Praying the Names of God for 5 DaysSample

GOD ALMIGHTY - EL SHADDAY

God revealed himself as El Shadday, God Almighty, to Abram and told him of the everlasting covenant he was establishing with him and with his descendants. Until the time of Moses, when another divine name was revealed, the patriarchs considered El Shadday as the covenant name of God. When we pray to El Shadday, we invoke the name of the one for whom nothing is impossible.

God Reveals His Name in Scripture: Genesis 17:1–8, 15–18

Open your personal Bible translation and read the same passage. Make a note to yourself or using a simple mark in your Bible where God uses El Shadday as the name for Himself.

When Abram was 99 years old, Yahweh appeared to him. He said to Abram, “I am El Shadday. Live in my presence with integrity. 2 I will give you my promise, and I will give you very many descendants.” 3 Immediately, Abram bowed with his face touching the ground, and again Elohim spoke to him, 4 “My promise is still with you. You will become the father of many nations. 5 So your name will no longer be Abram [Exalted Father], but Abraham [Father of Many] because I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will give you many descendants. Many nations and kings will come from you. 7 I will make my promise to you and your descendants for generations to come as an everlasting promise. I will be your Elohim and the God of your descendants. 8 I am also giving this land where you are living—all of Canaan—to you and your descendants as your permanent possession. And I will be your Elohim.”

9 Elohim also said to Abraham, “You and your descendants in generations to come are to be faithful to my promise. 10 This is how you are to be faithful to my promise: Every male among you is to be circumcised. 11 All of you must be circumcised. That will be the sign of the promise from me to you. 12 For generations to come every male child who is eight days old must be circumcised, whether he is born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner who’s not related to you. 13 Every male born in your household or bought with your money is to be circumcised without exception. So my promise will be a sign on your flesh, an everlasting promise. 14 Any uncircumcised male must be excluded from his people because he has rejected my promise.”

15 Elohim said to Abraham, “Don’t call your wife by the name Sarai anymore. Instead, her name is Sarah [Princess]. 16 I will bless her, and I will also give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will become a mother of nations, and kings will come from her.” 17 Immediately, Abraham bowed with his face touching the ground. He laughed as he thought to himself, “Can a son be born to a hundred-year-old man? Can Sarah, a ninety-year-old woman, have a child?” 18 Then Abraham said to Elohim, “Why not let Ishmael be my heir?”

Understanding the Name

The Hebrew El Shadday (EL shad-DAI), often translated “God Almighty,” may literally be translated “God, the Mountain One.” Since many of the gods of the ancient Near East were associated with mountains, early translators may have made an educated guess regarding its meaning. Like the mountains themselves, God is seen as strong and unchanging. El Shadday reveals God not only as the one who creates and maintains the universe but also the one who initiates and maintains a covenant with his people. Shadday occurs thirty-one times in the book of Job and seventeen times in the rest of the Bible. In the New Testament, the Greek term Pantokrator is often translated as “Almighty.”

Connecting to the Name

1. Why do you think God linked this particular name to the covenant he made with Abraham and his descendants?
2. In addition to revealing his name, God also changed Abram’s and Sarai’s names. What do their new names signify? See also Genesis 12:2–3.
3. What was Abraham’s response to the revelation of God’s name? How might you have responded if God had revealed himself to you as he did to Abraham?
4. List the promises God made to Abraham. What was Abraham’s response to this incredible news?
5. Have you ever had to wait a long time before El Shadday acted in your circumstances? Describe your experience and how prolonged waiting tested your understanding of God.
6. What does the name El Shadday, God Almighty, mean to you? How have you experienced God’s almighty power working on your behalf?

Praying a Passage with God’s Name

Praise God because it is his nature to bless those who love. Spend a few moments reflecting on El Shadday, God Almighty, as you read Genesis 49:22–26.

22 “Joseph is a fruitful tree,
a fruitful tree by a spring,
with branches climbing over a wall.
23 Archers provoked him,
shot at him,
and attacked him.
24 But his bow stayed steady, and his arms remained limber
because of the help of the Mighty One of Jacob,
because of the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
25 because of the El of your father who helps you,
because of the Shadday who gives you
blessings from the heavens above,
blessings from the deep springs below the ground,
blessings from breasts and womb.
26 The blessings of your father are greater than
the blessings of the oldest mountains
and the riches of the ancient hills.
May these blessings rest on the head of Joseph,
on the crown of the prince among his brothers.

Praying the name El Shadday for Myself

When God makes a covenant with Abram and Sarai, He promises to give Sarai something she has always longed for--a child. What have you longed for in your life? Do you still remember? Express those longings in a prayer to El Shadday.

Psalm 91 gives us a dialogue between the psalmist and God. The psalmist says, “I will say of the LORD, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress…” What do you say about God? Read God’s response to the psalmist in verse 14 and write out your own dialogue. What do you have to say to El Shadday?

Promises of El Shadday

2 I will make you a great nation,
I will bless you.
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you, I will curse.
Through you every family on earth will be blessed.” Genesis 12:2-3

17 I will certainly bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and the grains of sand on the seashore. Genesis 22:17