El Roi — The God Who Sees Me

One of the names of God I’ve been discovering is El Roi, a Hebrew name meaning “The God Who Sees Me.”

It comes from Genesis 16:13, when Hagar encounters God in the wilderness. Hagar is alone, distressed and vulnerable, and after her encounter with God she gives Him this name: El Roi — the God who sees me.

The name itself comes from Hebrew. “El” (אֵל) means God, while “Roi” (רֳאִי) is connected with the Hebrew idea of seeing, looking upon or perceiving. So the name carries the beautiful sense of God who sees me — not merely seeing me physically, but seeing and knowing me completely.

There’s something incredibly powerful about that.

God sees what I’m going through. He sees the things I don’t say out loud. He sees my struggles, my fears, my hopes and the parts of me that other people might never see. He sees me when I feel invisible, and He hasn’t forgotten me.

And I think that’s what makes this name so personal. It reminds me that I don’t have to explain everything to God for Him to understand me. He already sees me.

You can pray the name El Roi whenever you need to remind yourself of that.

You might simply say:

“El Roi, You are the God who sees me. You know me completely. You see where I am, what I’m carrying and what I need. Help me to remember that I am never unseen or forgotten. Amen.”

You don’t need a special time or place to pray it. You could pray it in the morning, before going to sleep, while walking, when you’re overwhelmed, or simply whenever you need to feel close to God.

For me, there’s something deeply comforting about knowing that the God who sees everything also sees me personally.