Common Misconceptions About Inner Healing
By Wendy Hayes
For those of us involved in inner healing ministry, we are well aware that many in the Body of Christ do not see the need for this ministry – some even going so far as to teach against it. During the many years I’ve been involved in this ministry, I have come across some common misconceptions about it.
“I don’t need healing because I am a new creation and my past no longer affects me.”
I have heard many people use the above phrase when the topic of inner healing comes up. There is a belief that they are already totally healed and set free because they are “a new creation in Christ”, referring to the scripture below.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
2 Corinthians 5:17
While it is true that as born-again believers, we are new creations, and Jesus made the way for our complete healing and freedom, there is a process of appropriating that reality. The word of God contains many promises pertaining to our inheritance as sons and daughters of God. Mostly they are acquired through faith and prayer; they are not simply automatic when we become a believer. For example, the bible tells us that we have physical healing as part of our inheritance in Christ, but the reality is that many Christians still suffer illness and the healing Jesus provided is realised through the prayer of faith and the ministry of the body of Christ.
Just as physical healing requires faith, prayer and ministry to fully appropriate, healing of our minds and hearts often requires focused prayer and ministry. Although the way has been made through the cross for every believer to walk in wholeness and freedom, it often comes through an intentional process where the truth and love of God are applied specifically to the areas of one’s life where wounds and lies have taken root.
How often do we hear believers say “I know that truth in my mind, but my heart doesn’t feel it.” Inner healing is largely a process where the minister assists the believer to receive biblical truth in their heart.
“I don’t need anyone to pray with me, I have a relationship with Jesus and can pray by myself.”
There are two scriptures which help to explain that it’s not always God’s way for us to do it all on our own.
43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
John 11:43,44
I love this passage and it reveals so much about the ways of the Kingdom. Jesus raises us from death to life. Just as Lazarus had graveclothes on that restricted his freedom and experience of his ressurection life, believers have thought patterns, beliefs and wounds that are binding us and hindering our new life experience. In this story, Jesus did not take the grave clothes off Lazarus, and He did not tell Lazarus to take them off – he told the disciples who were standing next to him to remove them.
There are disciples of Jesus today who are anointed and trained to take the grave clothes off believers and help them walk in the freedom of their resurrected life.
“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” James 5:16
The above scripture links sharing with other believers and receiving prayer with our healing. Humility releases grace and is a hallmark of the Kingdom of God. It takes humility and courage to make ourselves vulnerable and share our struggles and pain with others.
Many years ago I came to a place in my own healing journey where God clearly said “You are not going to progress any further until you talk about this with someone.” It was difficult to do but it was so worth it! I found someone who I trusted to keep confidential what I shared and who knew how to pray with me for healing and breakthrough. Even as I shared my story, I felt the release and breakthrough commencing.
My prayer is that every believer would have access to trusted friends and ministers who can help them toward healing and wholeness.