El shaddai meaning
Have you heard the awesome worship song, El Shaddai sung by Amy Grant?
Oh, the memories that come flooding in when I listen to that song!
I was in my teenage years and life was very troublesome but I knew Christ as my savior and when I would listen to this song, El Shaddai (on my walk-man - do you remember them?) I would feel God's peace wash over me.
El Shaddai is the Hebrew name for God meaning The All-Sufficient One, God Almighty.
God was and is all-sufficient for every one of my needs and yours too. It means that the God of more than enough has the power to execute His promises in the Bible.
God supplied everything that I needed during my teenage years and I have seen many miracles of His provision in my adult life, especially when my husband was in seminary!
El Shaddai is the God who is more than enough.
El Shaddai is the Hebrew name that God revealed to Abram when He established an everlasting covenant with him and his descendants.
El Shaddai: The All-Sufficient One, God Almighty.
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life.2 I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.”
Genesis 17:1-2.
Pronouncing The Hebrew Name of God EL Shaddai: El shad-DAI.
This is Day 3 of a 30 Day study on The Names Of God. If you haven't read the introduction yet, please start HERE
Understanding the Name Of God- El Shaddai:
Consider the scene that these Bible verses convey. We can imagine an old man falling on his knees before God.
Can you imagine being in the midst of God's presence and hearing His voice?
That still happens to ordinary people today. I have read many accounts of people hearing the audible voice of God.
Do you know the story of Abraham and Sarah?
We talked a little about it yesterday when we were studying the name, El Roi and discussing the story of Hagar. You can read about her HERE
So we have God establishing a covenant with Abram that he will have many descendants but Abram is ninety-nine years old and Sari is a great old age too, well beyond child-bearing age. Sari had not been unable to conceive. This would take a miracle from Almighty God!
✨This is what happened: The Bible explains it much better than I can,
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. 2 I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.”
3 At this, Abram fell face down on the ground. Then God said to him, 4 “This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! 5 What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations. 6 I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them!
7 “I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants[b] after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.” Then God said to Abraham, “Regarding Sarai, your wife—her name will no longer be Sarai. From now on her name will be Sarah.[a] 16 And I will bless her and give you a son from her! Yes, I will bless her richly, and she will become the mother of many nations. Kings of nations will be among her descendants.”
17 Then Abraham bowed down to the ground, but he laughed to himself in disbelief. “How could I become a father at the age of 100?” he thought. “And how can Sarah have a baby when she is ninety years old?” 18 So Abraham said to God, “May Ishmael live under your special blessing!” Genesis 17:1-8,15-18.
God changed Abram's name to Abraham and Sari's name to Sarah. And at the age of eighty-nine, Sarah conceived and they named their baby, Isaac.
When God appeared to Abraham and introduced the name El Shaddai, God Almighty, Abraham believed that God was able to accomplish all that He had promised. God's words nourished Abraham's faith that the Almighty would do what He said He would do.
It didn't matter that Abraham and Sarah were old. The laws of nature do not apply to the One who created them! With God all things are possible.
El Shaddai in Hebrew:
The Old Testament word for "Almighty" is the Hebrew word 'Shaddai', which means "most powerful". Some scholars suggest that El Shaddai can be translated as " God the Mountain One". This conveys a word picture of God as a mountain of strength and His presence as a majestic shelter and shade.
The word "Shaddai" comes from the Hebrew root word shad, meaning "breast". It gives us a powerful picture of God as "the One who nourishes, supplies, and satisfies."
✨God's name El Shaddai is used forty-eight times in the Old Testament.
Applying the name of God, El Shaddai to your life:
Why should you study the names of God?
You will be forever changed by knowing and understanding who God is and knowing how He intends to work in your life.
Did you read the first post in this series about the 30 Powerful Hebrew Names Of God yet?
You can read it HERE.
As you study this name of God, El Shaddai, remember that God is more than enough to meet your needs.
This is a small peek at the Names of God devotional Bible study (see above pic.)
If you would like to take 30 days to study 30 names of God I have prepared 2 versions for you:
You can download the Free printable Names of God chart and follow the 30 blog posts ( you will find the list HERE) And download the printable from our FREE Resource Library.
Or if you want the convenience of having all 30 Names of God to download with a prayer journal with guided questions and additional Names of God resources then the Names Of God devotional Bible study workbook is perfect for you ( and perfect for use in a group setting). Download HERE.
El Shaddai - God who is more than enough, all-sufficient.
As you prayerfully study the name of God, El Shaddai consider the following questions
Who is El Shaddai to you?
How does knowing God as El Shaddai impact your life?
How can you grow in your Christian walk by understanding God as El Shaddai?
How have you experienced God's almighty power working on your behalf?
No matter what you are going through today, you can cling to the truth that God is your El Shaddai, The All-Sufficient One, God Almighty.
He has the life-giving sustenance that you need and He is more than enough to meet your needs.
Praying the Name Of God, El Shaddai:
When you pray the word of God, you are praying His words of truth into your situation. It is the same when you pray the names of God. When you understand the meaning of the specific name of God and pray it over your situation-it is declaring His power over it. It certainly will build your faith and expectation of God to move in it.
When you pray God's name, you are declaring the truth of who God is and you are proclaiming His power at work in your life.
Let's Pray:
El Shaddai, nothing is too hard for You. You have everything that I need. You sustain me. You are Almighty God, nothing is too difficult for you. Forgive me when I lose sight of how powerful You are. Amen.
The next name of God on our list is, El Olam-The Everlasting God Or The Eternal God. It's all about His grace xx Karen.
