Biblical or Controversial? Inner Healing in Deliverance Ministry

The ministry of inner healing, although somewhat controversial due to the widely varying methods, is easily one of my favorite components of deliverance ministry.

The reason this is one of my favorite processes is because when inner healing is executed properly, the deliverance leader takes an opportunity to step aside and allow Jesus to bring healing and freedom directly to the root. As mature deliverance ministers, we learn the value of quickly getting out of the way and allowing the Holy Spirit to bring freedom. We are there to help the client stay on track, but the healing is done by Jesus.

Put very simply, inner healing is a process of allowing the Holy Spirit to bring up a memory of a time you were wounded. He helps you forgive everyone involved, He helps you identify wrong beliefs you adopted based on what happened in that situation, and He reveals truth so that you can develop new and healthy beliefs. He ministers directly to you, healing your emotional wounds and removing your pain.

Here is a creative illustration: imagine a bungee cord or rubber band that is connected to the very first trauma or stressful event in your life. This moment might have even occurred within the womb. As you grow older and experience varying stressful or traumatic life events, the cord becomes wrapped around each of those moments throughout life until it is under so much tension that you just can’t take it anymore. Finally you realize that deliverance ministry and inner healing have become a necessity. The enemy greatly enjoys playing with your vulnerabilities and he loves tugging on that already high-tension cord in your life. Ultimately, when a person receives the ministry of inner healing, we watch as the Holy Spirit comes right in and unhooks the cord from just the right root or trauma in their life, releasing the tension and setting them free in an instant!

We have a double victory when this happens. First, Jesus removes the tension that bound the person and held them captive in slavery. And second, their life is restored. Once all pain associated with trauma and mistakes of the past has been removed, the individual will have the capacity and freedom to get traction in life, to walk in purpose and destiny as a victorious son or daughter of God.

In today’s culture and ministry environment it is increasingly important that we back up our ministry techniques with biblical foundations. I believe Jesus is and always will be the foundation (see 1 Cor. 3:11 AMP). I also believe we build on that foundation as we remain in relationship with Jesus, and He continues the process of bringing revelation and fresh ideas. Inner healing is one area where the Lord has continually given us more revelation, and we have gradually updated our methods accordingly. When we partner with the Holy Spirit in inner healing, captives are set free. The freedom received frequently occurs in both the past and present time. God is outside the limits of space and time, and therefore He is able to heal a wound in the very moment it was sustained.

Healing Deep Wounds

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds [curing their pains and their sorrows] (Psalm 147:3 AMPC).

This verse demonstrates that Jesus heals the brokenhearted and binds wounds. We’re not just talking about present concerns. Issues of a broken heart occur over time and can involve multiple traumas causing deep spiritual, physical, and mental wounds that require Jesus’ personal touch. The word brokenhearted in this verse is the Hebrew word shabar, which means to be torn into pieces and crushed (Strong’s #H7665). Inner healing, when done properly, is a solemn and intimate time with the Lord inviting Him to bring the shattered pieces back together and removing all the associated pain. He does not just heal the broken pieces; this verse clearly says that He also binds up the wounds. The word bind comes from the word chabash, which means to gird up and to heal (Strong’s #H2280). This is where things become interesting. The word gird means to be surrounded and enclosed. This word also means to be prepared for battle. This verse is essentially guiding us through the inner healing process in a very basic way.

Discover the Lie and Replace with Truth

And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free (John 8:32 AMPC).

Discovering and understanding the demonic lies in our lives and coming into agreement with God’s perfect truth is probably the most important component when it comes to ministering and receiving inner healing. We already know that satan is the father of lies. So it would stand to reason that his demon minions strive to emulate his example. They are professional liars and thieves. Their purpose is to steal, kill, and destroy your life, and one of their favorite methods is by way of your beliefs.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10).

If a tormenting demonic spirit can coerce you to come into agreement with a lie concerning your purpose and identity, it wins. But through partnership with the Holy Spirit and your God given gift of discernment you can identify the lie. And once the lie is revealed it only takes an instant to become awakened to the manifest truth that will reveal the hope and future God desires for you. Then, once you identify and accept the truth, the lie dissolves and you become free and unbound as the enemy’s grasp over you dissolves in a moment. This principle of seeking truth, wisdom, and understanding is first established in Proverbs 23:23. The lies of the enemy cannot stand against truth. When Jesus was tormented in the desert, the only weapon He needed was to speak truth. Every time he said the words “It is written” He was speaking truth that satan was unable to overcome even with his greatest lies and temptations.

Buy the truth and do not sell it—wisdom, instruction and insight as well (Proverbs 23:23).

Forgiveness Is Required

Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:21–22 NKJV).

Deliverance begins with forgiveness; Jesus is making it clear that we are to infinitely forgive. In this verse Jesus is providing a depth of teaching that it takes heavenly wisdom to fully grasp. Simply put, Jesus was making it clear to Peter that we are not to place limits on forgiveness. For the sake of our own lives, our health, and that of our generational lineage, our deliverance must always begin with forgiveness.

Matthew 18:21–35 then becomes our framework for forgiveness ministry. Jesus’ command to us is to continuously and mercifully forgive just as the master forgave his attendant of his debt and spared his family. Jesus uses the equation of seventy times seven concerning how many times we should forgive someone. The number 490 in Hebrew is the alphanumeric word tamim, which means blameless, complete, and full of integrity. Essentially Jesus is telling us that in the act of forgiveness we become blameless, complete, and ones with integrity. Jesus is not presenting a “nice to know” message of forgiveness here. He is not just talking about the guy in the green Corvette who cut you off on the highway this morning or the person at the office who drank the last of the coffee. Jesus is speaking to every moment of offense, wounding, hurt, and trauma that, if left undealt with, opens the door to the enemy to steal your healing.

There is more at stake here than taking the high road and being obedient. In verses 32–34 the master catches his servant acting in merciless unforgiveness by refusing to extend forgiveness to his own peer servant who owed him money. The servant is literally turned over to his tormentors to have their way with him. If we allow ourselves to hold unforgiveness in our hearts we are burying any opportunity for healing both at the spiritual and physical levels. Further, we are allowing our tormentors (demonic assignments) to come right into our lives and minds to take up residence.

If inner healing is going to work, it requires forgiveness of those who have wounded us. Additionally, Mark 11:25 (AMP) makes it clear that every time we pray, we are to forgive and let it go. I have learned by way of experience and a little science that physical and spiritual healing cannot manifest fully if unforgiveness exists.

So based on these scriptures, we minister inner healing. First the presence and glory of the Holy Spirit is welcome and fills the room even at the moment of wounding and trauma. Forgiveness follows with sincerely releasing the abusers (and sometimes forgiving and releasing yourself) to the Lord. The next thing is partnering with the Holy Spirit, asking Him to identify the lies you began to believe due to the hurt you sustained in that situation, and then reveal the truth that will replace those lies. Jesus then begins to restore the broken pieces of your heart and gird you, hold you, surround you, and envelop you with the truth of your identity as a son or daughter of the King. From there the healing washes over your body and all pain from the moment of original wounding is released and you are free! This process is not spooky spiritual; it is biblical. It is supernatural and it is a real demonstration of the power of God that cannot be denied.

One note of caution: while you can safely take yourself through inner healing, only someone who has been properly trained should attempt to take another person through inner healing. There is great potential for damage to your clients if you attempt to administer this method without proper knowledge. This is because it is easy for a third party to interfere while attempting to assist, and the power of suggestion introduced by the minister can skew the client’s memories and their healing experience.

Distorted Memories?

There is a growing population of lay counselors and licensed clinical therapists who believe that memory recollection is irreparably flawed. The belief is that each time a memory is recalled it is altered and becomes far too distorted to be of any reliable use. As stated by Dr. Philip Gold, “Human memory is inherently faulty. At best, memories are selective: totally true but not the total truth. They also change over time.” (1)

These memories are known as pseudo memories that over time become a partially or greatly incorrect memory. In the last decade of deliverance ministry, I have seen numerous occasions where “new” memories suddenly surface causing the client to seek deliverance and healing. As a minister this is a delicate issue; we are not licensed therapists and as such must only address the potential demonic stronghold and inner healing as we are guided by the Holy Spirit. In other situations, we encounter people who have seen other ministries or even other therapists who have used the power of suggestion to infer the possibility of prior abuse or trauma. Such action on the part of anyone in ministry or professional therapy is abhorrent. When people come for ministry, they are trusting in our ability to use discretion, discernment, prophetic insight, and the leading of the Holy Spirit to guide everything we say and do. Where a licensed therapist is concerned, they are trusted to have professional judgment not to lead or use the power of suggestion with a vulnerable client.

I have personally mistered to individuals fitting both of these categories. It is fairly common for female clients to describe a sudden dream or memory of someone close, perhaps a father, molesting her at a very young age. In every instance, we acknowledge the sadness of the memory without validating it at this stage. Likewise, I have ministered to women who come to me stating that they were told by their therapist or other minister that they “may” have been sexually molested as a child. And since the time they were told these things, memories began appearing confirming the suggestions. I am not stating emphatically that all sudden memories are false or incorrect. What I am stating is that with all new memory recollection we must be discerning and proceed with great caution so as not to damage our clients further. If I validate a memory and decide of my own volition to take the client into inner healing for that trauma, I am solidifying that memory and essentially agreeing that it is reality. The result is a person who came into my office with a potential recollection and left with validation of an event that may have never happened. Or it may have happened, but perhaps the memory is not completely accurate. Remember, memories become distorted and altered over time. It is for this reason that we only address inner healing as guided by the Holy Spirit and only when the memory is brought to mind by Him.

Mistakes Made When Working with Memories

A woman walked into our office to receive deliverance prayer. We sat down and before I could open the session, the woman began to explain to the team that she had just recently had vague dreams suggesting inappropriate touching by a family member when she was a baby. In that moment I was faced with a “go” or “no-go” decision. If I chose to administer inner healing by asking her to go into that memory, I would essentially be saying that I agreed the dream was based on a real memory. That is a dangerous path as we have no way of validating a person’s memories, much less their dreams. I am not suggesting that her dream had no truth; I am, however, stating that we must discern with complete accuracy what the Lord wants to do next. I chose to acknowledge the woman’s memory but stopped short of validating it.

Allow me to elaborate a bit concerning the improper ways inner healing is sometimes administered.

As ministers we often meet with people like the one mentioned above. They may tell us stories they remember from their childhood. They may elaborate on how their father was verbally abusive or mother was distant and a grandfather or uncle was always there for them when they needed them. As the individual recounts their story, they suddenly begin to feel like something might not have been right concerning relationships with their grandfather or the uncle. In this hypothetical scenario the minister might lean into this train of thinking and suggest that some form of inappropriate relationship may have taken place. At that moment, the minister has planted the seed of an idea by making a leading suggestion to the individual based on conjecture rather than facts. This person may walk out of the ministry session more damaged than when she entered. Even if healing prayer was performed, the memory was validated rather than allowing the Holy Spirit to guide the person to the actual memory that needed healing and restoration.

I am not suggesting that memories should be ignored or pushed to the side. On the contrary, we must allow the Holy Spirit to be the guide and only the memories He brings to mind are the ones we are to submit to Him for healing. We can trust that the Holy Spirit will be faithful to bring up the exact thing that needs to be dealt with, and He will never push a person to deal with something for which they are not ready.

Inner Healing Done Correctly

I once prayed alongside a well-known deliverance minister as we ministered inner healing to an individual who we will call Suzie (we will not use her real name for privacy purposes). In this session, as usual, we asked the Holy Spirit to bring to Suzie’s mind a memory that He would like to heal. Almost immediately Suzie began to recall with vivid clarity a scene that could have only occurred several hundred years prior. Suzie described the event from the perspective of a little child who was frightened and watching a terrible scene break out on a ship at sea, involving several grown men engaged in a violent sword fight. That would have been a frightening scene for a child who was likely watching a traumatic event impacting someone very close. As the memory played out in great detail, we began to wonder if this was an actual event or a false recollection, because it had obviously not occurred in her own life. But as Suzie continued, it became clear that this event was strangely close to home and was impacting her in such an emotional way that we could not deny that God was revealing to her a generational trauma that needed healing at the DNA level. Additionally, we had confidence the memory was indeed true because we had specifically invited the Holy Spirit to bring a memory to Suzie’s recollection. The healing that transpired as we followed and watched the Holy Spirit minister to Suzie was miraculous, live-giving, and restorative.

This story illustrates the need for mature inner healing ministers who can discern the Holy Spirit from a distorted or even false memory.

Responsibly led inner healing ministry will not engage a sudden recollection of a dream or a word given by a less experienced prophet or seer. The problem with a sudden recollection is that there are too many variables that could influence a memory. We’ve already discussed the power of suggestion and influence we have over people’s memory. Additionally, during inner healing, the session is covered by the blood of Jesus and we forbid any voice other than the voice of the Lord to influence memory recollection. Inner healing will always prepare a special time with the Lord, allowing Him to heal what is needed. I have learned through years of experience that sudden or suggested memories are almost never brought to mind when we allow Jesus to run the session. This is important because we are not ignoring the sudden memory, we are simply turning the session over to the Holy Spirit and if He wants to work on that memory, He does. Nearly every time, the memory the client thought needed healing when they came to us was not truly the root Jesus wanted to heal.

Can We Identify Distorted Memories?

In a perfect world we would be able to identify distortions in memory. However, we don’t possess the capability to easily discern true memory events from distortions.

Memory distortion and flawed recollection is known as memory confabulation. Confabulation is defined in Webster’s Dictionary as filling in gaps in memory by fabrication. As a minister of inner healing and deliverance, the best way to prevent memory confabulation during ministry is to plead the blood of Jesus and forbid the enemy from interfering. Then permit the Holy Spirit free reign to influence true memory recollection. When properly done, inner healing is an incredible mechanism where Jesus sets the captives free in an instant. All it takes is for us as ministers to step aside and let the Lord have His way.

Rewire, but Never Change the Memory

Now that we are familiar with memory distortions and confabulation as it relates to memory recollection, let’s discuss rewiring the memory. This is perhaps the wrong word for what is actually happening. In truth, memories are not altered in any way. What occurred in the past is locked in history and can never be changed. Some improper inner healing practices have involved altering or erasing the memory during the healing session. For example, we should never ask the individual to move to a different area in their memory or specifically ask Jesus to walk into the place where the event occurred during the recollection. Any attempt to change the memory in any way is incorrect and manipulative of the vulnerable client. Consider the potential damage this can cause a person who is reliving a trauma of the past, seeking healing when we invite Jesus into the room. I have heard clients who have experienced this type of inner healing say, “If Jesus is able to visit me during this trauma, why did He not save me back when it actually happened? He could have saved me and instead stood by.”

Instead, rewiring of the memory refers to the moment when God reveals the lie that was born out of the trauma, replaces it with truth, and removes the pain associated with the memory. Welcoming the presence of the Holy Spirit into the ministry room to bring peace, truth, and comfort is appropriate and important to the healing process.

Note: while much of this section deals with ministers working with clients for their inner healing needs, the process of inner healing is something we all can do safely on our own as we meditate with the Lord regularly. Bring your traumas to the Lord and allow Him to uncover the lie, reveal the truth, and remove the pain. This practice can be performed alone between just you and Jesus.

Memory Storage and Recollection

We just learned how memories can become distorted and inaccurate over time. Let’s look deeper at this phenomenon as we attempt to understand the complexity of inner healing.

Let’s start by explaining briefly how our memories work. Essentially memories are part of our physical human comprehension. The memory process is designed to provide us with recall of prior events and as a method with which to weigh our current environment. Research shows that there are three main ways to characterize how memory works. First, the memory encoding process; next, the storage process; followed by the retrieval process.

The encoding process is how we take information into our minds for storage. We encode memories through our senses. How something looks, feels, sounds, etc. is processed and stored. But “the form in which this information is stored may differ from its original encoded form.” This is one reason false memory fragments occur requiring the Holy Spirit to guide us through the healing process. Addressing the false or fragments of memory can cause unintended damage during the healing process, potentially even stalling the healing. The storage process determines how the memory is cataloged and stored. Memories will either find a home in long-term storage or short-term storage. All memories are first stored in short-term memory, only moving it to long-term storage if the memory has an associated word, phrase, video, picture, event, etc. This encoding process is called semantic encoding. Finally, the retrieval process of memory refers to the recall process of stored memories. Memory “retrieval is subject to error, because it can reflect a reconstruction of memory. The reconstruction becomes necessary when stored information is lost over time due to decayed retention.” (2)

You might think that memories are stored neatly on a shelf or a filing cabinet in our mind waiting to be remembered at a later time. In fact, it’s much more complicated than that. Memories are stored in the mind in different places of the cortex depending on the stress of the trauma and emotion associated with it. To further complicate things, memory recollection can be broken causing partial or complete forgetfulness of a memory. (3) For example, the amygdala is responsible for storing the emotional aspects of the memory, then, in partnership with the hypothalamus, communication is sent to the endocrine system to distribute hormones that lead to elevated stress and feelings of discomfort. This is why the retelling or reliving of a trauma memory often triggers physical reactions, heart rate increase, sweating, etc. The other portions of the memory are tucked away in the hippocampus for long-term storage. This is where things get interesting. High-stress memories stored in the hippocampus are potentially subject to a previously introduced phenomenon called confabulation. According to neuroscientist Dr. Dalla Barba, “Confabulation is a kind of memory distortion, that, at a general level, can be defined as the production of statements or actions that are unintentionally incongruous to the subject’s history, background, present and future situation.” (4) Essentially, memories stored in high-trauma situations are at risk of distortion and misrepresentation at the point of memory recollection. The hippocampus will add and interpret data from previous and current life experience when recalling a memory.

Again, it is for this reason that inner healing should never be performed outside of the secured covering of the Holy Spirit guiding the recollection with accuracy.

Our Vision Is Fallible

I am spending a lot of time addressing memory storage and recollection for a reason. If we have a somewhat thorough understanding of how memories operate, we are better able to approach inner healing, both as a client and as a minister.

“If I can see it, I can believe it.” Have you ever said that? Have you ever relied on your vision as the source of all truth? Have you ever maintained a memory of a place or an event from childhood only to discover in pictures that things were not the way you recalled? Often, we discover evidence that makes it apparent our recollection was not entirely accurate.

It might turn out the people involved were different than who we thought, objects might not be the same size as we remember, or other aspects we thought we remembered quite vividly might be wrong. For example, I recently had a desire to look up the childhood home in which I spent many of my elementary school years growing up. This memory is several decades old. I remembered a moderately sized home with a big deck on the front. I remembered there being a large tree in front of the home with a wrap-around driveway. I remembered the inside had three average-sized bedrooms—two bedrooms on the main level and one very large attic bedroom—plus a kitchen and dining room combo and a moderate living room. I also remembered a large laundry room that also served as a mudroom at the back door. I remembered a big back yard with a very mature oak tree in the middle of the yard. Strangely, I still remember the street address with perfect clarity. I began searching for this address in Google maps. The address I recalled was correct. But as I began to observe the street view photos, I was shocked to discover several things that don’t exactly reconcile with my memory. First, the house is much smaller than I remember. There is a small tree in the back yard, probably an elm tree. And the back yard was much smaller and differently shaped than I remember. There was no wrap around driveway, nor was there any room for one.

While I had strong emotions about what I thought was a vivid memory of my childhood house, reality was vastly different. Dr. Steven Novella of the Yale School of Medicine says this, “The brain is our universal tool and greatest strength. Most people believe that our intelligence is our greatest advantage over all the other creatures on this planet. However, the brain is also strangely deceptive and is the root of many of our flaws and weaknesses.” He continues to state the following concerning our vision: “You cannot trust anything you think you see or perceive. There are simply too many flaws in the ways our brain constructs these perceptions.” (5)

You Cannot Trust Your Eyes

One of the strangest phenomena concerning human sight is that our eyes are designed with a visual impairment that science may view as a flaw. Or is it? Human eyes have what is called a natural scotoma, a blind spot in both eyes where we are completely incapable of sight. This phenomenon occurs as a result of where the optic nerve exits the retina. There are no photoreceptors to transmit light from this area. You could draw the conclusion that we are partially blind in both eyes. In fact, our blind spot is unusually large when compared to our entire field of vision. That’s remarkable! Think about this for a moment.

Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:6-7).

We live by faith and not by sight. Why then, you might ask, do I have no problem seeing? And why do I not notice that large of a gap in my vision? Truthfully, the answer is entirely the result of the creativity of our God. He knit us together in the secret place; He created a mind so well built that it literally fills in the empty spot with data obtained from surrounding images. Here is the implication: every memory stored in your mind has a blind spot where no data was recorded. As our mind retells the story of a memory, it is doing it without the benefit of current, accurate data to fill in the spot. The potential is a partially distorted memory. I hope you can see why inner healing is so important but also requires so much care of the person to allow the Holy Spirit to heal memories that we cannot begin to understand with complete accuracy.

God Is Everywhere: Omnipresent Healing at the Point of Injury and at the Present

Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases (Psalm 103:1–3).

God exists out of time and space. He literally inhabits eternity, as beautifully written in Isaiah 57:15. God’s presence is always present and among us. Imagine for a moment what life would be like even for a small period of time that God’s presence was not here. Horror? Terror? Hopelessness? Let’s not explore that further, shall we? The point is that God inhabits eternity. Don’t take my word for it; let’s look at the following scriptures that illustrate God’s ever presence.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go (Joshua 1:9).

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:6).

The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing (Zephaniah 3:17).

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:19–20).

Why then do we hear the church pray for the presence of the Lord? Perhaps because we desire a greater, more tangible manifestation? I acknowledge that “Jesus bumps” are nice, and that is certainly one manifestation. But it starts by acknowledging that God’s presence is already here and welcoming Him to come and partner more deeply with the healing that is taking place in the moment. Jesus desires to heal broken places in our lives. When we acknowledge His presence during inner healing, we also invite Him to go deep into the trauma of the memory to remove all pain and wounding associated with the trauma. Jesus is able to remove all pain associated because He inhabits all eternity. Your memory is part of His eternity. When we invite Him to heal a wound, we also ask God to speak truth and peace in the precious and sacred healing moment. This moment is the same moment where miracles happen. When Jesus speaks truth and peace, both truth and peace become the reality, and the pain of the trauma is erased in a moment.

As a reminder, inner healing will never change or alter a memory in any way. Doing so is dangerous and has the potential to cause more damage. But when inner healing is led by the Holy Spirit and discernment, the result is a life lived in freedom, peace, and renewed identity.

Notes

1. Philip Gold, “False memory syndrome,” (Salem Press Encyclopedia, 2020), https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=shib&db=ers&AN=87322551&site=eds-live&custid=uphoenix.

2. Derek Bok Center, “How Memory Works,” Harvard University, accessed July 2, 2021, https://bokcenter.harvard.edu/how-memory-works.

3. Greg Miller, “How Are Memories Stored and Retrieved?” Science, Vol. 309, Issue 5731, July 1, 2005, 92, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15994538.

4. Gianfranco Dalla Barba and Valentina La Corte, A “neurophenomenological model for the role of the hippocampus in temporal consciousness. Evidence from confabulation,” Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, Vol. 9, Issue 218, August 26, 2015, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4549641.

5. Steven Novella, Your Deceptive Mind: A Scientific Guide to Critical Thinking Skills (Teaching Company, 2012).