Jehovah Rapha: Encountering the Lord Who Heals
At the start of each new year, I pick a name of God to focus on throughout the year. Scripture contains hundreds of biblical names for God, providing many choices. As we prepared to turn the calendar to 2026, I asked God to lead me to one of his names, and the name Jehovah Rapha came to mind.
I had a vague memory that Jehovah Rapha meant The Lord Who Heals, but I had to look it up.
Jehovah Rapha: The Lord Who Heals
God referred to himself as Jehovah Rapha after the Israelites crossed the Red Sea.
They were safe from their Egyptian enemies, who had just drowned in the Sea; however, there was no water for them to drink. The water at Marah was bitter.
God told Moses to throw a piece of wood into the water, and the water became sweet. He then declared, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and listen to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the Lord, am your healer” (Exodus 15:26, NASB).
God was showing his people that he was capable of healing far more than the water. He is the Great Healer, and the Healer of our hearts, minds, souls, and bodies.
Today, we’ll explore the various components of God’s healing power. I’ll also share the story of the challenging turn of events that took place in my life just weeks after deciding to focus on the name Jehovah Rapha.
Jehovah Rapha Heals Our Bodies
All healing comes from God.
When our bodies are healed, we can trust that it is the hand of God at work. Sometimes, God chooses to heal through the wisdom of other people, using modern medicine. At other times, he chooses to heal us suddenly and miraculously. Every human being will also face the day when our healing comes by meeting God face to face in heaven.
Here are some Bible verses about God healing broken bodies.
Deuteronomy 7:15, ESV
And the Lord will take away from you all sickness, and none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you knew, will he inflict on you, but he will lay them on all who hate you.
Jeremiah 30:17
For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, declares the Lord, because they have called you an outcast: ‘It is Zion, for whom no one cares!’
Exodus 23:25
You shall serve the Lord your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you.
Matthew 10:1
Matthew 8:17
Jehovah Rapha Heals Our Hearts
God heals our hearts in many ways.
Sometimes, this healing includes spiritual freedom, as we see in those who are set free from demonic oppression. We see an example of this in the following verse:
Acts 10:38
How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
Healing From Sin
Most of us think of healing as only physical, but our greater need for healing is healing from sin. Over the past months of physical suffering, it has become clear to me that God is even more concerned with the healing of my heart and soul than my physical healing. I’ll share more about this at the end of today’s post.
God also heals us when we confess our sins to one another and pray together. James 5:16 describes this healing power.
James 5:16
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
Healing Through His Comfort
God also heals us with his presence. He comforts us in times of loss and grief (Psalm 34:18).
We see this pattern throughout Scripture. Psalm 147:3 tells us that God heals the brokenhearted and binds their wounds.
Psalm 147:3
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Jehovah Rapha Heals Our Minds
God is also in the process of healing our minds.
As he renews our minds, we come into alignment with him, seeing the world as he sees it (see Romans 12:1-2).
God’s primary tool for healing our minds is his written Word:
Psalm 107:20
He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction.
God also heals our minds through the progressive work of sanctification, making us more like Jesus:
1 Thessalonians 5:23
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
My Story
Now that we’ve explored some ways Jehovah Rapha heals us, here is my story.
Physically, I was in good health when I sensed God calling me choose the name Jehovah Rapha as my name of God for the year. I often ran ten miles at time and felt strong and healthy.
It didn’t make sense that I would focus on this name (What could possibly need to be healed?!), but I sensed God was in it, and I went with it.
Meanwhile, there were some patterns in my life that were bothering me. Escaping into sugar and unhealthy food was at the top of my list.
In mid-February, my lower back started hurting after several weeks of long runs. I scaled back and figured it would heal. Intermittent back pain has followed me for years, and it didn’t seem like a big deal.
One night, after my back had been particularly sore all day, I sneezed, and something awful happened. I felt an unbearable stabbing pain in my lower spine, and my whole back locked up in tremendous pain.
The following two weeks were a blur as I functioned in survival mode. I went to the doctor, who speculated it was a herniated disc and put me on steroids. Meanwhile, I tweaked the disc several times while undertaking the tasks of daily life: cleaning the kitty litter, moving a child’s backpack, and opening a window.
This all happened as I was preparing to coach spring track for our local school district, and I was paralyzed with the fear that I wouldn’t be able to coach.
Pushing Through the Pain
Over the next two months, I tried to care for my back while also coaching, which often required many consecutive hours on my feet.
I managed not to tweak the disc again, but the parasympathetic muscle tightening and inflammation made life miserable. It seemed I wasn’t healing.
I spent 30 to 60 minutes per day doing physical therapy exercises to strengthen my inner core muscles.
We invested in natural anti-inflammatories, back braces, electronic devices, special pillows, creams, and an injection.
Jehovah Rapha Had More in Mind
As I continued to muddle through life in survival mode, something interesting happened.
When I sought God about my back pain, he brought other issues to mind, namely, escapist eating and over-exercising patterns. I realized God wanted to heal more than just my body. He was using the injury to get my attention, to heal something in my soul. He wanted to free to me to eat healthily without escaping into food, and he wanted to teach me to move my body for his glory, freeing me from patterns of overexercising.
These changes didn’t come easily. However, in time, I shifted into healthier ways of being in my body.
My back also began to heal.
I realized that God had used the crucible of physical suffering to heal parts of my life that couldn’t be reached through lesser means.
This was an act of love and care, not punishment. Because he is a good Father, God loves us too much to allow unhealthy patterns to remain unchecked in our lives.
Not every physical ailment is the result of sin or other issues of the heart. Yet God often uses physical suffering to smooth off rough edges and shape us into the image of his Son.
A year of debilitating back pain is not the worst physical suffering I have endured. At the same time, I’m thankful for the lessons gleaned through this season.
If you are suffering in some way today, I encourage you to claim the name of Jehovah Rapha over your life. God is the God who heals, and he wants to heal you. His healing might take time, and it might include more than just healing your physical body. Seek him in this sanctifying work, and you will find him.
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Mother-Daughter Devotionals by a Mom and Daughter
Girl to Girl: 60 Mother-Daughter Devotions for a Closer Relationship and Deeper Faith is written for girls ages 7-12. It includes 60 devotions with Scripture, conversation starters, and a shared journaling section for moms and daughters after each devotion. I wrote this book with the help of our daughter, Bekah, when she was eleven. Find this one-of-a-kind shared devotional here.
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