Healing Wounds Part III - Healing Prayer

Click here for part II and here for part I.

There comes a time, however, that we need to bring our wounds to God.

It is worth repeating what I mentioned before: God desires to heal us from these wounds. He waits patiently until we decide to meditate on these painful wounds with the guiding help of His Holy Spirit.

I will share what I found helpful in healing some of my wounds, that is, my way of practicing healing prayer. I owe much to  Brad Jersak's book Can you hear me?, materials from Charles Kraft and my mentor in InnerCHANGE.

Set aside some time for healing prayer. Depending on the wound (or wounds) some may take longer. I know of people who go through their entire life in one long session, bringing every painful memory to God for healing.

The first step is to invite the Holy Spirit to guide you and guard you throughout this whole process. Trust yourself in His arms, and knowing full well that by yourself you are vulnerable in the spiritual world, entrust yourself like a child to the guidance of God's spirit.

Secondly focus on one wound, or a multitude of wounds, or a painful memory that keeps reoccurring and affecting your daily life.

For example, if anxiety and fear is a constant issue for you, you could ask God to heal you from this excessive anxiety.

Ask Him "where is this anxiety coming from? What are the past events that are causing this anxiety? What wounds are causing the anxiety?"

Pay attention to the images and memories that come to your mind. Don't ask yourself "is this just my imagination?" because God can use your imagination during this process.

Concentrate on one memory of the event. Perhaps you may experience a memory that was long forgotten, or repressed in the mind. This is usually a very painful experience, as many of us prefer to stay away from such memories.

But this pain is part of the healing process.

Stay in the memory until the pain of it starts to slowly fade away, or until the pain is bearable.

Ask God "Where were you when this was happening?" Wait and see what happens.

Is there someone that needs to be forgiven? Ask God help in forgiving them. Even better, ask God to help you see that person as He sees them.

Guidance of the Holy Spirit is important at this point, and He will give you promptings on how to go about the memory. He can reveal hidden motives, where you need to forgive and be forgiven, the consequences of such actions. Many times He will tell you that you were not to blame for many of the actions you thought yourself responsible.

Finally ask for healing. At this point God, in the memory, may do a number of things. I have seen Jesus, for example, writing on my forehead "forgiven" and then hugging me, laying hands on my chest and seeing a fresh wound closing.

He may show you a number of things, and at this point there is no guidance needed other than the Holy Spirits'.

This is just an oversimplified guide of how I practice healing prayer, and simply a starting point for those who have not practiced it.

I encourage you to read more about it and practice healing prayer. Healing is painful, but there is freedom to be found in this healing pain.