I have compiled a basic list of fundamental steps that are so important for those receiving or ministering inner healing. This is a vital part of the deliverance ministry and plays an irreplaceable role in setting many free today.
God wants to take your wounds, pain, hurts, and sorrow!
Before we begin, I want you to know that God desires to heal our wounds and take our pain and hurt from us. You know how you can love somebody so much, that you wish you could take their pain or suffering from them? That's how Jesus feels about us... He loves us so much that He paid the price for our emotional healing in the work on the cross!
Isaiah 53:4, "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted."
He carried our sorrows in His work on the cross. The NT Greek tells us that the word sorrows here literally refers to anguish, affliction, grief, pain, and sorrow. Jesus took these things and paid the price with His own blood for us! You need to know that God desires to heal your broken heart and bind up your wounds. This is what the Bible tells us:
Psalms 147:3, "He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds."
Do you want to receive healing from emotional wounds, pain, sorrows, grief, and anguish? It is vital that we take advantage of what Christ has done for us, and learn to cast our cares upon the Lord. Not some of them, but ALL of them; knowing that He cares for you and wants to take those things from you.
1 Peter 5:7, "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you."
Release those hurt, painful and fearful emotions into the hands of Jesus
Hanging onto fear, hurt and pain can actually block the healing power of the Holy Spirit in your soul. It is vital to open up and allow the Lord to heal your wounds.
Luke 4:18, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised."
Jesus paid the price for the healing of our souls and to set us free from the bondage that we have come under from the bruises that we've received. It is important to God that we receive this inner healing... His Son paid a costly price for it!
Matthew 11:28-30, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
In the above verse, it's not speaking about a heavy physical burden, but a burden in a person's soul. This is made evident in the later part of this passage where it says, "Ye shall find rest unto your souls." Jesus is telling us to come unto Him and give Him our heavy burden, and take His yoke which is light and easy to bear.
Allow your painful emotions to be released as you give them to the Lord. It's okay to cry, sob and let the damaged emotions come out as they are given to the hands of the Lord. Holding on to the pain and hurt will only prevent you from be healed.
James 5:16, "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."
If you can find a person to confide in, it can also be very helpful to share your burden with them and receive prayer for healing. There is tremendous healing that can take place as you share your pain with a fellow brother or sister in Christ!
Realize the love of God for you; this will help you open up and receive inner healing
Knowing the true nature of our heavenly Father will help us to trust Him and open ourselves up so that we can receive the healing that only the Holy Spirit can provide for us.
Romans 8:32, "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?"
After Christ has suffered and died for us, why would He withhold healing our wounded souls? We can confidently open up to Him and know that He has our best interests in mind simply by looking at what He went through on the cross for us.
You are loved by God, not because of what you've done, but because of who you are. The Bible tells us that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He longed to have a relationship with you even before you became His child!
Romans 5:8, "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
Jesus said that the greatest love a man can show for his friends, is when he lays down his life for them. Jesus laid down His life for us - that is how valuable and dear we are to Him!
John 15:13, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
Did you know that God loves us with the same love that He had towards Jesus Himself? Yes, believe it or not, this is true! I want you to look up this verse in your Bible:
John 17:23, "I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me."
It is absolutely essential that we learn of and realize the love that our heavenly Father has for us. Without knowing the love of God for us, we cannot be filled with His fullness:
Ephesians 3:17-19, "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God."
Realize God's will for your mind and receive it!
2 Timothy 1:7, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
Abuse, trauma, hurt and pain are all works of the devil. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil and restore His children to the fullness to which He created them to fulfill. When Jesus was here on earth, He went about doing the will of the Father in heaven, and this included healing all who were oppressed of the devil:
Acts 10:38, "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, andhealing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him."
Jesus desire for you is to heal your broken heart and set you who have been bruised at liberty:
Luke 4:18, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised."
He wants to restore your soul from all the damage that has been done to you:
Psalms 23:3, "He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake."
Extend forgiveness towards those who have hurt you
Unforgiveness will hinder or block the healing power of the Holy Spirit. It will bind you up and separate you from God's forgiving and healing power. It is vital to release those feelings that you have against others, so that the Holy Spirit's healing and forgiving power can heal and restore your soul.
Unforgiveness is a deadly poison that separates us from God's forgiveness in our own lives and gives us over to tormenting spirits. It is hard to receive healing when one is in such a position. Consider these passages in scripture concerning the deadliness of unforgiveness and bitterness in our lives:
Mark 11:25-26, "And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. Butif ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses."
As we can see, unforgiveness will block God's forgiveness from operating in our own lives. Inner healing requires God's forgiveness.
Matthew 18:32-35, "Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses."
Unforgiveness will put us into the hands of tormenting spirits. This is the last thing we need when we're seeking healing for our souls! As if that isn't enough, unforgiveness also puts a person in spiritual darkness and separation from God, and defiles us spiritually:
1 John 2:11, "But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes."
Hebrews 12:15, "Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled."
It is absolutely essential to release feelings of bitterness and unforgiveness, in order to fully receive healing for our souls. Forgiving others will welcome the healing power of the Holy Spirit into our lives.
Realize who you are in Christ
Realizing your identity in Christ is absolutely vital to our healing process. You need to know that you are a new creation in Christ, freed from the darkness of your past, forgiven of your sins, and freedom and healing are yours because of the Blood that Christ shed for you!
Stop feeding on lies of insecurity, guilt, and pain (Jesus took your pain!)
My father often uses the story of two men on our shoulders, and whichever one you listen to will crowd the other one out. This is absolutely true concerning how we handle God's voice and the devil's voice. Just recently the Holy Spirit gave me a powerful revelation, here's what He said to me:
"You need to be discerning of the voice of the devil... it is your responsibility not to give consideration (or pay attention) to it!" (Wording may be slightly different, but that is the exact message)
It is absolutely vital that we NOT listen or pay attention to the voice of the devil in our minds. God's Word tells us that we need to be taking every thought captive to the obedience to Christ:
2 Corinthians 10:4, "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."
One thing you can look out for is condemnation and fear. Both of these come from the enemy. "What if" thinking is always a giveaway that there's a demon doing the speaking.
Forgive yourself - see yourself as God sees you
Forgiving yourself is a vital step that we must take while seeking inner healing. We need to love and appreciate the person that Christ has made in us! It is vital to see ourselves for who we really are in Christ. If you continue to beat yourself up for your past failures, after the Blood of Christ has washed them away, then you are, in reality, denying the very work of the cross! Here are a few (of many) good verses to mediate on in God's Word:
Psalms 103:12, "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us."
Romans 5:1, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."
Isaiah 43:25, "I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins."
Hebrews 10:22, "...draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water."
Colossians 1:22-23, "...he has brought you back as his friends. He has done this through his death on the cross in his own human body. As a result, he has brought you into the very presence of God, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. But you must continue to believe this truth and stand in it firmly. Don't drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed by God to proclaim it." (NLT)
Speak to the pain and release it into Jesus' hands
Lastly, go to the pain, the emotional wound that is hidden within you, and confront it with the healing love of Christ. Knowing that Jesus has paid for your emotional wounds, hurts, pains, and sorrows, tell the inner hurt, painful memories, and emotional affliction to leave in the name of Jesus. Then call upon Jesus to remove those things from you. You might pray something like this, "Lord Jesus, I love you, thank you for bearing my burden on the cross. I ask that take these inner hurts, painful memories, and emotional wounds from me right now. I submit them to you, and accept your peace in place of those things which I am giving up."
The next step is to seek deliverance from any spirits that are involved in your mind or emotions. These spirits must be confronted and cast out in Jesus' name. You may attempt this yourself as a self-deliverance, or seek a qualified deliverance minister to help you with this step. If you begin to experience overwhelming or strong demonic reactions from the below prayer, or if the spirits aren't coming out, then it is recommended to seek deliverance from a qualified minister.
If you are not yet a believer in Christ, then I do not recommend confronting any evil spirits until you do. Without Christ, the demons are nothing to mess with, they are powerful spiritual beings, and without Christ, they are not yet disarmed in your life (see Colossians 2:13-15). If you would like to accept Jesus right now as your Lord and savior, go before Him now with a prayer like this, "Lord Jesus Christ, I realize I am a sinner. I believe you died and shed your blood for the remission of my sins, so that I may have eternal life. Right now, I turn from my sins and ask that you come into my life, changing me into a new person and washing all my sins away. I receive you as my personal Lord and Savior. Amen."
A simple self-deliverance prayer might go something like this, "I now come against any unclean spirits that have been influencing my mind, will and emotions, and I take authority over these spirits in the mighty name of Jesus. I command any such spirits to come out and depart from me, and every part of me, in Jesus name! COME OUT!"
If you still need help, and many reading this teaching will, please don't hesitate to seek help from a qualified deliverance minister. If you have deep emotional wounds or have Disassociated Identity Disorder (DID/MPD), it would not hurt to check with your minister to be sure that they are capable of working with cases of disassociation, and realize that alters (parts of your mind that are locked up) are not demons, but parts of you that need to receive healing and possibly deliverance.
