Emotional healing through the power of the Holy Spirit

The Spirit of the living God anointed Jesus to come preach the good news and heal the brokenhearted (Isaiah 61:1-2). God is a good Heavenly Father who cares for the state of our hearts because from it springs all the issues of our lives (Proverbs 4:23). One might hardly think that adultery and fornication are issues of the heart, rather than physical lust for example, but this is what the Lord Jesus has told us (Matthew 15:19-20). Our hearts will either bear good fruit or bad fruit (Matthew 12:35), which manifest through our choices and outward behaviour.

(See Chinese versions: 简体中文 > 透过圣灵的力量进行内在医治 | 繁體中文 > 透過聖靈的力量進行內在治愈)

Matthew 15:19-20 NKJV  For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”

Healed by the Father’s love

Thank God that the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in our hearts (Galatians 4:6) to pour the Heavenly Father’s love into our hearts (Romans 5:5). Our hearts are healed by our Creator’s love for us. God’s love makes up for all the wrongs, abuse, persecutions and evil that we have ever suffered at the hands of other broken, sinful people. Ultimately, we heal the most as we learn to minimise the power that other people have over our lives — as we elevate God to the highest position that He should rightfully have anyway, which is for us to love Him with all our hearts, all our minds, and all our strength (Luke 10:27). We transform to love others because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).

Because the Holy Spirit knows our hearts best, sometimes all it takes is one word of truth from Him to heal our wounded hearts. When you know the truth, it will set you free (John 8:31-32). Here is one example.

Testimony 1: Healed by the Word of God

“A close friend from church had falsely accused me and it hurt me very deeply. Even though I immediately forgave her, I was still in pain for the rest of the day and went to bed crying. The next morning, the Holy Spirit led me to read Psalm 23 and when I came across the line “He restores my soul”, I was so comforted and relieved by the word of God. I felt that the Lord was telling me that He saw what had happened and He knew my pain and wanted to restore me. I was able to give my pain to the Lord and be at peace. Hallelujah!”

Inner healing ministries 

Over the last decade or so, there has been a growing awareness for the need for the ministry of inner healing within Christian circles, and it is certainly welcome. Anxious, wounded people tend to project their own pain onto others and hurt people. An unhealed bitter soul is easily triggered by any hint of (emotional) threat to become a source of offence, comparison, jealousy, slander, complaining, and so on. 

There is power in confessing both our pain and our sins to a trusted prayer counsellor who is led by the Holy Spirit to minister God’s truth and healing to us. 

We all need to reach a point where we forgive our abusers and betrayers so that we finally find release and healing from the pain that we have carried around in our souls (Psalm 41:4). And as we renew our minds on the eternal truths found in the Bible, we will learn to avoid the things that grieve the Spirit of the Lord, such as bitterness, anger, retaliation, and unkind words. With our emotional foundations healed and strengthened and our mindsets renewed, we are better equipped to become more and more like Christ. Proverbs 28:13 says that “he who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.” (NKJV)

Ephesians 4:30-31 NKJV  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

Testimony 2: Healed by a renewed perspective 

“I had been angry with my mother all my life. I felt that she had not taken care of me or my siblings when we needed her the most. She was frequently absent and when she was home, she would be verbally abusive. I knew she had a hard life growing up and I felt she kept blaming us for the hardships she suffered. We kids grew up with so much bitterness. My brother began to drink and left home. My other sister withdrew. I became angry. When I went for prayer, the counsellor asked me to consider a question, “If your mother had been born into a home where Jesus was her Father, what would she be like?” I was stunned for a moment because I suddenly realised that my mother is a timid and empathetic person who has been overwhelmed by the stresses of life. If Jesus was her Father, she would have been a very wonderful mother. With this realisation, I forgave my mother and put away my resentments. My mom did the best she could under her circumstances. I left that prayer session feeling like a huge burden had been taken off my shoulders. For the first time, I could feel compassion for my mother.”

The equal need for deliverance from evil spirits

In addition to inner healing, deliverance is also necessary. It should not be avoided. We ought to keep in mind that open unhealed wounds draw evil spirits that prey on our vulnerabilities. “The devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Lions lie in wait for the weak, wounded, and vulnerable to launch their attacks. 

Everyone of us responds with one emotion or another when other people sin against us; fear, anger, confusion, denial, hurt, and so on. These open up wounds in our soul and leave us vulnerable. Once there is such a breach in our emotional or mental defences, unclean spirits will slip in with demonic suggestions. They capitalise on our wounded moments to tempt us to condemn, curse, seek revenge, self-doubt, consider suicide etc. Once we give in to and agree with those demonic suggestions in our hearts, we fall into sin — even if we never acted our sinful thoughts out, because sin begins in our hearts. This is how unclean spirits gain legitimate entry into our bodies ie. through sin.

We recognise the oppression of evil spirits when we begin to have sinful compulsions and thoughts that we cannot control. Even Christians who are filled with the Holy Spirit can still suffer such oppression because we have all been vulnerable at some point of our lives. Accepting Jesus into our lives doesn’t automatically heal our wounds or deliver us from unclean spirits, just as moving into new home does not automatically evict the old tenants until we exercise our authority to command them to leave.

Testimony 3: Delivered of a spirit of self-validation

“I have served in church for many years and experienced personal attacks when I warned people about the false teaching, “once saved, always saved.” (The parable of the ten virgins being a case in point.) Over the years, I felt a compulsion to always prove that whatever I said was true and worthy of attention. One day, the Holy Spirit brought a word of knowledge to me, “self validation”. Self-validation was not a pattern of mine growing up but the hurtful attacks and rejection I had experienced made me slip into this mode. As I renounced this compulsion to self-validate, I felt as if something was trying to push its way out of my belly area (Philippians 3:19). I realised I had to expel an evil spirit and commanded it to leave, and it did! Since then, I have felt so much more peace in my heart. Praise God for His revelation!”

Here are some other examples of how evil spirits latch onto our unhealed wounds and begin to push us to compulsively sin. Once we “partner” with them, they build deeper foundations in our  hearts to form sinful strongholds and to use our bodies as a “home” (Luke 11:24). This is the battle apostle Paul describes in Romans 7 and 8, where he said, “the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice” (Romans 7:19). The solution, Paul said is, “if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”” (Romans 8:13-15). Sometimes putting to death the sin in our bodies requires the expulsion of evil spirits that instigate us to sin in the first place, even though we do not want to sin.

Obstacles to healing 

When asked for the obstacles to receiving healing through Jesus Christ, a minister with over a decade of experience in inner healing and deliverance provided some very insightful points.

1. “Many Christians don’t really know Jesus or understand the heart of God. You could be ministering to someone who is praying to a different ‘Jesus’. They see Jesus as a vending machine, as weak, as angry, as vengeful, as distant or even forgetful. Such lies will not benefit anyone. We often work on their knowledge and understanding of who God is first, so they are not held back by lies, shame, self-condemnation, fear or anger at God. It is crucial to always have a Bible on standby! Once they understand that God loves them with an intensity no human being can express, inner healing and deliverance comes quickly because they are willing to embrace God’s love and healing with an open heart.”

2 Corinthians 11:4 NKJV  For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.

2. “Most people don’t self-reflect and understand their own inner world. As a result, it takes more time to help them see their own sinful responses, and their need for God’s grace, mercy and help. They don’t view sin from a biblical point of view. Rather, they follow a self-guided view based on how they feel or what they heard someone tell them. Many don’t meditate on God’s Word. This is what keeps them in bondage. We always say, the truth will set you free.”

Proverbs 21:2 NKJV  Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, But the Lord weighs the hearts.

3. “Many try to hold it altogether on their own and suffocate in their own pain. We are told from a young age that we need to behave and not cry. Crying and letting our emotions out is seen as being “badly behaved”, so most people have never learnt to understand or process their own emotions. Instead, people stuff it all down, try to get over it, and never address their own anxieties. What makes us human is our emotional breadth. God expresses many emotions and we are made in His (emotional) image. When we have been forced by our circumstances to rationalise or suppress our emotions, we do not really fully understand ourselves because all our decisions are linked to our feelings in one way or another. Some people can only describe feeling sad or angry. Sometimes, we have to use an emotions wheel chart to help them express themselves for the first time in their lives. If they don’t understand emotions, it will also be hard for them to empathise with others and express love in appropriate ways.”

4. “Most people don’t realise the connection between their emotional pain and their own sin. Many people suffer injustices in life but they don’t realise that it is often how they have responded to that injustice which is responsible for their continued pain. When we are deeply hurt, the instinct of a child is to find someone to blame. Many adults still do the same but this is not wise. We heal when we forgive, and we do not forgive because someone ‘deserves’ it but because God first forgave us. We forgive others out of gratitude for His mercy towards us. We see how God always blesses those who forgive, they come back reporting how much their health and relationships have improved.”

Psalm 38:5-6 NKJV  My wounds are foul and festering Because of my foolishness. I am troubled, I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.

5. “Many reject the need for deliverance. There is this confusion where people believe that Christians cannot have demons, when there is so much scripture and examples showing us otherwise. Just look at Ananias and Sapphira for example. These were believers who were filled with the Holy Spirit but yet apostle Peter said that they had allowed to Satan to fill their hearts and they lied before God (Acts 5:1-11). Sometimes, ancestral spirits come down though the family bloodline. Whatever the case, we teach those we pray to turn from sin and expel the spirits that the Holy Spirit points out to them in Jesus’ name.”

6. “Formulas and psychology can’t replace the Word of God. In my experience, the Word of God truly is a double edged sword that cuts through soul and spirit, judging the thoughts and attitudes of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). It is the Holy Spirit who gives new life. Man-made formulas and psychology cannot bring a person’s soul back to life. In fact, some of these models cause more harm than good when they encourage people to rely on their own flesh, rather than turn to God for help. You can help them cope with their issues, but only the Lord does the real healing and deliverance. Jesus has the power to resurrect the wounded and dead parts of a person’s heart.”

John 6:63 NKJV  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

7. “Many people want an immediate one-time fix, when it is a life journey with the Lord. No one becomes just like Jesus overnight. It is an ongoing process of sanctification and renewal. Emotional wounding is often multi-layered. When it comes to deliverance, you need to identify the strongman and all the other spirits that come along with it. All this takes time to uncover and bring to light. Even if they decide to stop seeing us, we encourage them to rely on the Holy Spirit for their continued (emotional) needs. If they suffer from demonic oppression, however, true freedom is much harder to find on their own because the demons will blind, deceive, or obstruct them.”

In short;

• The pursuit of healing should not replace the pursuit of God Himself (James 4:3)
• The Holy Spirit is our perfect Counsellor. He is the Spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, power, knowledge, and the fear of God (Isaiah 11:2-4)
• Prayer ministry should be based on God’s Word, not psychology (Exodus 15:26)
• Prayer ministry relies on spiritual gifts such as mercy, exhortation, discernment of spirits, healing, prophecy, teaching, and wisdom (1 Peter 4:10-11)
• We place our faith in His Word and the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and not in man-made methodologies and tools (Romans 10: 17)
• We are to die to our entire sinful nature, not just repent of some selective sins of our choice (Matthew 16:24)
• We receive God’s comfort so we can share it with others (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

Here are ways to renew our mindset about inner healing and deliverance so that we can truly walk into it with the right attitude.

May this sharing be a blessing to you as you seek to love with Lord with all your heart and be restored to fullness in Christ.

Also, see
The importance of emotional healing
Sharpening our spiritual gifts
The Holy Spirit heals the wounded child inside us
The Holy Spirit as our perfect Counsellor
Welcome the Holy Spirit’s transformative work in us
Confessing to receive freedom
Unlearning coping mechanisms to become overcomers
What stops answered prayers
Hearing God’s voice clearly
How to prepare our hearts to hear from God
Forgiveness brings us new life
Debunking 10 false arguments against forgiveness