Inner Healing:Keys to Inner Healing

Keys to Inner Healing
1. The first thing that you want to settle, is any feelings of guilt and shame, especially any feelings that God is somehow disappointed or angry with you. When dealing with a physical wound, what is the first thing you do? Cleanse it from germs so that it can properly heal. When dealing with spiritual or emotional wounds, carrying around baggage (guilt, shame, fear, etc.) makes the healing process much more difficult.

2. Getting yourself to the point where you know that God loves, forgives, and accepts you, is one of the foundations to receive inner healing. Knowing that God isn’t angry or disappointed in you creates an atmosphere where you can freely turn your burdens over to Jesus and trust Him to take care of them. Carrying around a burden of shame is a sure way to hinder the inner healing process because it mentally separates us from the healing work of Jesus. If we want to freely receive healing for our damaged emotions, then we need to settle it in our minds that God is not angry with us, and stand on God’s Word about our sins being forgiven and washed from us by the Blood of Christ.

3. One of the biggest keys to receive healing for damaged emotions, depends on your perception of God, and how He feels about you and your healing. You must realize that he is the source of your healing, and deliverance… and NOT your problems! Blaming God for your problems will put up an invisible wall, which will hinder His healing power from flowing into your mind and emotions. The Holy Spirit will not override our freewill, and when we blame Him, our freewill is putting our hand up in His face. It is important that our freewill allows His work and does not blame Him for the bad thing(s) that have happened to us. It is important to realize that God is for you, and not against you. He desires to see you healed and restored to wholeness even more than you do!

4. Open up those wounds and give the pain to Jesus. What you want is to open up those wounds before the light (Jesus), so that they can be healed. As long as you hold them in darkness, they will never fully heal. If you had a physical wound, and it turned into an infection, and you merely put a bandage over the wound, would that solve the problem? Of course not! You need to take that mask off, expose it to the light, and apply the healing and germ-killing light of Christ into that wound so that it can heal.

5. God’s Word tells us to cast our cares upon Him, for He cares for us (see 1 Peter 5:7). We need to realize that Christ has taken our pain on the cross, and if we will transfer it to Him, He is waiting to heal our wounds. The Holy Spirit has shown me this very important key to inner healing: Why should we carry something that Christ has carried for us on the cross?

"Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows [grief, pain, affliction]: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." Isaiah 53:4-5

The word “sorrows” in this passage, actually translates to grief, pain, or affliction. When Jesus shed His blood, He carried our inner pain and wounds as well as our physical and physiological healing, so that we don’t have to! God’s Word tells us that He cares for us, and because of this fact, we are told to cast all – not some, but ALL – of our cares upon Him (see 1 Peter 5:7).

6. Realizing Jesus carried our sorrows and accepting it is another key to break-through. If you choose to carry your own sorrows, it is usually because;

(a) you don’t really realize or believe that He carried your sorrows, or (b) you haven’t taken the time to think about or understand what Jesus did. Anytime when we seriously look at what Christ did for us, it’s impossible not to be thankful for such a gift that He’s so lovingly purchased for us! Being thankful will make you eager to take advantage of what Christ has lovingly carried for you.

I want you to picture Jesus standing there beside you with tears in His eyes, feeling the hurt and suffering that you’re going through. We are told to cast our cares and concerns upon Him – why? Because He CARES for us! Picturing Jesus standing there beside a situation with tears in His eyes can be very powerful. John 11:35-36 tells us that, “Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!”

"Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you". 1 Peter 5:7

7. Developing a thankful attitude is another big key to receiving healing for our emotional wounds. Thankfulness leads to trust – if you are thankful for what God’s given you, then you will find it easy to trust Him in those areas of your life. Thankfulness is also a big key to overcoming rejection issues – how is that? Because when you begin to look at all that Christ has done for you, it is impossible to feel rejected by your heavenly Father, which is one of the big keys to healing rejection. God’s Word commands us to be thankful:

"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful". Colossians 3:15

Not only are we commanded to be thankful, but the Bible also tells us what can happen when we are unthankful:

"Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened". Romans 1:21

An unthankful heart is prone to unforgiving, unloving, resentful, and all sorts of hateful feelings against others. It is a poison to our emotional health and ability to receive the healing that God wants to bring to our wounds and hurts. Those who are unforgiving and judgmental towards others have forgotten what God has done for them. Anybody who truly thankful for how God has treated them, would go about treating others the same way and He treated them. Begin to be thankful for the little things which God has created for you to enjoy. Little things such as the birds singing in the trees or your pet cat or dog – they were made for us to enjoy! It is hard, if not impossible to be thankful and unforgiving at the same time. When we realize what Christ has done for us and are thankful for such an expensive gift that has been purchased with Jesus’ own blood for us, then we will naturally forgive those who wrong us – that love is contagious and will flow through us. We cannot honestly look at what Christ has done for us, and not overflow with thankfulness in our heart! Becoming thankful is a huge key to breakthrough if you struggle with unforgiveness. Unforgiveness and ungratefulness (being unthankful) are closely related.

8. Fear is often a tool of Satan because when we put our trust in God, tremendous amount of peace and healing can then take place. Fear will keep a person holding onto what must be released into Jesus’ hands. This is another reason why we must come to know the true good and loving nature of God towards His children. Knowing that God is a good God and has your best interest in mind, paves the way to being able to trust Him with the concerns in your life. You need to know that you can trust God with your needs, He understands them, and desires to help you!

9. Another key to receive inner healing, especially from a background or root of rejection, is coming to a place where you know that God loves you dearly and has your best interest in mind. If you have a hard time believing that God is good towards you and has your best interest in mind, then I highly recommend Gloria Copeland’s book entitled, “Blessed Beyond Measure.” Satan and evil spirits are always eager to make a person feel as if God is angry with them. It puts the person on the edge of their seat and makes them afraid of God, which causes them to feel discouraged in their relationship with Him and tend to give up on spending time with Him and drawing near to Him (the source of their healing!). It’s no wonder Satan wants us to feel like God is somehow angry or disappointed in us! Try this: if you have struggled and felt like God is angry with you, then try to imagine that God sees you, knows where you’ve been, and yet still looks favorably on you? It will loosen up the tenseness on your whole system once you begin to see things as God wants you to see them. Once you can imagine it, then turn to God’s Word, and learn of how He really does look upon you with favor and hope! He’s always calling us back to repentance, so that He can restore our relationship with Him. I can’t tell you how powerful that imaginations can be when used for God’s glory instead of Satan’s. This is a powerful key to freedom and healing for many!

10. Another key to inner healing is not to meditate or continue to think about what was done to you. Once you give that to the Lord, don’t continue to think about how badly you were wronged. You will cause emotional wounds to fester when you choose to continue thinking about what was done to you. Don’t get me wrong, we are to face what was done to us, head on, honestly, and don’t deny what was done to us, but once we give all the pain and hurt to Jesus, then we need to leave it there. If you have two dogs, and you feed one but leave the other to starve, then which one will be around? The one that you feed of course! We need to make a solid choice not to dwell/feed upon what was done to us, as it will reinforce the reason as to why we are hurt or angry. This is a very important key to receiving healing from emotional wounds.

11. As absurd as this sounds, you need to revisit the pain! By going back to the place where the pain was formed, and revisiting that wound in your soul, it will allow you to truly and fully forgive, thus pulling the pain up at it’s root. The job can be half-done if you simply say, “I forgive them” without thinking of what you are really forgiving them of. When you can revisit that pain, and forgive out of the love in your heart, then your healing will come naturally! It may also help to picture Jesus standing there besides you while you were being wronged and think about how He felt about what was done to you. You shouldn’t have to keep forgiving the same person for the same offense that took place 10 years ago; we need to reach the point of pain and forgive at the scene of the accident. I’m not saying that we must revisit the same physical place, but rather the memories and place in your mind where the abuse or pain took place.
Remember, it is not what was done to us that keeps us in bondage, it is our reaction to what was done to us which causes all the spiritual bondage and torment! When a woman is raped, it isn’t the rape which causes her spiritual bondage, but rather the way she reacted to it; the hate and resentment that is felt afterwards is what gives Satan a foothold. What if the person who has wronged us is still doing it today and has no repentance in their heart? What they are doing to us cannot keep us in bondage, however, how we choose to react to what they are doing can hold us in bondage and torment spiritually.

12. Perhaps Satan’s best-kept secret to prevent a person’s soul from healing, is to cause them to feel like God is somehow disappointed in them, or even angry with them. Satan wants them to think that for some reason God is angry with them or has given up on them and is not eager to forgive and have mercy on them, so the idea of God healing their wounds seems like an impossibility.
If the enemy can succeed in causing a person to feel like God is not eager to forgive or be merciful to them, this is a sure roadblock to anybody’s healing process. This causes a person to distance themselves from the very person (Jesus) that desires to heal them. You cannot distance yourself from God and receive healing to your emotions at the same time. Drawing neigh to Him is a huge key to receiving healing. One day the Holy Spirit spoke to me (twice actually!) and said, “A sound mind comes from knowing me.” God’s word tells us that He is the one who gives us a sound clear mind of love and power (see 2 Timothy 1:7). Jesus tells all those who are heavy laden (people who are carrying emotional and mental baggage) to come unto Him, and He will give them rest (see Matthew 11:28-29).

13. Satan knows that one of the biggest keys to inner healing, is to come unto Jesus, but Satan’s way of preventing that, is to make the person feel like God is angry with them. This has a lot to do with our perception of our relationship with God. If we don’t perceive ourselves as being made right with God, it will cause all sorts of spiritual problems and seriously prevent the inner healing process. As long as a person feels that God is somehow angry or upset with them, it is as if there are walls about their emotional system, protecting them from further harm, and at the same time, blocking the light (and healing power) of Christ to heal those wounds.

14. Another one of the biggest keys to inner healing is tearing down walls that prohibit the healing power and light of the Holy Spirit to reach the wound to bring healing. The Holy Spirit is very eager and ready to heal our wounded emotions, but He’s also a gentleman and won’t override our freewill. He honors our freewill so much, that He would even let us choose to reject Jesus and end up in hell – He won’t even force us to go to heaven! Our freewill can choose to take down our emotional walls or to hold them in place. What are these walls that I am referring to? They are our own reactions to what was done to us. When we react in anger, bitterness, resentment, and choose to give place to the devil in our hearts, we are putting up walls around our wounds that will prohibit the light of Christ from healing them. That is why it is vital that we take responsibility for our reactions to what was done to us. We are not writing off or discrediting what was done to us, but simply not allowing walls to go up which will prevent the Holy Spirit from healing our wounds. Deliverance ministers need to tell people to let go and release their damaged emotions to Jesus to be healed, but how can we expect them to honestly let down those vital walls of protection (which serve to block further harm, but also block the Holy Spirit from healing the wounds), if they are not confident that Jesus is going to do just what He said and heal their wounds?

15. The Holy Spirit also gave me a strong word on our transparency with Him when seeking inner healing and freedom from fears. Transparency is very important when seeking healing for emotional wounds. What heals our wounds? The healing light of Christ! What does light require to pass through? Transparency! The Holy Spirit spoke to me about this, saying, “If you want my healing light to heal your damaged emotions, then you must be transparent with me… for light requires transparency to pass through.” Now those weren’t the exact words, but that was the message that He gave me.

16. It is important to make sure that you have forgiven yourself, and are loving yourself as Christ loves you. It is vital that you see yourself as God sees you, as cleansed, washed with the Blood, and your past failures actually removed from your account. If you continue to walk around beating yourself up as if you haven’t been forgiven, then you are actually denying the work that Christ has done for you on the cross! Many times, those who have emotional wounds are in bondage to guilt and condemnation, and coming to the realization that their sins are forgiven, is perhaps one of the single most powerful keys to receive healing from emotional wounds.