RHEMATHERAPY: God's Healing Word

We Must Ask God To Send His Word And Heal Us Of
Our Afflictions, Sicknesses And Discomforts.

Rhematherapy is a word I coined many years ago after thoroughly studying, reading and meditating on Scriptures, verses and text related to the topic of divine healing, especially the eighth chapter of Matthew. Rhema is  the Greek word used in the New Testament to reveal and demonstrate Jesus Christ's intimate and personal concern for each individual who comes to Him for help.

Rhema simply means "a specific, personal and intimate statement, Scripture, verse or promise," and is in contrast to "Logos," the general term used to describe the entire Bible. The Bible -- all sixty-six books -- is the Logos of God: the complete revelation and expression of God's mind and thoughts as concerning mankind. Jesus Christ Himself is called the Logos of God, the full expression and utterance of who God is (John 1:1).

THE TWO-EDGED SWORD OF THE SPIRIT

This is the two-edged sword of the Spirit!

In contrast, individual Scriptures, verses and text from the Bible are exactly what the Bible calls each one: "The sword of the Spirit, which is the word (rhema) of God" (Ephesians 6:17). Thus, a rhema is a specific statement or individual Scripture, verse or text which the Holy Spirit brings to our remembrance from the Logos, or complete Bible, and which we utilize as a two-edged sword in time of need (Hebrews 4:12).

This is what the two-edged sword, or rhema, of the Spirit looks like: one sharp edge contains the "Thus says the LORD" rhemas spoken by God and recorded in the Old Testament, and the other sharp edge has the "It is written" rhemas spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament. The two-edged sword of the Spirit is the personal and intimate declarations spoken to individuals by God as revealed in both Old and New Testaments.

THE DIVINE THERAPY OF GOD

Our English word "therapy" is derived from the New Testament word therapeia, which means, "the treatment of ailments, diseases, sicknesses and maladies by medical or physical means. Rhematherapy is simply the combining of these two Greek words to express and explain how the Lord Jesus Christ heals individuals. The Lord of Shekinah (manifested) glory simply speaks an intimate, personal and specific word or statement to heal an individual of physical, mental or spiritual disorders, diseases and sicknesses.

RHEMATHERAPY: GOD'S HEALING AND HELPING WORD

The Sword of The Spirit Is The Word Of God.

One of the more familiar Scriptures which illustrates divine and biblical rhematherapy is found in Psalm 107:20: "[God] sent His word and healed them and delivered them from their destructions." This is exactly how God comforts and heals -- He sends His living, powerful, authoritative and intimate "Thus says the LORD"/"It is written" two-edged Word/Sword to heal, to help and to deliver.

One of the best known passages of Scripture demonstrating rhematherapy is recorded in Matthew 8:5-13, the story of the centurion soldier and his appeal to Jesus the living Word to heal his palsy-stricken servant.

When Jesus declared to the centurion, "I will come and heal him" (v. 7), the Resurrection and the Life dynamically illustrated a true-to-life "Scripture Picture" sketch to show us what divine rhematherapy is. In this verse, Christ's personal word or rhema is "I will come and heal him." This is what divine rhematherapy is -- a personal, intimate word of promise from the living Savior which is accomplished by action, performance and results.

In this same verse (v. 7), the Greek word for heal is therapeuo. Our English words therapy, therapeutic and therapist are derived from the root of this word. When Jesus declares, "I will," He is speaking rhema, or an intimate, personal and specific word of promise. When Christ also declares, "I will come and heal him," Jehovah-Rapha Incarnate is promising to openly demonstrate His "all authority" power, ability and might to heal and to help (Matthew 28:18).

When the Savior says, "I will," we can rest assured that a divine encounter is about to take place. When He prefaces this statement with "I will come and heal him (her)," His audience -- consisting of both believer and skeptic -- is about to witness a miracle, sign, wonder and amazement of divine healing, help and deliverance from the Great Physician Himself -- Dr. Jesus!

ENTERING GOD'S WORD INTO THE CONFLICT,

THE PROBLEM OR THE AFFLICTION

We Must Enter God's Word Into The
Conflict Or Problem For It To Win

In Matthew 8, rhematherapy is vividly displayed in six different situations, conflicts and afflictions: the cleansing of  a leper (vv. 1-4); the healing of the centurion's servant (vv. 5-13); the healing of Peter's mother-in-law (vv. 14-15); the healing of all who were sick or demon-possessed (vv. 16-18); the cessation of tempestuous winds and waves (vv. 23-27); and the casting out of evil spirits from demon-possessed men (vv. 28-34).

In the above situations as well as every other case recorded in the Bible where  Jesus healed individuals, the healing occurred because someone asked for His help. Here's the picture of what prayer -- the Asking, Seeking, Knocking kind of prayer encouraged by Jesus in Matthew 7:7 -- looks like in Heaven. It looks like incense going up before the altar of God (Psalm 141:2).

WHAT OUR PRAYERS LOOK LIKE IN HEAVEN

The Bible reveals that every time someone asks God for help in Jesus' name, a mighty angel takes that incense -- that prayer -- in his hands and mixes it with divine fire from the altar of God, and then flings it back to Earth as answered prayer in the form of spiritual thunder, lightning and earthquakes (Revelation 8:3-5). This text also reveals the complete cycle of prayer: (1) our in-the-name-of-Jesus prayers going up to God as incense; and (2) holy fire mingled with our incense coming back to us in the form of answered prayer.

Rhematherapy is simply entering God's Word -- His specific statements, Scriptures, verses -- into the problem, the conflict, the affliction, the trial or the concern. The rhema of God will always win when given the opportunity to compete. The major competing forces which hinder answers to prayer include: unbelief, continuing and habitual sin, worldly philosophies and mindsets, and Satanic resistance against God's answers (Daniel 10:12-21).

Rhematherpay takes place because (1) we pray specific verses and Scriptures; (2) divine fire from heaven falls; and (3) Jesus' "all authority, all Lordship power" prevails over everything in His Word's path! Glory to the King.   \O/