Emotional freedom

Strong intense emotions can make us feel very uncomfortable. To cope, we often make unconscious choices to ignore, suppress, or numb them. God created every emotion for a purpose and we grieve Him when we manipulate our own feelings, rather than go to Him for His guidance. Here is a prayer to return our hearts and emotions to God for His renewal and guidance.

(See Chinese versions: 简体中文 > 情感的自由 | 繁體中文 > 情感的自由)

A prayer to break emotional blocks

“Dear Heavenly Father, 

Thank you for my emotions. You created every single one for a purpose and I ask for Your forgiveness for rejecting some of them because of how they made me feel. 

You have called everything You have created “very good” and I should too. I confess I have conformed to the patterns of this world and labeled some emotions “bad” and some “good”. Everything You have created is very good!

Romans 12:2 NLT  Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Genesis 1:31 ESV  And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

I have unintentionally rebelled against You by making myself the lord and master of my own feelings, instead of asking the Holy Spirit to guide and teach me emotional wisdom and self-control. I acknowledge that the Holy Spirit can use my emotions to guide me. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is very much related to my emotions.

Galatians 5:22-23 ESV  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

There are emotions that this world does not welcome and I have falsely believed that when I feel these emotions, that You will reject me too. This is a lie. You know everything about me every second of every day, I cannot hide my true feelings from You. Today, I choose to open my heart fully to You, together with the full range of my emotions, for Your guidance.

Growing up, I did not receive a lot of godly nurturing to learn how to understand my emotions and what I should do in response to them. I was not aware that there is a time, place, and season for different feelings. As a result, I have followed my fleshly instincts, instead of following Your ways.

Ecclesiastes 3:1,4,8 ESV  For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

Today, I forgive all those who neglected my emotional needs and who taught me, directly or indirectly, to fear, neglect, belittle, mock, or suppress my own emotions. (Please name them and what we learnt from them.)

1 John 4:18 ESV   There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

I confess I have also made inner vows in the past to protect myself. These inner vows have only kept me in some form of emotional bondage, and prevented me from being emotionally free.

Today, I renounce these inner vows e.g. “to not trust anyone,” “to not let anyone into my heart,” “to not need anyone,” “to not be as emotional as (name anyone we have judged),” “to do something else to soothe my painful feelings,” “to try to forget them,” “to let out all my emotions on others so they know how I feel,” etc. (Please pause and wait on the Holy Spirit for a few minutes to reveal your inner vows.)

Where I have cursed myself by saying things such as e.g. “I don’t feel anything,” “I can never feel joyful,” “I will always be depressed,” please forgive me. I should not curse Your creation, I belong to You. Where I have ever wished to die, please also forgive me.

Psalm 100:3 ESV  Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Please also forgive me for judging others for their emotions.

Romans 14:10-13 ESV  Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.

Father, there are emotions buried deep in my heart that are so painful that I fear confronting them alone. Please bring God-fearing believers who I can trust with my heart so that I can confess them and release them to You for Your healing. In my pain, I have also judged and cursed others, Father. I am ready to repent for grieving the Holy Spirit by holding on to my own sins against others.

James 5:16 ESV  Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Have I been gifted with the spiritual gift of compassion and not known what to do with the powerful emotions that I feel? Today, I invite the Holy Spirit to teach me how to use this gift for God’s glory, rather than manipulate, neglect, or reject it as I have in the past. The gift of compassion is to be used with love for others, and not with selfish intentions. Where I have tried to manipulate others’ feelings and behaviour to make myself feel better, I repent and ask for Your forgiveness.

There have been times where I ignored You when I was happy and confident, and times where I judged You and got angry with You when I was feeling upset, alone, abandoned, afraid, bewildered, and lost. I have allowed my feelings to colour the way I see You. Thank you that You don’t reject me when I am angry with You. As a good, compassionate, and kind Father, You hear me out. Please forgive me for accusing You for being (please list our judgments).

I also renounce the lies I have believed, such as e.g. “God doesn’t speak to me,” “I will never hear from God,” “God doesn’t talk to people like me,” and (Please pause and wait on the Holy Spirit for a few minutes to reveal the lies we have believed.) Again, these are based on how I have felt in the past, rather than the truth.

For all those times where I resisted and hardened my heart against the Holy Spirit when You tried to get my attention about something because Your promptings made me feel uncomfortable, I repent and ask for Your forgiveness for grieving You. I give You back control over my emotions so that I can follow Your lead and not sin against You.

Romans 8:7 ESV  For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.

Father, have I worshipped idols and kept spiritual objects You find detestable that have given Satan footholds to blind my thoughts and emotions? Have I idolised my own emotions and made them my god and ruler of my life?

Ezekiel 11:18-20 ESV  And when they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations. And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them.

Please show me what my idols are, so I can repent and remove the devil’s footholds. I wish to worship You with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength. (It may be helpful to fast and pray to seek the Holy Spirit’s revelation of spiritual strongholds.) Please cleanse and renew my heart and my spirit. Give me a heart of flesh in place of my heart of stone.

I open all parts of my heart and spirit to You, oh God, and reject all darkness and accusations set up against me. In the name of Jesus, I command all spirits that have been hiding in the concealed parts of my heart and emotions to leave me now, never to come back.

Isaiah 54:17 ESV  no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD and their vindication from me, declares the LORD.”

Holy Spirit, please teach me how to recognise and resist feelings of pride, offense, self-righteousness, jealousy, envy, hopelessness, fear, shame, self-rejection, condemnation – and all other feelings that Satan will try to use to manipulate me. These feelings are not “bad” in themselves, they are simply a warning sign that there are areas in my heart that have yet to be renewed by You or lies that I still believe. I will choose to run to You for Your guidance in the future, rather than be my own master.

1 John 4:1 ESV  Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

This is an ongoing lifelong journey, one that I am thankful to have You as my loving Teacher, Companion, Confidante, and Counsellor. Thank you, Father, for Your grace and faithfulness. You do not reject me even though I have closed off my heart in the past.

2 Timothy 2:13 ESV if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.

I rejoice in this new season of my life with You!

In Jesus’ name, amen.”