Holy Spirit Counselor
Holy Spirit Counselor
Holy Spirit Counselor - Part One
Healing your deepest wounds
We choose to construct our walls
The Holy Spirit is our counselor
Logical belief vs experiential belief
The role of our emotions
Our pain is rarely rooted in the present
Holy Spirit Counselor - Part Two
Our beliefs are the root of the pain
Our beliefs are the root of the pain
A lie believed, will FEEL true!
Truth-based negative emotions
The four basic components of healing
The Holy Spirit is eager to speak!
Holy Spirit Counselor- Part Three
Owning the lie is crucial
The victim mentality roadblock
Lies vs conclusions
The Holy Spirit always has the answer!
Things that will keep us from hearing
Knowing the Holy Spirit's voice
Holy Spirit Counselor - Part Four
What made you angry is not what keeps you angry
Guilt will prolong grief
Dealing with sin-based pain
Dealing with addictions
Verifying if the healing is genuine
The cost of healing
The role of the minister
Holy Spirit Counselor - Part Five
Asking the right questions
Deliberately withholding the truth
The minister's own issues
Other practical applications
Holy Spirit Counselor - Part Six
Why I love this ministry approach
Where to go from here
What about casting out demons?
Some closing thoughts
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Have you ever wanted to truly break free from the chains of emotional baggage from your past? Were you abused as a child, and it seemed to have scarred your life forever? Many people, even with professional counseling never get the healing and freedom that God intended for us. Do you honestly think that God wants us to struggle through life because of the things which happened to us? Absolutely not! So why are so many Christians struggling with the same issues over and over again throughout their entire life? Why do we have to forgive so-and-so over and over again, and every time she pulls our trigger, we have to make the choice to forgive her once again. The problem never really goes away, it is just suppressed. Is this the king of victory Jesus wanted us to experience? Absolutely not.
I like to get to the root of things and understand what is really going on in that person's situation so the real problem can be solved. A good bandaid just doesn't do the job for me I'm not satisfied with temporary fixes. I want real answers that really work! I want the people I minister with to experience breakthrough that changes their life and doesn't keep coming back. I don't want you to have to forgive your offender 100 times and still be triggered every time he says the wrong thing. I want you to stop wishing you could love those who wrong you, but to actually start feeling compassion and love for them, and having the genuine desire to pray God's will into their lives and feel it in your heart. We all wish we could do that for those who hurt us, but few of us really experience that level of transformation in our hearts. The type of ministry work of the Holy Spirit that I am about to share with you in this teaching is the most life-changing type of ministry approach that I have ever seen. The Holy Spirit wants to heal your deepest wounds so you can live in effortless victory and genuine healing.
We choose to construct our wallsYou are in the emotional mess you're in because of choices you've made because of beliefs held sometimes deep with your heart. You may have chosen to put up a wall which blocks you from receiving love because you've been hurt and your heart believes that putting up a wall will keep your heart safe from being hurt again. The reality is that it doesn't work. Your wall doesn't keep you from getting hurt it only keeps you from freely receiving love as God intended. It's only through receiving the love of God in your heart can be in that safe place that God intended it to be in.
"Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands thy walls are continually before me."
Isaiah 49:16, KJV
When we build such walls, we choose to hinder our ability to freely receive love, and the single greatest need that we have (the need to be loved) will not be met (at least in the capacity God intended), and out of that lack of our greatest need being fulfilled, all sorts of emotional and life problems will arise. Almost all addictions, for example, are rooted in our need to be loved not being fulfilled. Our capacity to receive love is hindered by these walls which we have constructed which were meant to protect our heart, but actually cause all sorts of other problems. I have often said that if Satan can keep our God-given needs from being met God's way, we become vulnerable to seeking out alternate ways to meet those needs. Sin for that matter, is usually just a vain attempt to manage our emotional pain and lack of fulfillment. Why do we lash out at somebody when they say the wrong thing? We are making them pay for what somebody else did to us years ago as a child. When we fail to love others, we have fallen into sin, because Jesus commanded us to love one another. However, if our own need to be loved isn't being met, because of the walls we have constructed in our hearts, it will be difficult to love others because we really can't freely give something we aren't receiving ourselves.
Do you want to live the life that God intended for you to walk in? Do you want to freely love others as Jesus commanded? Then you'll need to work on those walls in your heart, which are hindering your own need for love from being fulfilled. A heart that is not regularly receiving and fully aware of the love of God, is a heart that will not be emotionally healthy, and therefore that person will be prone to struggle with sin as a vain attempt to meet their God-given need to receive and experience His love.
Here's where the problem lies, we often can't just let down our walls because whether or not we realize it, we believe that our wall is doing something for us (protecting us from getting hurt), and until that belief that our wall is protecting us, it will be difficult to just let it go. This is why so many people cannot let go of their anger is because what they don't realize is that their anger is doing something for them. The key to letting our walls down, is finding out what they are doing for us, and getting truth on them. Until we debunk the lies which cause us to hold on to our walls, we may find it very difficult to truly let go and experience the freedom that God intended.
The Holy Spirit is our counselorI have recently took on a new approach to inner healing ministry, and I don't think I will ever be doing ministry quite the same way. The process is very simple, yet can bring some of the deepest level of healing that I've ever seen. The foundation of this type of ministry is based on these important scriptures:
"But the Comforter [in newer translations they call Him the counselor], which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."
John 14:26 KJV
"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come."
John 16:13 KJV
When I traditionally addressed inner healing ministry, I would give great advise, good scriptures, and try to break away at faulty thinking patterns in the person I was ministering to. Now my focus is to get the person in a place where they can receive counsel directly from the Holy Spirit, who speaks to their heart and not just their head. While I can change what you logically believe, it is the Holy Spirit that can change what you believe experientially.
Logical belief vs experiential beliefHave you ever known something to be true but just didn't feel like it was true? Like for example, let's say you were struggling with feeling forgiven and loved by God you knew from scripture that God loves you and forgives you, but somehow you just don't feel like that is true. Your emotions tell you otherwise. You struggle feeling like you are not loved or forgiven, but yet you know it's just not true. Most of us have struggled with something that we know in our minds is not true, but in our hearts we sure feel like it's true (that is, if we are honest with ourselves). Did you know that you can hold two opposing beliefs at the same time? Did you know that you can believe one thing in your mind such as "God supplies all my needs" yet the minute you lose your job start having a panic attack? Or no matter how many times you're told that you are forgiven (and quoted all the great scriptures), you still question or wonder if you really are? That is because what you believe in your mind (logical belief) is not always the same thing that your heart believes because of what you have experienced. A good counselor can deal with what you logically believe and work through your issues on a head-level, but the Holy Spirit will work with you on a heart-level, and that makes a world of difference. I'm not saying counselors are ineffective and worthless, but there are many times they only scratch the surface and bring limited healing God wants to bring deep level healing and complete restoration in that person's heart. True and genuine healing at the heart level brings lasting freedom and effortless victory for that individual.
The role of our emotionsThe western mind has really put many of us at a disadvantage. Many times we are told to deny our emotions, that our emotions can lie, or that we just can't go by our feelings. I disagree. Our emotions tell us our our heart really believes to be true. If our heart believes we are not good enough to be loved by God, that's exactly how we will feel, even if we know better in our mind. When a child is taught that it's unacceptable to cry or show or even feel emotion, they are being taught to bury their pain, and that is very dangerous emotionally. We all need to be real about how we feel. Not that we should ever use our emotions to manipulate others, or that we should go around wearing our feelings on our sleeves, thus making others feel like they are walking on egg shells. None of that is healthy, but it is very important that we be real with ourselves about how we feel. Denying our feelings only suppresses our problems, and serves as a hindrance from us getting getting healed.
Our emotions are the bridge to the brief that we hold which keeps us in pain they tell us accurately what it is our heart really believes.
Our pain is rarely rooted in the presentWhen somebody triggers us, it is rarely them who is causing the pain we are experiencing. It is rather that they are rubbing against a painful wound in our past. If a boss tells you that your work just isn't good enough, it would have very little effect if you didn't already believe that you weren't good enough. If your parents made you feel ashamed of a B report card as a kid, you may go through life believing that you aren't good enough, and when somebody comes along and rubs that wound, it will be 10X more painful than if you didn't have that pre-existing belief about yourself. I hope that makes sense.
If somebody tells us we're stupid and we know in our heart that we're not, their words will have little meaning to us. If we already believe that we're stupid in our heart (even though we know in our head that we're not), then somebody comes along and speaks the lie that we already believe in our heart, that will trigger us. We're here trying to deny that awful perceived fact, and how dare somebody comes up to us and tell us something that we're already struggling with!
Rarely our present pain is caused by the present condition. The present condition is almost always triggering something we already believe about ourself or about God because of past experiences.
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<p>A parent or teacher can do tremendous damage simply by saying to a child, "You're stupid and will never amount to anything!" or "Getting a B on your report card is just not good enough!" Even though that child can grow up and graduate from Harvard, they may never feel good enough because of that lie their heart was made to believe. They may even become prideful over their degree and put others down in order to feel good. That's because in their heart, they are insecure and feel like they don't amount to much. Sadly, they will live their life trying to overcome this feeling of inadequacy.
Some of the lies that I run across in ministry might look like this:
"I'm just not good enough"
"I'm stupid"
"I'm just white trash"
"I'm worthless"
"God doesn't care about me"
"God wasn't there when I needed Him"
"My heart isn't good enough for God"
"I'm not worthy to be healed"
"God doesn't love me or He would have..."
"I'm unlovable"
These types of heart-beliefs will cause tremendous pain. They usually are believed at the scene of the accident, so to speak, when somebody first does the damage to us. Parents are often the ones to cause the damage, because children tend to look to their parents to form our sense of identity. If they say we're stupid, we must be stupid, or so our emotions (heart-beliefs) tells us. That's why somebody can be very intelligent and yet still struggle with insecurity and feel like they are never good enough. Has your mother, father, teacher, or somebody else you looked up to as a child, said something to you that has impacted how you see yourself today?
These lies that our heart believes aren't just things we are told, they can be born out of things that are done to us (abuse, trauma, abandonment, rejection, etc) or events that happen in our life (car accident, loss of a loved one, etc.) . For example, rape and sexual violations have a way of shaping a person for life, but it isn't because of what happened, it's because of what we believed about what happened that keeps us in pain. Many times in ministry, it turns out that a woman who has been raped will believe things such as, "It was really my fault" and "I'll never be clean again."
There are often more than one lie that hide behind each emotion. For example, if you were molested, you likely believe more than one lie which is causing the pain that you suffer from today. You might believe that it was your fault, thereby producing feelings of guilt and condemnation. You might also believe that you will never be the same, that this has changed who you are and that you're a prostitute at heart because you allowed it to happen. In a ministry session, we might deal with the part about it being your fault, and get a measurable amount of freedom and healing in that area, but still feel dirty and shameful. That means there's simply more lies to uncover and get truth on. I like to test the true measure of freedom or healing they have received by asking something like, "On a scale of 1-10, what level would you say you still feel dirty?" This will reveal the healing that they have received, but also give you an idea that there's more to be done. They might say that they now feel complete peace there. A person who was in a car accident might suffer with panic attacks, but believe it or not, it might not just be from the car accident. They may have felt like they've done something unforgivable, and are afraid to die, and the car accident just triggered that belief, and from that point on they suffer from panic attacks. In a ministry session, they may feel the panic, although they are completely safe and what was once a threat is no longer any concern. But for some reason they still get triggered and feel panic and extreme feelings of fear, all while in their mind they know they are safe and have nothing to worry about. This is another classic example of our logical beliefs not being the same as our heart's experiential beliefs. The lies that a person's heart may believe might include things like "I am going to die" or "I am going to hell when I die."
Satan is said to be the father of lies, and when we're wounded, one of his demons are right there to inject a painful lie into our heart, which will keep us locked down to that pain for the rest of our lives (or so he hopes!). A lie believed in the heart will hold a person in life-altering bondage. Jesus made it clear that the truth is what sets us free from the bondage of a lie, and in saying this, He made it clear that a lie can bring much bondage into our lives.
"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
John 8:32, KJV </p>
Do you want to know the truth that will set you free from the tremendous bondage and pain that a lie will put you in? Uprooting those lies is something that the Holy Spirit is very eager to do for YOU (the person reading this article, in case I wasn't clear)! Jesus said that the comforter (or counselor) would come and one of His jobs was to lead us into all truth (see John 16:13). The Bible is also clear that God withholds no good thing from His children (see Psalm 84:11), so we can be absolutely certain that the Holy Spirit's desire is to lead us into the truth that will set us free. Why would God want His child to live in bondage to a lie? Then why would the Holy Spirit withhold truth from us that Jesus said to clearly He would give us?
"...when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth..."
John 16:13, KJV
We may ask God for a brand new BMW and get turned down, but when it comes to asking Him for truth on what our heart believes, this is an area we can be absolutely sure He desires to speak to us . If we aren't hearing, then there's a reason and we need to get to the bottom of it. But don't think for a minute that somehow God doesn't want to speak to you, His precious child, about something like this!
A lie believed, will FEEL true!What feels to be true when you visit that emotion? I didn't ask you what you believe or know to be true, but what feels true? That's what your heart believes. Your emotions don't lie, they merely indicate what it is that your heart really believes. Your mind can be totally convinced and know that you are smart and a very archiving person, but you still feel stupid, worthless, or like you'll never be good enough or measure up. That's because your heart-belief is that you are not good enough for some reason. It could be rooted in a childhood memory, where you brought home a report card with a B on it, and it just wasn't good enough for your parents. That's the kind of stuff that will stick with a person for life, because their heart-belief was damaged through performance-based rejection.
While nearly all negative emotions are lie based (depression, fear, etc.), there are two emotions that are negative but truth based. These emotions are sadness and anger Jesus Himself experienced these two negative emotions. When a person loses a loved one and experiences sadness, or maybe they saw an injustice and became angry those are truth-based forms of these emotions. Anger held on to is not a truth-based emotion. The Bible tells us to be angry but sin not, and not to let the sun go down on our anger. The reason that anger is formed is not the reason that it's held onto years later. Sadness can also be contaminated or surrounded by lie based negative emotions. The goal is to deal with the lie-based pain, and then when pure sadness or anger is left, give it to Jesus and ask Him to carry it. He will carry both sadness and truth based anger. If you try to get truth on sadness or anger in their pure truth-based forms, you won't get an answer because it's not lie-based. You need to get healing for these emotions differently Jesus is there to carry them and take them from us if we will give them to Him.
So far I have explained some of the roots of bondage, but never gave you a structure to go by. There is a very simple structure that I like to follow when doing this type of ministry. It is broken down into four components, which could be spelled out M-E-L-T.
M - Memory(s) where it happened
E - Emotion that you are feeling
L - Lie(s) that you believe which keep you feeling the pain
T - Truth which the Holy Spirit wants to speak into you
Often I find that recognizing the emotion is the first step, then go back to the memories where you felt the same feeling (try to go back to the oldest or strongest memory you can find), then while feeling the emotion, ask what you really believe which is causing this emotion. Once you get to that place, you need to own the lie, and take it before Jesus to get His perspective on it.
One of the most popular lies that we have been fed, is that God doesn't want to speak to us personally. Nothing could be further from the truth! A lot of people have self-worth issues that are hangups when it comes to hearing from God. You need to ask yourself, "What is it that I believe about God speaking to me?" Many times if we are honest with ourselves, the answer might sound like this: "God won't speak to me, because I'm not special enough or I'm a nobody. He has more important people to speak to!" A lot of sincere Christians actually believe garbage like this! Jesus made it clear that even the children are to come unto Him, and talk with Him freely (see Matthew 19:14). There are plenty of scriptures that make it clear that God is not only willing, but desires to speak to us, and expects us to hear from Him on a regular bases. This is true for ALL of God's children. Do you have a child that you never speak to? Do you honestly expect to have a relationship with somebody that you never talk to? Yet today many Christians are shocked when they hear God's voice for the first time. Jesus made it clear that His sheep will hear His voice:
"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:"
John 10:27 KJV
You have to have some really twisted beliefs if you think that Jesus doesn't want to speak to you about your deepest hurts and painful beliefs in your heart. You really have to have some distorted belief system in place to honest stand there and think, "God doesn't care about me enough to speak to me about my deepest hurts!" Sometimes we need to stop and ask people what they believe about God speaking to them. Is there a reason why He shouldn't speak to His child who Christ has given His life for? Do you see the self-worth issue I'm putting my finger on here?!? Yet this is a common problem in the church today and it keeps many from even talking to God and listening for His reply.
Sometimes there are fears such as, "What if the Holy Spirit doesn't speak to me?" Then folks, we need to figure out what hangup we have on our end, because the Bible is clear that He is eager to speak to us and lead us into all truth. We're not asking for a million dollars here, we're asking good honest heart-belief questions and need desperately His answer. Do you think that a good and loving God would withhold from such an opportunity? Would you withhold if your child came to you with their deepest wounds and wanted to talk about them? Of course not! Then how much more does God want to speak to us and bring us deep healing to our most painful and damaged areas in our hearts!
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not and it shall be given him."
James 1:5, KJV
"For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly."
Psalm 84:11, KJV
"Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?"
Matthew 7:9-11, KJV
The Holy Spirit is more eager to speak to you than you realize He is just waiting for you to ask and then listen for His reply!
If we have identified the emotion, and we think we have discovered the lie, why go to the memory? Sometimes we don't discover the lie till we get into the memory, other times it's all about figuring out why we believe the lie so we can fully own it at the source. This step is important in getting us out of denial regarding the lie, and truly taking ownership of it. That's where we really get in a good place to be able to receive truth on it. Is this necessary every time? No, but it is a very important step many times you'll be ministering to people.
When going after memories, there may be a lot of them, so where do you start? Go after either the oldest memory connected to that emotion, or at least the strongest memories where that emotion stands out. It is usually not necessary to visit every memory to resolve the lie, but be prepared to go after more than one memory as it may be necessary for compete healing.
One of the reasons why we don't hear the Holy Spirit is because are so buried in denial about what our heart truly believes. I have had some amazing success in this type of ministry (as of the writing of this article, over 90% of those I minister to hear from the Holy Spirit), but I think one of the secrets is getting the person out of their place of denial, and getting them to truly own the lie. If you've ever seen me minister, you'll know that I get really real with people really fast. It is a waste of time to remain in denial or continue to bury the very thing that is holding us back from moving forward!
In western cultures, we have become masters are burying our pain and denying how we really feel inside . Unraveling this is a major key to hearing from the Holy Spirit concerning the lie(s) that your heart believes. Writing off how you feel does no good when you're trying to hear from the Holy Spirit!
Victim mentality means you are always looking for somebody else or something around you to change before you take responsibility for your own issues and choices. Those caught up in victim mentality will blame others for their issues, instead of taking responsibility for what they are responsible for. Victim mentality basically believes that it's okay for you to behave and make the choices you do, because of something that somebody else did to you earlier in life. It makes sin okay and somebody else's fault. It takes spiritual maturity to take responsibility for your actions and choices, own the problem, and choose to deal with it. Victim mentality is a trap to keep you in bondage to your issues, and prevent you from ever being the person that God called you to be.
If you are going to break free from your issues, you first have to own them and give yourself a reason to change, not an excuse to live in your stuff. While it is true that having a demon can make it harder to resist sin, the choice is still yours to sin. Having a demon doesn't make you do anything, he just makes it more tempting to give in. Many times we give demons strength because of what we believe in our hearts, which is why it's so important to deal with the faulty beliefs in our hearts.
Lies vs conclusions
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Often mistaken as lies, are something we call conclusions. These can be true or false, and the bottom line is that they really don't matter in whole scope of things. They may be painful truths, but once a person receives truth on the core lie(s), the conclusions won't have their damaging effect. The types of core lies that we are looking for almost always fall into two categories: something you believe about yourself and who you are, or something you believe or perceive about God that isn't true.
A conclusion might look like this: "They didn't love me. I didn't matter to them." Such a thing may be false, but it might be true. But behind these types of conclusions usually there's a lie that makes the conclusion painful. The lie behind the conclusion here might be "I'm unlovable." THAT is a lot more painful than somebody not loving you! I could care less if you don't love me, but if I believe I am unlovable, your not loving me might be very painful to me. Even when a parent didn't love a child, those deep wounds can be healed when the Holy Spirit speaks to them with something like, "But you are my special child. I loved you from the day you were born. You are of great value to me." Who cares what a parent thinks of you, when God Himself feels that way about you?!?
The Holy Spirit speaks to us concerning our core lies, not necessarily our conclusions. It may be true that your parents didn't love you. But if you dig down to the core lie that you are unlovable, that's where the Holy Spirit is eager to speak to you and give you truth on that.
Lies vs conclusions
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I don't care how horrific the memory or how terrible to wound, the Holy Spirit wants to heal your heart if you will let Him. There is no question you can throw at Him that He isn't ready to answer. Many times people are angry with God, but never admit it because it's not the Christian thing to do. He wants to debunk the lies that we believe about Him, and is ready to answer even the toughest questions we have.
Keep in mind that the answer that a person receives in a ministry session is tailored just for them. It may not satisfy you, the minister. What one person needs to hear, is not always the thing that the next person needs to know. I dealt with one person who believed they were stupid and the Holy Spirit said to them, "You are wiser than your years" while the next person who struggles with the exact same lie that they were stupid received, "You have my DNA in your blood." Both people received healing and peace in those memories, but through completely different words from the Holy Spirit. He knows you better than anybody in the world, and knows the most perfect thing to say to you about what you are struggling with!
While the Holy Spirit wants to speak to every single one of us, there are things which will keep us from hearing His voice. Being able to recognize and deal with the roadblocks is essential to successful ministry.
Not wanting to feel pain: If a person isn't willing to allow themself to feel the painful emotion or visit the traumatic memory, they are suppressing the pain and are in denial about it to some degree or another. Owning the emotion and the lie behind the emotion is key to receiving truth on it. If a person isn't willing to feel the emotion, they'll likely never discover the lie, as the emotion is the bridge to the lie.
Guardian lies: A guardian lie is a lie that stands in the way of a person accessing memories and emotions. Somebody struggling with panic may not be able to go to the feeling or memories because they believe something such as, "If I go there, I will die!" or "If I let myself feel that emotion, I won't be able to handle it." The key to dealing with these is to treat them as a lie which also needs the Holy Spirit to speak truth to. As a minister, you might ask something like, "Jesus, if Jessica allows herself to feel that emotion, will she lose control?" or "Jesus, Dan believes that if he goes there he will die. What do you want Dan to know about that?" By the way, guardian lies can come in all shapes and forms, and recognizing this is a skill that us ministers must develop. Somebody simply believing, "This won't really work God won't speak to me about that" is a lie that reveals to us something they believe about their worthiness to have God personally speak to them. In a case like this, there's self-worth issues rooted in lie-based belief. They probably don't feel worthy for God to speak to them. Once the guardian lies are broken down, they can then proceed on to receive ministry.
Anger: Whenever a person cannot hear the Holy Spirit, anger is often present. It can be difficult to hear the Holy Spirit while there is anger present. Many times it is important to first deal with the anger before proceeding. Sometimes you can just ask the person if they willing to let Jesus hold the anger, and when finished if they want it back He will give it back to them. By knowing that they aren't giving up the anger for good, it makes them more apt to give it to Him and by the time you're done, they will likely not want their anger back. This is a shortcut that often cuts past a common roadblock that keeps them from hearing from the Holy Spirit.
Failure to get the core lie: You may encounter lies that it seems the Holy Spirit is silent on, and that's usually because they are not the core lie that really needs to be dealt with. If grandma really did love that person, but they feel like she didn't, that is not a self-lie or a wrong perception about God. That is a conclusion whether it's true or not, it won't really matter all that much if you get to the core lie. Conclusions often stand in the way or block a person from recognizing the core lie(s) that are hiding out behind the conclusions. Stopping at the wrong lie or a conclusion is a great way to keep from getting to the root and thereby getting the genuine deep level healing that God intended.
Not wanting to hear God's answer: This sounds almost absurd, but it's often a roadblock that can keep a person from hearing God's voice. They may be afraid to find out the truth, because they are afraid God will say something harsh or too burdensome for them to bear. This is all lie based beliefs that are rooted in a wrong understanding of God's heart and nature. Jesus said to take upon us His yoke, for it is easy and light to bear (see Matthew 11:30). It was the Pharisees who laid heavy burdens on people that literally crushed them. They would set God's standards so high that nobody could reach them, and therefore the people felt discouraged and crushed beneath the load that was put upon them (see Matthew 23:4). The Bible tells us that the letter of the law kills, but the Spirit gives life (see 2 Corinthians 3:6). We should never be afraid to hear God's take on something, but for somebody who does not perceive God correctly, it can be a frightening thought. If somebody is caught up in this position, dealing with their perception of God may be their key to moving forward. Look for guardian lies such as "God is going to lay a burden on me that I won't be able to bear" and then lift those lies up to Jesus for an answer. These are nothing more than guardian lies that the enemy has planted in hopes to keep that person from ever getting free in that area. Some of the most damaging things we can believe, are things which keep us from running into our heavenly daddy's arms when we need Him the most.
Filling in the blanks: Yes, sometimes a person will receive the truth, but it does nothing to heal their heart. This is often because they are filling in the blanks. They hear their own voice giving them the answer they ought to be hearing. It's important to test for and recognize this, so that we can keep pressing forward to truly hear from the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit speaks, it's very healing, so if no healing is taking place, then it's not Him doing the speaking. Even if they feel some genuine healing, it can be Him addressing one of several lies that must be addressed, so don't be discouraged if one answer doesn't rock their world. Just be on guard for those answers that do nothing for them it's usually just that person's own voice filing in the blanks. They could be doing this out of other issues, such as the desire to be accepted by the minister or fear of letting the minster down. They might be afraid of the ministry session not working, and either they fear the minister will not like them anymore, or they don't want to make the minister feel like a failure. Or it could just be their logical mind getting in the way and firing off religious answers to the questions before the heart has a chance to hear from the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is very gentle and loving, and will speak to some of us through an inner voice, others with visions, and some even hear an auditable voice (I'm jealous!). I think most of us hear Him through an inner voice, that "still small voice" as the Bible talks about. Here are some questions you might use when discerning the voice of the Spirit:
- Does the person feel peace (not numbness) and a sense of joy and freedom?
- Is the answer in alignment with the Word of God?
- Does it belittle or make the person feel stupid or worthless?
- Do they feel discouragement or condemnation?
I've found in my own experience, that even when I get correction from the Holy Spirit, it's in such a way that is so loving and motivating that I know in my heart that He is looking out for my best interest and it is indeed truth spoken in a tone of love and concern.
The Bible tells us to be angry, but to sin not, and not to let the sun go down on our anger.
"Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil."
Ephesians 4:26-27 KJV
There are two different types of anger, lie-based and truth-based. Truth-based anger occurs when a person sees or experiences injustice and becomes angry. Lie-based anger is found when that anger is held on to years later. The reason that the anger first occurred is very legitimate, but the reason anger hangs around is another story. Anger that has been held on to is doing something for that person. Sometimes it protects more vulnerable painful areas in the heart, while other times it somehow keeps the offender from getting away with it. Often we find lies behind anger which keeps it in place. These lies might look like:
- "If I forgive them, they will get away with it"
- "If I let go of this anger, I will get hurt again"
- "If I forgive them, it makes them right in what they did"
These types of lies will cause a person to hold on to their anger for years if not a lifetime. Their anger is doing something for them, and that is why they hold on to it. Anytime a person is hesitant to let go of their anger and give it to Jesus, you might ask them if there is a hesitancy or resistance to letting their anger to. Ask them what it means for them if they let go of their anger. Then offer that up to Jesus and see what He wants them to know about letting their anger go.
Another thing you need to know about anger is that it is often a protective emotion, and behind it lies a very vulnerable emotion that the anger is somehow protecting. If the person lets go of the anger, they may feel very vulnerable. It's a good idea to ask the person to look behind the anger to see if there's a vulnerable emotion that it is protecting. Again, what is anger doing for that person? What if they let go of the anger? Is there resistance to letting go of the anger? Why?
When we lose a loved one, we will feel sadness (or hopefully that's the case!), and there is a very legitimate grieving process that we should go through in order to fully heal from that pain and loss. If we don't let ourselves grieve we won't heal from the loss. But did you know that guilt will often prolong the grieving process and cause it to be a much more painful and heartbreaking experience then God intended? If we are beating ourselves up concerning the person whom we've lost, it will keep us from healing or at least prolong the healing process. For example, you might be beating yourself up because you weren't there like you wanted to be there for them, or maybe you never told them how much you loved them. Perhaps you really should have done something differently? In such cases, you may need to work through some self forgiveness issues before experiencing freedom in this area.
Another kind of pain is sin-based and requires the person to turn from the sin and receive God's forgiveness. You need to receive the finished work of the Cross and the payment that Jesus made on behalf of your sin. Now if you repent of your sin but still feel guilty, then there's a lie you are believing such as "I am not forgivable." Addressing this lie is just like any other lie-based negative emotion.
A lot of times when a person struggles with guilt/shame over something(s) they have done in the past, there's often lies in place that need to be uprooted. If you suspect that they are dealing with some self-unforgiveness, you might ask some questions like, "What are the 3 worse things you've ever done in your life that you regret the most?" Then follow up by asking about those 3 things and how they feel about their forgiven status, for example, "So thinking back to that time when you ____________, do you feel peace there or do you still feel guilt or a sense of shame, like you haven't been forgiven of it?" Sometimes repeating back to them what they told you is a good way to trigger the emotion (if shame or guilt is present), and get them where they need to be to identity the lie that they believe. Remember that the emotion holds the lie if they are willing to feel it and listen carefully to what it is really telling their heart. They may still need to forgive themself, they may need to receive the payment that Christ made for that sin, etc. If they struggle to forgive themself, there's usually lies they are believing which keep them holding their sin against themself, such as, "If I forgive myself, I'll just do it again" or "I can't let go of it that easy or it means my heart isn't truly sorry for what I did."
Here's a shortcut technique I've used and found highly effective. When a person is dealing with self-unforgiveness, I love asking the question, "If it pleased Jesus for you to forgive yourself, would you do it?" Let them see the love of Jesus in your eyes as you ask this question! Then go on to explain that by beating themself up over their failures, they are actually denying and mocking the price that Jesus paid for them regarding that sin. The Bible tells us that without faith, it is impossible to please God (see Hebrews 11:6), so if we aren't receiving (believing to be true) the payment Jesus made for our sin, then we are not pleasing God. It pleases Jesus when we receive and believe to be true the work that He did for us on the Cross. Going here with people struggling with self-unforgiveness can be so riveting that it often shakes up their whole way of thinking, and often causes them to release a lot of self-hate and make that choice to forgive themself. In a sense, a person who has a hard time forgiving themself has a guardian lie, and by going here with them you're attempting to push past that guardian lie and get them to the point of healing. Other times, it's better to deal with the core lies that keep them from forgiving themself. Doing a scale of 1-10 test is important to test the healing when you're finished.
Dealing with addictionsEach and every one of us have a God-designed need to be loved. Most all addictions are rooted in our inability to receive love from God and others as God has intended. In order for Satan to get us in this position, he has to damage our heart in some way then feed us a lie such as we are unlovable or worthless. When we believe such a thing about ourselves, we unconsciously reject love because we believe that since we aren't lovable that the love we are given must not be real or is somehow too good to be true. Sometimes there's a fear of receiving love, lest they be hurt again. Now this doesn't mean that you cannot receive love at all, it just means that you're capacity to receive love into your heart has been greatly diminished. Dealing with these types of lies is crucial to breaking free from the strongholds of addictions. For more information about addictions you can read my article on <a href="http://greatbiblestudy.com/breaking-addictions.php">Breaking Addictions </a>.
After a person has received truth from the Holy Spirit, the next step is to test it by asking them to revisit the painful memory and see what it feels like. If it's completely healed they should feel a sense of peace. Keep an eye out for numbness, which is denial or suppression and lack of feeling , and is not the peace of Christ. It is also possible for them to feel better, even much better, but not receive complete healing in that area. That is completely normal! The best way to test for this is to ask them on a scale of 1 to 10 how strong that old feeling (shame? fear? worthlessness? etc.) feels now. If they say 5 out of 10, then it means the lie that they received truth on was half the problem, but your half way there. There's other lie(s) that need to be uncovered. Continue the session by asking them to feel that remaining negative emotion and ask themself why they still feel that way. What you're looking for are other lies, sometimes very similar lies that also need to be uncovered. Another good way to word the question is, "Does it still feel true that you are worthless?"
Sometimes the person will try so hard to hear from the Holy Spirit, that they end up "filling in the blanks" so to speak. The voice they hear isn't the Holy Spirit, but their own answer as to what they think God would say. Even if the answer is correct, if they don't feel an increased level of peace afterward, then it probably wasn't the Holy Spirit. If they feel no improvement after they hear the truth, then it is unlikely that it was the Holy Spirit.
Keep in mind is that when you ask if there is peace present when they revisit the memory, is that a true joyous peaceful feeling like everything has been made better, or is it a numbness that they are feeling? Numbness is a lack of feeling, and is a symptom of denial or pain burying. That's not true freedom but rather suppression of the very pain that needs healing.
As amazing and wonderful as this ministry sounds, and believe it, it is all that... there is cost that must be paid. The person receiving ministry must be willing to face the pain of their past wounds, because it is through feeling the emotion that allows them to see the lie that they are believing. It's also a process, and while you often get a wonderful breakthrough each time God shows up, there are often other lies that need to be dealt with. Is it worth the journey? Absolutely! This is one of the most profound and life-changing ministries I have ever tapped into, and I wouldn't trade it for the world!
Make sure your expectations are realistic. It took you a lifetime to create the mess you are in, and it won't likely all unravel in 2 sessions, but I also don't believe it will take you the rest of your life to unravel. God is eager to move you along as quickly as you will let Him! He is eager to get you free and healed, so that you don't have to spend a day more than necessary in your places of pain and struggle.
Unlike the traditional way that I used to minister, I am very reliant on the Holy Spirit when doing this type of ministry, and almost every time He shows up and speaks to the person. It's amazing to watch God do what years of counseling could never do! When I used to minister, I would give lots of good advise, quote the right scriptures, and thereby change or embrace what they already logically know to be true. That may change their mind, but often does little in terms of changing what their heart believes.
The job of the minister is to get that person to feel the emotion that is there because of the lie, identify the lie that their heart really believes, then own the lie (stop denying it logically), and thereby get them in the place that they need to be in order to hear from the Holy Spirit. It's really all about understanding the emotions, the process, and asking the right questions. It's not like deliverance ministry where I'm casting out demons, and "doing things" for the person. My job in this type of ministry is to help them to figure out what it is that their heart really believes, then get God's perspective on things.
The best kinds of questions a minister can ask are those which get a person to feel the emotion, go to the memories where that emotion originated, identify what it is their heart believes, and get them out of their place of denial or suppression of pain. Questions like "And how did that make you feel?" are great at getting the person in touch with their emotions, which is a necessary step to identify the lie. Sometimes asking them to visualize the memory can help them access the emotions associated with the memory. I've even found certain songs will trigger emotions for me.
When I am ministering this type of ministry approach, my job is not to provide counsel or lead a person to conclusions in a session. My job is to help them discover what is really going on inside their heart. The kinds of questions I ask should be probing into their emotional world, helping them access memories where the damage was done, and uncover the lies behind those emotions. That's my focus, because getting real with their heart is the first key to getting them healed . Giving counsel only ministers to the surface level (the logical belief in their head), but what I want to go after is far deeper than their logical mind it's the beliefs held in the heart that matter here . That's the source of their pain! Their logical beliefs will agree with all your great advise, insight, and scriptures. But it's their logical mind that all too often writes off what their heart really believes and keeps their heart denial. That is why I avoid giving advise and counsel during a session, because that often does little in terms of uprooting the faulty beliefs of their heart. The best questions to ask will be attempting to get that person in touch with their emotions, getting honest about what their heart really believes, and then dealing with the guardian lies and hangups that stand in the way of them receiving truth from the Holy Spirit. When they describe a memory where they were hurt, you might ask, "How did that make you feel?" You're probing to find the lie behind their pain here. You might get a response like, "It made me feel worthless" or "It made me feel not good enough."
You might find it helpful to repeat back to them what they just told you, and see if you can use their wording to trigger the emotion buried in their heart. Let's say they just told you that the teacher told them they were stupid, but they are feeling no emotion at all, they are numbing out asking a question such as, "And how did it make you feel when she said you were stupid?" may be just the thing to trigger the emotion. You want them to access the emotion so they can discover the core lie that needs to be uprooted.
Another trick that can be very effective in breaking through the numbness and getting emotions triggered is to ask them to visualize the memory they are in emotional denial concerning. Placing them visually in that place is a great way to get them to tap the emotions connected with that memory. I might say something like, "I want you to visualize yourself in that room when you gave your dad your report card and I want you to just put yourself in that place again. Look at your dad's face as he responds to your just-not-good-enough report. How does that make you feel when he told you that your grade was just unacceptable?" What you are trying to get them to do is get in touch with the emotion that is holding the lie that they are believing. Their numbness will prevent them from feeling the emotion that holds the lie, which is the reason they are still feeling that pain today.
There are times when I'll know the very truth that would change somebody's life, the most accurate scriptures, and the truth that would so set them free, but I don't share it with them. Why on earth would a minister do such a thing? Because that very truth that would change their life, may never change their life if it never reaches their heart. Like I said, I can talk to your mind all day long and change what it is your head believes, but many times it never sinks to your heart. How many people spend their life going to counselors who give them the best advise that would change their life, if only it went to their heart? This is specifically why I'll withhold truth from a person while ministering to them. It's not that I don't want them to know the truth, it's because I want the Holy Spirit to be the one to give it to them. He speaks to their heart, whereas I just speak to their mind which will likely never bear the fruit that would be bore if they see if it went to their heart. Getting the truth into the person's heart is the whole goal of my ministry here.
Now I might share with them stories of others who have battled similar situations, give them some truth that I know they need to hear, and try to give them a feel for what God wants to do for them. This is usually before or after a ministry session. DURING a session, I always work to get them to the point of hearing from God for themself , as this is much more effective and brings far deeper healing than I could ever lead them to on my own.
The minister's own issuesI am not saying that there isn't a place for prophetic words, or stepping out and sharing something you know the Holy Spirit gave you to share with them. There most certainly is a place for that wonderful and life-changing ministry! However, please be aware that often ministers resort to this type of ministry because of their own issues it is not uncommon for ministers to feel under the gun to perform in ministry and if sparks don't fly, it's their fault. That is rooted in that minister's own pain and faulty beliefs. If a person doesn't get any sparks flying, and you feel like a failure, you have issues that need to be worked through. It is not your job to make the sparks fly. The Holy Spirit is their counselor and wants to speak to that person directly and lead them into all truth. As ministers our goal is to help them to recognize their heart beliefs, and get in the position where they can hear from the Holy Spirit themself. The Holy Spirit is their counselor and wants to speak to them, not only in the present ministry session, but also when they are doing laundry, taking a shower, or cooking breakfast. Although there are many times when we benefit with a minister to take us through a session, there are many people who understand this type of ministry find that simple truth-time with Jesus can yield some very fruitful ministry sessions. My goal is to introduce them to their own personal counselor from heaven, and get them to receive counsel directly from Him. Giving them what they need to know directly during a ministry session can short-circuit that goal, and they will miss out on a lot of healing because they never learned to go to the Holy Spirit for counseling.
The idea that God won't speak to them personally is a lie from the pits of hell and itself is based on wrong beliefs of their heart! If you want to get down to brass tax, many ministers are afraid of God not speaking to that person, so they do the job themselves. Why doesn't God want to speak to that person directly? Why aren't they hearing? What is blocking them? What is getting in the way of that person being led into all truth by the Holy Spirit? Those are the questions we need to be asking ourselves as ministers!
Do you want to become a skilled minister? There are two primary areas you must study and gain experience in: First, you must learn the art of getting that person to recognize and own what their heart really believes , thus getting them out of the place of denial regarding their heart beliefs is absolutely priceless skill to master. Secondly, you need to study and become familiar with, are the common roadblocks, hangups, guardian lies, and such that keep people from hearing from the Holy Spirit. That is one of the most crucial and life-changing things you can become skilled at. If you can get that person to a place of honesty about their heart beliefs, and help them to get truth from the Holy Spirit, you will change lives in ways that you could never change them with a hundred college degrees and 50 years of counseling experience. The Holy Spirit will beat you every time hands down when it comes to counseling you will never bear the fruit He can bear in that person's life. I don't even try anymore!
The number of areas of our lives that can benefit from this type of ministry is endless. Many times people don't have the faith to receive their physical healing, because of self-worth hangup issues. Many of us know that God can heal us, but our hangup lies in our feeling worthy to receive our healing. We may believe something in our heart such as, "I am not worthy to receive healing. I've not been a good enough Christian." Since our healing depends on what Jesus did for us and our receiving it by faith, it really doesn't have anything to do with being good enough to receive (that works mentality actually dishonors what Jesus did for us!). So dealing with the lies which hinder a person's healing is crucial to their receiving this great blessing that God has for every one of His children. Whether it's a simple cold or flu, or a bone that needs to grow together, the price has already been paid. The question is, why aren't we believing that the provision for physical healing applies to us? What is our hangup there?
The same goes for other blessings of the New Covenant, such as financial provisions, receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and unlocking our spiritual gifts. Many times we don't believe that we're worthy to receive spiritual gifts from the Holy Spirit, and that's a major hangup for many of us. But Jesus told us clearly that those who believe will be speaking in tongues, casting out demons, lying their hands on the sick and so forth:
"And these signs shall follow them that believe In my name shall they cast out devils they shall speak with new tongues They shall take up serpents and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."
Mark 16:17-18 KJV </p>
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also and greater works than these shall he do because I go unto my Father."
John 14:12 KJV
Why aren't most Christians walking in these things? Because of two reasons: either we don't know what belongs to us in Christ, or we don't really believe in our hearts that it applies to us because of some reason we aren't worthy (or something like that). If the father of lies cannot stop us from knowing what God can do, he'll attempt to block us from personally walking in God's plan because somehow it doesn't apply to us, or we aren't worthy to partake in it. Those above scriptures apply to EVERY believer, not just some select believers. I realize there are spiritual gifts that do apply to just some believer, but these passages apply to all of us! Plus, those gifts that Paul said were divided among the body, at least one or two of them are given unto EVERY one of us as well. So you might not have the gift of wisdom, but you may be a prophet or have the gift of faith! But the point is, the manifestation (not a talent, but a supernatural gift that requires the Holy Spirit to be engaged in order to operate!) is given onto EVERY believer!
"But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit To another faith by the same Spirit to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit To another the working of miracles to another prophecy to another discerning of spirits to another divers kinds of tongues to another the interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will."
1 Corinthians 12:7-11 KJV
Now let me take this to the next level. Why don't you feel like you could raise the dead? Jesus commissioned His disciples to go forth and raise the dead just like casting out demons (see Matthew 10:7-8). Now this is a big one, but honestly think about this one, and let your heart answer the question. What would stand in your way of operating in this level of kingdom manifestation that Jesus has called us to walk in? Remember that Jesus told us that those who believe will do even greater works than He did (see John 14:13)? He raised the dead, so we are expected to do even greater than that! Many of us if asked this question might respond with things like, "I am not worthy to do such things for God" or "You have to be a really strong Christian for 20 years before you can do such things" or "I don't read my Bible enough to do things like that." Does reading your Bible make you worthy to walk in the things of God? No, it educates you on the things of God and tells you what belongs to you, tells you what things to avoid in life that will rob from you, and so forth, but your righteousness is not in your Bible reading, it's in the finished work of Christ, and whether or not you receive it by faith. Jesus praised the faith of children, because they simply believe they don't logically reason away something, they just accept it with pure innocent faith. That is how we must be if we are to walk in the supernatural like God intended for us.
Is raising the dead some impossible kingdom manifestation? Not at all. As a matter of fact, I personally have 5 friends of mine who has raised the dead, some of them multiple times. One of them to this day still has a struggle with smoking and is trying to give that up. What does that tell you? It doesn't take a perfect person to raise the dead, it takes a person with childlike faith who receives the finished work of Christ and believes that what Jesus said is true. That is what kingdom faith is all about folks and we're all called to walk in that!
So why can't you see yourself raising the dead? What has your heart been believing that has been hindering your ability to walk in the supernatural as God has called you to walk in as His child? This is a great way to uncover lies that our heart believes about ourselves that is keeping us from living out our full potential that God has called us to.
First of all, I am not giving you advise and good counsel, I am helping you discover the best counselor you could ever ask for, who wants to be there for you no matter what happens in life. If you can grab onto the process, you'll be able to tap the Holy Spirit's shoulder for all sorts of other issues in your life. Getting God to show up and speak to a person is life-changing, and will do far more than you or I could do in just giving them good advise and sound scriptures. That is because the Holy Spirit speaks to their heart, while we only speak to their mind and hope that it makes to their heart, which it may never because of all the hangups, roadblocks, and guardian lies that stand in the way.
One of the things that I really think sets this ministry approach apart from other methods I have used is the precise and deliberate "getting to the root" approach. I love how deliberate and precise this ministry approach is. We aren't just handing our pain to Jesus, we're figuring out why we are holding on to our pain, then we give it to Him becomes effortless. We don't just give our anger to Jesus, we figure out what that anger is doing for us and dissolve that lie. Then giving the anger over to Jesus becomes natural and much easier to do.
We tell people that they need to forgive, but why is it that process is so difficult? Why is it that forgiving people is like pulling teeth? Because their anger, hate, and resentment is doing something for them , and until we get to the bottom of that, it may be very difficult for that person to truly let go of the charge that they hold against their offender. Some people can push through and forgive without this step, but I think for most cases, it's a necessary step that many of us need to take. When we have a hard time forgiving, it is because we believe something about letting go of the charge that we hold against our offender. We may believe something like, "If I forgive, it means they are right!" or "If I forgive them, they will just do it to me again" or "If I forgive them, they will get away with it!" Resolve these types of lies behind the unforgiveness, and letting go of the charge they have against that person becomes effortless. Keep in mind that there may be multiple lies holding unforgiveness in place, just like multiple lies can hold other types of negative emotions in place. You may resolve one lie and they feel better, but still experience hesitancy to let go in such cases, you keep working at it by going after those other lies.
My question is, if there's a lie(s) holding that person's unforgiveness in place, how do you expect them to totally get freedom from their resentment, hate, etc., without dissolving that lie or lies which are keeping it in place? Even if they do push through and forgive, they often re-visit that unforgiveness a week later, because the problem at it's root has never been solved. My goal is to bring you to a place of effortless victory not teach you to battle it every 2 weeks each time your anger problem is triggered!
In my opinion, the anger problem isn't resolved until the lie that is causing that person to hold on to their anger is resolved. I'm not saying it cannot be resolved through other ministry methods, but this approach I am sharing with you has been the most effective that I have ever seen. If the anger problem keeps showing up weeks and months later, then there's a root which is still pulling at that person. They may have seen some breakthrough during a ministry session, but if they still get triggered in that area, something is remaining that needs to be dealt with.
Like with this ministry method, I like to test other ministry methods with the 1 to 10 scale question. If we've dealt with anger, when finished doing ministry, ask them a question like, "I know you've received a measure of breakthrough, but on a scale of 1 to 10, do you still feel even some anger toward so and so for molesting you at age 5?" If there's anything left, the person has not received complete freedom in that area of their life. Now, I'm not discounting the freedom and breakthrough they have received, and many times we don't have the time to dig all the way down to 1 on the scale. But I'm not quick to claim total victory until that person is at a 1 on the scale. I think we're too quick to claim total victory, only to have that person fail again 2 weeks later.
The fruit of this type of ministry, both in my experience and others I know who are also involved in this type of ministry, is nothing short of life-changing. It is truly an addicting type of ministry, that keeps you coming back for more, and believe me, we all have a lot of heart-beliefs that need addressing! This is the most freeing, healing, and comforting type of ministry I have ever encountered personally. Don't get me wrong, I am passionate about casting out demons, and am not writing that type of ministry off because it is much needed as well. They are both very important and crucial components of the healthy early church lifestyle.
Some of us are incredibly good at suppressing our pain and true feelings that are buried deep within our hearts we've spent a lifetime denying how we really feel because we felt it was necessary for survival. If we didn't bury our pain, we would have gone nuts a long time ago. But that's only a temporary solution, and is not good in the long run. We pay a price for buried pain, and we pay for it daily. We lack peace and joy, we lack the joy of being alive, we fear things we should never fear, we worry about things that Jesus told us not to worry about, if we suddenly were faced with a life-threatening condition, we wouldn't be ready to meet the Lord because we don't feel confident in our relationship with Him. The list could go on and on. One of my ways to describe it is your quality of life suffers greatly. You fail to enjoy the simple things because you are tormented by you buried pain. The truth is that you cannot truly bury your pain, you can only deny it, and that only gives you limited relief from it. The only way to truly get peace in your heart is by resolving those faulty beliefs of the heart which are keeping that pain in place. Something that is pretty cool with this type of ministry, is that after some people have been healed of a deep wound, say when they were raped, they will go back to that memory just to feel Jesus again because when He showed up during ministry, He so healed their wound that the old once-painful memory serves as a testimony of what Jesus did for them. Tell me that isn't genuine healing taking place, when you can revisit the most painful experiences of your past, because since then Jesus was there and it made a world of difference for you! That is just the opposite from any ministry that teaches you to forget the past and push aside the pain. No, you get real with Jesus and invite Him into that place of deep hurt, get healing like you never thought possible, then watch as the wound is so healed that it serves as a testimony of the Lord's goodness that you actually desire to revisit! THAT my friend, is what real emotional healing needs to look like! And that is exactly what the Holy Spirit desires to do for each and every one of us if we will get real honest about our heart beliefs, and deal with the hang-ups that stand in our way of hearing His voice.
I have learned a lot from Ed Smith and his ministry style which is called Theosphostic Prayer Ministry. I do not claim to teach Theosphostic ministry, but many of the principals I use originally came from his ministry. If you want to learn more and take this to the next level, I would encourage you to look into his training materials. As with any other ministry that I have learned much from, I cannot endorse everything they teach or believe. In this case, Ed Smith doesn't believe that the casting out of demons was meant to continue post-resurrection. I may not agree in that area of his ministry but when it comes to the core of his ministry, he brings some of the most life-changing ministry to the body of Christ. I absolutely love Ed Smith's ministry as it has changed my life, healed some of my deepest wounds, and has changed the way I minister inner healing. I am forever grateful!
Why do I believe that the casting out of demons was intended to continue post-resurrection? There are several scriptures, but one that is very clear on the matter is found in Mark 16, where Jesus appeared to His disciples AFTER His resurrection, and He instructed them to go forth into all the world, and preach the good news to every creature, and one of the signs that would follow those who believe, is that they will be casting out demons:
"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe In my name shall they cast out devils they shall speak with new tongues..."
Mark 16:15-17, KJV
Jesus was absolutely clear that the casting out of demons would continue post-resurrection, because this great commission was given AFTER He rose from the dead, and just before His final departure. Another example is found in Acts 8, where Philip went about casting out demons in public where they came out manifesting and screaming, and because of these public exorcisms, many came to know Christ:
"Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. And there was great joy in that city."
Acts 8:5-8, KJV
I just recently dealt with a case where I tried this ministry approach, and ran into mind control spirits. The person I was ministering to was talking about suicide and extremely irrational I couldn't even reason with them until after we dealt with spirits of mind control. Once we walked him through dealing with those spirits and casting them out (he felt them physically releasing from him as we were casting them out), he was back in his right mind and ready for inner healing ministry. The difference that dealing with the mind control spirits made was day and night. It reminded me of Jesus dealing with the legion of demons and afterward he was clothed and in his right mind:
"And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid."
Mark 5:15 KJV
On the same token, casting out demons doesn't necessarily deal with the lie-based beliefs of the heart, and therefore it's like I said earlier, both ministries have their place. My heart is to get people freedom with whatever means is necessary. I've dealt with spirits behind cancer, brain tumors, etc. and they just need to be driven out. If they need inner healing, let's do that. If they need a spirit cast out, let's get it over with. Just don't take up a victim mentality and think that casting out a demon will solve all your problems. Deliverance ministry must be combined with taking responsibility for our actions and choices in order to be fully effective and allow the person to remain free from their bondage.
I like to refer to this type of ministry as getting to the point of honesty, where Jesus is so ready to speak to us about the things we struggle with. In America we have become very skilled at burying our pain and living a life of bondage because we deny how we truly feel about things. Our minds (logic belief) will so often write off what our hearts truly believe, and therefore we live out the pain of that lie. Almost all of us suffer from the things we believe, namely about ourselves and about God. Our minds would never agree that we're stupid, but perhaps our heart believes that because one time when we were in school, a teacher belittled us and the other kids laughed. Getting to a place of honesty and owning the lie is the key to solving the problem. As long as you remain in denial about how your heart feels, you will never be truly free of the pain that those beliefs carry.
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