What is biblical inner healing?
Jesus personally proclaimed that He had come to fulfil the prophecy in Isaiah 61:1. Looking at the root words of this prophecy found in Luke 4:18, we see that Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor [ptōchos ie. helpless or lacking]. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted [suntribó tēn ie. shattered self], to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind [tuphlos ie. mentally blind], to set at liberty [aphesis ie. release, deliver] those who are oppressed [thrauō ie. crushed or bruised].” This is a profound statement!
(简体中文 > 什么是圣经中的内在医治？ | 繁體中文 > 什麼是聖經中的內在醫治？)
Luke 4:18 NKJV “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
What Jesus said shows us that the good news of the gospel is rooted in the fact that the Holy Spirit anointed Him to bring healing to all who feel helpless, brokenhearted, shattered, bruised or crushed, and to release us from captivity. He restores us so we feel loved, joyful, and peace in our spirits.
Reconciliation with the Father
Very importantly, Jesus came to reconcile all of us to our Heavenly Father. Both Jesus and the Holy Spirit desire to draw us into more intimate knowledge of God the Father. When we know our Father, we know our beginning, our identity, and our destiny. This is what makes biblical inner healing drastically different from psychology, counselling, philosophy, new age healing, and so on. It is not about self-empowerment, cognitive behaviour modification, energy manipulation, or connecting with some higher consciousness. There are no tools and definitely no drugs.
Colossians 1:19-20 NKJV For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
It is based on Jesus’ finished work on the cross
Jesus made inner healing and reconciliation with the Father possible through His finished work on the cross. Through His stripes, we receive healing (Isaiah 53:5). Through His blood, we receive the forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:7). Through the sacrifice of His body, we can be set apart from sin and perfected into His image (Hebrews 10:10,13). Through His resurrection by the power of the Holy Spirit, we receive new spiritual life (Romans 6:4, 8:11).
Isaiah 53:5 NKJV But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
Ephesians 1:7 NKJV In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
Hebrews 10:10,13 NKJV By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all… from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.
Romans 6:4 NKJV Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
The Holy Spirit is the Counsellor
The Holy Spirit joins with us to uncover the secret strongholds in a person’s heart, to reveal God’s truth for them, to bring spiritual renewal and regeneration (Titus 3:5) and to pour the Father’s love into their hearts. No human being is capable of doing this. The Holy Spirit is the perfect Counsellor. He knows everything about every person and understands us better than even we understand ourselves. He knows the Father’s plans for us and will counsel and lead us back to His will. When He is not the One presiding over our prayers, there is no true inner transformation, there is only behaviour adjustment. It does take humility on our part to put away our preconceived ideas and patterns to listen to Him and obey.
Titus 3:5 NKJV not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
Romans 5:5 NKJV Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Here is where biblical inner healing is drastically different from secular counselling.
Biblical inner healing is led by the Holy Spirit and:
- Follows the Lord’s guidance – rather than rely on psychological frameworks and evidence-based techniques e.g. scientific evidence and professional clinical expertise
- Helps to renew the entire person; body, soul and spirit – rather than just resolve immediate life challenges and unhelpful behavioural patterns
- Sets people free from emotional pain and tormenting spirits by the power of the Holy Spirit – rather than just learning to manage the symptoms but not actually healing from inside out and experiencing true immediate freedom
- Involves actively listening to the Holy Spirit for hidden truths – rather than listening to a person and finding solutions based on his or her perspective and preference only.
- Focuses on the Holy Spirit’s resurrection power and submits every thought to Jesus – rather than focusing on modifying dysfunctional thought patterns and developing helpful coping mechanisms
- Invites Jesus to heal the pains and wounds in our hearts and release forgiveness to those who have hurt us because of the forgiveness He has shown us – rather than just listening to a person’s pains with compassion and giving comfort
What do we need inner healing for?
We all need to be healed from the effects of living in a sinful world and to be freed from the consequences of our past. No one is immune to sin, anxiety, emotional wounding and the devil’s lies. Praise God that Jesus came to rescue us and restore us to fullness. Inner healing is about His work in restoring one’s inner person to spiritual wholeness, so that we can love the Lord with all our heart, all our mind and all our strength in response (Mark 12:30).
Without the Lord’s healing, we will find it impossible to overcome anxieties, bitterness, discontentment, sadness, loneliness, depression, jealousies, irritability, and so on. We cannot “try harder” on our own because the fullness of love, joy and peace is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. This is something we cannot conjure them up on our own.
Those who have not been restored to fullness in Christ will find that:
- They feel alone inside
- They feel fearful, helpless, angry, or ashamed internally
- They keep repeating the same sins
- They don’t have the ability to overcome un-Christlike patterns of behaviour
- They are triggered to rage or deep anxiety by certain words, actions, sounds or even smells
- They have addictions they can’t seem to break
- They have difficulty trusting others or being childlike
- They have bouts of depression
- They have unexplainable pains and aches in their chest or shoulders
- They suffer from insomnia, and so on…
Needless to say, this is not the abundant life that Jesus came to give us! (John 10:10) Much of these struggles are rooted in the state of our emotional well being.
Inner healing involves the demolishing of rigid strongholds, deeply ingrained patterns of thinking, feeling, and beliefs that keep people outside of God’s perfect will for them. Often rooted in past experiences and fear – as well as lies and accusations perpetuated by evil spirits – mental strongholds act as self-sabotaging filters that affect how believers view themselves and how they interact with the Lord.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NKJV For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
For example, if a teacher used to repeatedly verbally abuse us, we may instinctively believe that God does not care much about us or find us valuable either. Such a stronghold will affect the way we pray and seek Him. It is rooted in a lie but we can’t see our reality in God because of the (unhealed) emotions embedded in us since our childhood. Those anxious feelings will turn a negative statement into a belief.
The earlier our experiences and the longer we hold onto unforgiveness (intentionally or unintentionally), the more ingrained and instinctive our strongholds can become, simply because we have lived with them for so long. Most times, our brain even “forgets” the root cause because it has been “filed away” in the subconscious. We don’t consciously think about that teacher anymore but the impact still lingers. What we do know is that our patterns of thinking and beliefs feel “real”, “right”, and “obviously the truth”.
Praise God that the Holy Spirit brings revelation and truth that sets us free, by “casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God”. Common strongholds include fear, self-condemnation, self-rejection, and low self esteem. These in turn, cause people to not believe in God’s promises and to doubt His love. “How can God love someone like me?” “How can God use someone like me?” Most strongholds are rooted in fear and shame!
2 Corinthians 10:4-6 NKJV For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
Thank God that no matter how long we have been in bondage, God can work a miracle in our hearts when we humble ourselves before Him and ask Him to search our hearts! The Holy Spirit will bring revelations and words of knowledge that will demolish strongholds in minutes.
Testimony 1: A woman gets liberated from feeling “less than”
A lady always felt “less than” and “not good enough” in everything, even though she is very talented and gifted. As she sought the Holy Spirit, He brought back a memory of when she was a young student. During class one day, the teacher arranged different cards for students to pick out and read out. The one she picked up said, “I am a servant.” Because there was already favouritism of boys at home, the words really struck her deeply. She was unaware that she had subconsciously come into agreement with that statement. This opened the door to a demon. In fact, she said that at that moment, she felt as if something entered her heart after she read the words out loud. She never really felt the same confidence she had after that. Somehow, she took on that “identity” and this affected all her emotions and perspectives later on in life. After this revelation, she forgave the teacher and renounced the identity she had assumed that day. As she dedicated herself to Jesus as a daughter of the most high God, and cast out the spirits that entered her that day in class, she felt a great relief and clarity. Praise God.
The need for intercessors
The human heart is highly wired for survival and will mask stressful or painful emotions from our consciousness in order to enable us to function as normally as possible. Sometimes, our environment and the people around us require us to push down our pain and desires. Then there are things we don’t even realise are traumatic because “we had no choice” and/or “everyone else was going through the same thing.” Over time, all these get stored in our subconscious and we are no longer aware of the anxieties that continue to stir within us.
The Bible tells us that our hearts are highly (self) deceitful. We tend to soothe ourselves with justifications, rationale and reasons for all the ways we feel, think, and behave – and not realise that in reality, we are being driven by an inner world of unresolved subconscious emotions and thoughts embedded deeply within us. This is how strongholds form and why the Bible calls the heart desperately wicked.
Jeremiah 17:9-10 NKJV “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.
No amount of Bible study and meditation will help us overcome these strongholds on our own when we are not even aware of what they are. This is why we need intercessors who are anointed with the Holy Spirit to intercede together with us. Together, we seek the Lord and ask Him to search our hearts and test our minds. Where two or more and gathered in His name, His presence is with us!
Jeremiah 17:10 NKJV I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.
Matthew 18:20 NKJV For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
Testimony 2: A ministry leader bound by inner vows
A ministry leader came forward for prayer and shared how she struggled to love those she felt the Lord had called her to serve. When she was asked if she had made any inner vows to cope with life’s difficulties on her own terms, she quickly replied that she had worked through many strongholds and did not have any. The intercessors encouraged her to ask the Holy Spirit to search her heart to show her the truth. Slowly, with the intercessors’ guidance and help, she listed 10 different vows that she made in response to a difficult childhood, such as “I will avoid painful situations”, “I need to ensure other people don’t get hurt by injustice,” and “I will shut out my feelings.” All these prevented her from serving the Lord with joy. The truth did not emerge until she humbled herself and sought the Lord for what was really going on in her heart. Her own heart had deceived her. As she repented for making those inner vows and renounced them, replacing them with the truth such as, “The Lord is my Shepherd, He will keep me safe and secure,” she found freedom and release.
It is imperative, however, that intercessors in inner healing have a close personal relationship with the Lord and have insight into how God thinks and will react in certain situations. We never want to misrepresent God’s heart to His children. Intercessors need to be familiar both with God’s character as well as His word.
Inner healing is best done in the context of safe relationships and safe relationships are built on authenticity, vulnerability, trust, and mutual understanding. Some common lies that plague wounded people include, “I’m all alone in my pain, no one understands,“ “Even if they understand me, they can’t help me“ and “I can’t speak the truth because people will judge me.” Wounded people have felt alone in their pain for a long time and to have the care and listening ear of an empathetic fellow believer can in itself feel very soothing and refreshing. We all need to feel connected.
It is therefore crucial for intercessors to exude a compassionate and kind nature, and not come across as cold, self-righteous, legalistic, proud, and aloof. We need to be willing to weep with those who weep, and rejoice when they rejoice. It often takes an empathetic voice to bring someone to a place where they are finally ready to forgive their worst abusers.
Romans 12:15 NKJV Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
Final note: Inner healing and deliverance should always go hand-in-hand. Demonic spirits slip through in times of intense anger, fear, pain, shock, terror, grief, greed, and lust. Trauma shatters the inner person and creates cracks or open doors for demons. Praying to forgive is not enough. Deliverance needs to come next. The traumatised will most certainly be demonised and the heavily demonised will be traumatised, so we should not attempt to do deliverance without inner healing or do inner healing without deliverance.
May this sharing be a blessing to you as you seek to love the Lord with all your heart and allow the Lord to heal your body, soul and spirit.