The Holy Spirit, who knows us better than we know ourselves, has the power to illuminate areas of our lives where we are believing lies in the innermost. Places where our hearts have become divided or broken due to a wounding event, walking with Christ one moment and yielding to our flesh the next. These lies can cause us to self-protect, self-harm, cope in unhealthy ways, be defensive, fearful, given to addiction, rebellious, selfish, angry or bitter, feel downtrodden, go silent, or go numb. All are fleshly attempts to dull or numb emotional pain we desperately don’t want to feel.
Lies cause us to live contrary to God’s Word and that makes us out of sync with Him, ourselves, and/or others. It might even cause us to put a hand up and keep God at a distance when He wants nothing more than to draw us close, point our hearts to truth, and set us free.
Jesus was anointed by God Himself to heal the brokenhearted, set captives free, and release prisoners from darkness (Isaiah 61:1). In so doing, He takes vengeance and retribution into His own hands and makes a holy exchange for our pain. In Prayer Counseling sessions, He brings unity to the broken and divided places in our hearts, turning the ashes of our lives into something of beauty, which looks like comfort where we once endured loss or affliction, gladness in place of mourning, praise instead of despair (Isaiah 61:2-3). When Jesus speaks truth to the places where lies took root, our perspective changes and we walk in a measure of His promised healing.
With each added layer that is addressed, aligned with the truth of His Word, and healed, He works to rebuild the ancient ruins of our lives, restore places long devastated, and renew that which may have been desolated for generations (Isaiah 61:4). And that healing leads to greater and greater emotional well-being as we are brought out of the house of bondage, freed to fulfill the two greatest commandments: to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love our neighbor as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39). For some, that means loving themselves, and who God created them to be, for the first time in a very long time.