One day in August 2019 my husband Jan and I were sitting in the kitchen chatting and he was telling me about some of the different names of God we see in the Bible. He mentioned that one of them is “Jehovah Rapha” which means “The God who heals.” This really stood out to me and I instantly made a mental note of the name and it’s meaning.
Little did I realise that within an hour I would receive a call from one of my closest family members and receive the news that the diagnosis from the hospital was cancer. Little did I know that I would soon be calling on the name of Jehovah Rapha as I prayed down the phone with my loved one. I believe there are no coincidences with the Lord and it was no coincidence that Jesus gave me that name right before the moment I would need it.
Over the course of the days that followed, the Lord really used the Psalms to encourage my heart and bring comfort to both me and my family. So many verses spoke His power and peace into our situation and encouraged us to keep our eyes not on the problem but on Him. No matter how huge and overwhelming the situation may seem, our God is bigger. He is able.
I wrote my poem “Jehovah Rapha” during this difficult time as one evening I was before the Lord in fervent prayer, pleading for His intervention on behalf of my loved one. As my spirit groaned and ached with emotions I felt that I couldn’t seem to find words to capture what I was feeling and I was pretty much just making noises before the Throne of God! Of course our Saviour understands the groaning of our spirits as easily as the most eloquent words and I feel these prayers are probably very potent and precious to our God. After a while however, the earnest prayer of my heart began to finally find it’s way in words and started to flow into the form of a poem. “Jehovah Rapha” is the result of this and I wrote it in one sitting that night.
My prayer for this poem is that it might be able to help those who are facing a similar situation and perhaps struggling to put their feelings into words. I hope it can comfort anyone who is praying for healing and bring them into the peace that surpasses all understanding as they put the situation into the hands of The Great Physician. May these words bring our minds rest during a dark time as we call on the mighty name of Jehovah Rapha, our God who heals.
Hear my prayer, O Lord my God, hear my cry, O Father.Little did I realise that within an hour I would receive a call from one of my closest family members and receive the news that the diagnosis from the hospital was cancer. Little did I know that I would soon be calling on the name of Jehovah Rapha as I prayed down the phone with my loved one. I believe there are no coincidences with the Lord and it was no coincidence that Jesus gave me that name right before the moment I would need it.
Over the course of the days that followed, the Lord really used the Psalms to encourage my heart and bring comfort to both me and my family. So many verses spoke His power and peace into our situation and encouraged us to keep our eyes not on the problem but on Him. No matter how huge and overwhelming the situation may seem, our God is bigger. He is able.
I wrote my poem “Jehovah Rapha” during this difficult time as one evening I was before the Lord in fervent prayer, pleading for His intervention on behalf of my loved one. As my spirit groaned and ached with emotions I felt that I couldn’t seem to find words to capture what I was feeling and I was pretty much just making noises before the Throne of God! Of course our Saviour understands the groaning of our spirits as easily as the most eloquent words and I feel these prayers are probably very potent and precious to our God. After a while however, the earnest prayer of my heart began to finally find it’s way in words and started to flow into the form of a poem. “Jehovah Rapha” is the result of this and I wrote it in one sitting that night.
My prayer for this poem is that it might be able to help those who are facing a similar situation and perhaps struggling to put their feelings into words. I hope it can comfort anyone who is praying for healing and bring them into the peace that surpasses all understanding as they put the situation into the hands of The Great Physician. May these words bring our minds rest during a dark time as we call on the mighty name of Jehovah Rapha, our God who heals.
Incline Your ear to hear my call for You’re Jehovah Rapha;
The God who heals and makes us whole, the One who can restore.
Send Your healing once again just like in times before.
Do not hide Your face from me, do not turn away,
O Rock of our salvation, bring a healing touch this day.
I kneel before my Maker and present my soul’s petition,
Mercy Father! Spare this life and cure this dark condition!
Your lips declared creation with the words, “Let there be light.”
Declare once more Your power Lord and speak into this night!
The day of woe and trouble is regretfully at hand,
Open up Your realms on High and utter Your command!
Save, O Lord! That man may know to whom belongs all power;
Jehovah our Deliverer, our Fortress and our Tower.
Wonderful Redeemer and the Horn of our Salvation,
Councillor and Mighty God, I plead for restoration!
Not to us! O Lord my God, to Your name give all glory!
Because of Your great mercy bring full healing to this story.
Your presence ever with us for Your promises are true
And even though You slay us Lord, we still will hope in You.
El Shaddai, I call Your name and ask You grant us peace.
O Great Physician, overrule and let this torment cease!
Hide us Father, in these times we do not understand.
May we find our rest in You, our God, the Great I Am.
I honour and exalt You, Your goodness I proclaim,
Teach us Lord the value of trusting in Your name.
For You have made the Heavens, by Your strength the dead were raised.
Your comfort brings delight and You are greatly to be praised!
I ask You grant us patience to endure this tribulation
And now commit our way to You with hope and expectation.
Rejoicing in this hope You give, I look to You, dear Abba.
Taking heart that all is well, O praise Jehovah Rapha!
Psalm 102:1-2
“Hear my prayer, O Lord,
And let my cry come to You.
Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my trouble;
Incline Your ear to me;
In the day that I call, answer me speedily.”
Psalm 94:17-19
“Unless the Lord had been my help,
My soul would soon have settled in silence.
If I say, “My foot slips,”
Your mercy, O Lord, will hold me up.
In the multitude of my anxieties within me,
Your comforts delight my soul.”
Psalm 109:26-27
“Help me, O Lord my God!
Oh, save me according to Your mercy,
That they may know that this is Your hand—
That You, Lord, have done it!”
Psalm 126:5
“Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.”
Psalm 18:1-3
“I will love You, O Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies.”
Psalm 27:13-14
“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!”
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