breathed His life and favor over it to encourage other believers and glorify the great name of Jesus—our Healer, Redeemer and King,” says Krissy Nordhoff, who wrote the song with Michael Neale. “I am humbled to be a part of it.”
“Your Great Name” was inspired by Nordhoff’s testimony of God’s faithfulness in her own life. Nine years ago the singer/songwriter, wife and mother was diagnosed with advanced-stage Lyme disease resulting from a tick bite. After 18 months of treatment and little progress, Nordhoff attended a healing service at her sister’s church, Resurrection Life, near Grand Rapids, Mich.
“I literally felt the Lord touch my physical being,” Nordhoff explains. “And I know that it was only a taste of His power. From that point forward, over the course of about two months, the Lord healed me completely!”
Another pivotal inspiration for “Your Great Name” came at Nordhoff’s home church in Franklin, Tenn., when a call for prayer was issued for a baby boy diagnosed with a terminal illness. Given only a few days to live, the church prayed earnestly for the child’s healing, but it was not to be.
“I remember being overwhelmed with emotion when I heard the news,” Nordhoff shares. “It was a major leap of faith for our church to pray for the life of this little baby boy. I didn’t want our church to be discouraged from praying and believing God for healing again. Even though we didn’t see this boy healed, it doesn’t change the truth of God’s Word in Scripture. The same is true as it has been for over 2000 years. Jesus rose from the dead, is alive today, and still works miracles. He is still our Savior, Redeemer and King!”
Nordhoff says when she writing the verses to this song—each one ending with “at the sound of Your Great Name”—she wanted to proclaim this to the church: With faith and prayer in the great name of Jesus, fear leaves, children are fed, the sick are healed, the dead are raised and we are overcomers as God’s children.
Bringing the song to her worship pastor, Neale, yielded the powerful chorus, “Jesus, worthy is the Lamb, that was slain for us, Son of God and Man, You are high and lifted up and all the world will praise Your Great Name!”
Initially recorded for The People’s Church Shine Out worship album, “Your Great Name” went on to become a Top 5 hit for Natalie Grant, remaining on Billboard’s Christian radio chart for more than 47 weeks last year.
“Natalie and her husband, producer Bernie Herms, took this song to a whole new level of production and passion and just made it something even more special,” says Nordhoff’s husband, Eric, president of TwoNords Music, the couple’s publishing company. “It has become a powerful worship anthem in the church today—encouraging countless believers every Sunday proclaiming the great name of Jesus.”
