Praying the Names of God - August 7
From Praying the Names of God Week Eight, Day Three
The Name
The Hebrew word rophe means "heal, "cure," "restore," or "make whole." Shortly after his people left Egypt for the Promised Land, God revealed himself as Yahweh Rophe, "the LORD who heals." The Hebrew Scriptures indicate that God is the source of all healing. As you pray to Yahweh Rophe, ask him to search your heart. Take time to let him show you what it contains. If he uncovers any sin, ask for his forgiveness and then pray for healing. The New Testament reveals Jesus as the Great Physician, the healer of body and soul, whose miracles point to the kingdom of God.
Key Scripture
If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statues, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you. (Exodus 15:26 NKJV)
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Wednesday
PRAYING THE NAME
Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:4-5)
So he cried out to the LORD and the LORD showed him a tree.When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. (Exodus 15:25 NKJV)
Reflect On: Isaiah 53
Praise God: For his mercy, revealed in the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Offer Thanks: That God did not leave us in our sins.
Confess: Any pride that makes it difficult to admit your sin.
Ask God: To give you a deeper appreciation for the grace of forgiveness.
The Hebrew Scriptures depict God as one who both wounds and heals, who smites his people for their sins to wake them up to their spiritual danger, but who quickly restores them when they repent. If you read Genesis straight through to Malachi, you will find an awful lot of smiting going on but precious little repentance.
Rather than give up on us, God initiated a deeper strategy, one that would not have occurred to us even had we millions of years to ponder the problem. Instead of continuing the endless cycle of smiting and healing, punishing and restoring, God allowed his own Son to be smitten, struck down for our offenses. The tree on which Jesus was impaled is like the tree God instructed Moses to throw into the bitter waters of Marah. This time God plunged his Son into the waters of death. But instead of being swallowed up by them, he rose up alive again, becoming living water for all who seek him.
No wonder there's power in the name of Jesus! Two thousand years after his death, people are still getting healed because of prayer. You can hardly read a major newspaper or magazine without running across another scientific study indicating a positive link between prayer and healing.
If bitter waters are swirling around you or someone you love, if you are battling a physical or emotional illness, remember this: God not only provides a remedy but he is the remedy. Draw near to Yahweh Rophe today, entrusting yourself to the One who has the power to heal you.
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Meet your spiritual ancestors as they really were: Less Than Perfect: Broken Men and Women of the Bible and What We Can Learn from Them.
