James 4:2 "You do not have because you do not ask."
Jehovah-Rapha is another one of the many names of God that we see in the Bible. It means "The Lord Who Heals". We first see the use of Jehovah-Rapha in Exodus 15 when Moses was talking to the Israelite people and conveying a message to them from the Lord. It took place early on in their wilderness journey. Moses led the Israelite people into the Desert of Shur. They had traveled for 3 whole days without finding any water and as you would expect, the tension escalated among the people and they began to grumble to Moses who in faith turned to the Lord. They would soon come to see that the Lord was testing their faith as the big body of water that they came to was so bitter that they couldn't drink from it. The Lord showed Moses a piece of wood and instructed him to throw it into the body of water. The water immediately became fit to drink so in essence He "Healed" the water. The wood caused the water to become sweet and the people could now quench their thirst. To me, that would have been a life changing experience; however, we know from history that the people quickly forgot the faithfulness of their God and continued to complain.
God healed the water from contamination, corruption and impurity which was huge at that moment because they had already been walking 3 days without water in that hot, dry environment and on average humans will die after not having water for 3-5 days. So, we can see that they were drastically in need of His help. God's purifying of the water was a symbol of His power and care for His people. This power was significant because it was God's sustaining power that would ultimately be with them until they reached the Promise Land.
Jehovah-Rapha is used over 60 times through out the Old Testament and literally means to restore, to heal or to cure physically, emotionally, or spiritually. God doesn't just restore water, He also heals people. Only Jesus can remove the bitterness from life. We see many accounts of Jesus healing people as He lived on the earth. He was literally Johovah-Rapha in the flesh and if we are true Believers in Jesus Christ, the same Johovah-Rapha who walked the earth 2,000 years ago lives within us. Once we are set free spiritually, Jesus can set us free from any other bondage we are under including addictions and sin patterns. Of course, He is always more interested in healing our sin problem first.
It is important to remember that God often uses Medical Doctors, Biblical Counselors and Therapists in the healing process so we need to pray for discernment and direction when we are dealing with health issues. The key is to seek God first and then go from there. He will lead and guide us in unimaginable ways. The Cross of Christ in the New Testament is the Jehovah-rapha who healed in the Old Testament. Don't miss the significance of the wood from a tree sweetening that bitter water. All of our sin problems began in the Garden of Eden but were resolved because another piece of wood held up our Savior, our sin substitute.
God longs to be involved in our every day lives and included in all our circumstances. He is a God who heals but it is His prerogative as to how He heals which is what is so hard for us as humans to understand. His ultimate goal is to glorify God in everything He does and who are we to question how or why He chooses to do what He does? The old hymn says Trust and Obey, For There's No Other Way and I would have to say, "Amen" and "Amen".
We must call upon the name of the Lord, our Defender, our Deliverer, and our Shelter in the midst of the storms we're facing to bring healing and to find rest for our souls. Healing comes when we choose to look to the "Light" and surrender our will for His purposes and His ways. James 4:2 tells us that we do not have because we do not ask. So, I challenge you to sit at the feet of Jesus, surrender to His will and ask for Him to step in and turn your life upside down. Healing will come . . .in His way and in His timing.
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Personalize this prayer.
Dear Lord,
I confess you to be my Healer and my Deliverer! You have brought healing in the midst of some of my toughest times and I praise Your holy name. I have to admit that the healing I was expecting never came but the healing you brought was so much better than I could have ever dreamed or imagined. Keep me close to you, Lord, and when the storms begin to rage again, I pray that Your tender mercy will once again bring wholeness and healing. I have learned so much through the years and if you can use some of my experience to help someone else, I am always willing to be of use to You. Your faithfulness brings me comfort in knowing that I don't have to worry about my circumstances as you have everything under control. If you are going to bring me to it, You, no doubt, will bring me through it. Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens and Your faithfulness to the skies. It is fluid and continuously flows into all the earth looking for those who will acknowledge and receive You. Blessed be Your name.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
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