Inner healing is one of the most powerful prayer approaches we use. It is inviting Jesus into the scene of a painful memory, looking and then seeing Him appear on the screen inside our mind. We invite Him to move freely, tune to flow and watch the flowing pictures (vision) and receive flowing thoughts (His voice).

Patti’s mom had just died within the last two days, and all Patti could see in her mind’s eye was the last time she had visited her mom in the hospital, which was the day before her death. Patti’s mom was shriveled up in the bed, at 86 pounds or so, and in tremendous physical pain. She was barely conscious.

This was in stark contrast to the way her mom had lived all of Patti’s life. Her mom had been a noble woman with great poise and grace.

So Patti prayed an inner healing prayer. She asked the Lord to let her see her mom as He saw her.

The picture that lit upon Patti’s mind, while in prayer, was her mom in heaven, hand in hand with her dad, who had gone there several years earlier. They were dancing together in a lush green field. They were in the prime of their life. Her dad once again had a full head of hair, and her mom had the BIGGEST smile on her face Patti had ever seen (as her mom had been prone to melancholy).

Wow! All the pain in Patti’s heart vanished immediately and Patti was filled with JOY at seeing them so happy in heaven, and even dancing, which was something their church had never allowed.

Patti told me several times that whenever I tell this story to also share another important truth.

“You need to continue to focus on the NEW picture, and NEVER look back at the old picture, if you want the emotions of your heart to remain healed.”

As we know, emotions are by-products of the pictures we gaze upon. So If I don’t like the emotions I am experiencing, I simply ask God to help me identify the picture I am looking at in my mind which doesn’t contain Him in it. That picture, of course, contains a lie, which is that Jesus isn’t present, everywhere, all the time. Since He is omnipresent, He is everywhere I look (Ps. 139:8). I am asking Jesus to show me the truth. “Lord, where were You in that situation?” The new picture I receive is a picture of Truth.

Pictures containing lies produce negative emotions of fear, anger, hurt and bitterness. Pictures containing Jesus present, moving and speaking produce Kingdom emotions of love, joy and peace.

One skill we want to establish in life is that of abiding in Christ (Jn. 15). This means seeing Him at your side all the time as you walk through the day (Acts. 2:25).  So now when a tense or painful experience arises, we turn to Jesus right on the spot and see what He is doing and experience the release of His presence, emotions and power, right in that moment.

Here is a powerful story of a veteran being healed of 35 years of PSTD through inner healing and deliverance. Here is another testimony: The Most Effective Inner Healing Program on the Planet!

Review the Keys of Inner Healing

Inner Healing Defined: “Allowing God to replace the pictures in the art gallery of your mind, removing pictures that do not have Jesus in them and replacing them with pictures that do have Jesus in them.”

Scripture: We are transformed “while we look” (2 Cor. 3:18; 4:17,18). Seeing what Jesus did and hearing Him, HEALS!!! A picture is worth 1000 words, which is one key reason inner healing is so powerful.

Step 1 - Using vision, go back and see the painful scene for one second ONLY. (You don’t want to be re-traumatized, you just want to be present and feel a bit of the emotion.)

Step 2 - Using vision, invite Jesus into the scene. Look at the pictures that will alight on your inner screen.

Step 3 - Using vision, invite Jesus to move freely. Tune to flowing pictures and thoughts and cooperate as Jesus heals the hurt with His loving presence.

A Biblical example of this three step inner healing process would be the trauma Peter experienced when he denied Jesus three times. This occurred at dawn around a charcoal fire (Matt. 26:69-75). Jesus healed this trauma by resetting the scene in which the trauma occurred (Jn. 21:2-17 - dawn, charcoal fire and three fold confession) and Jesus ministered love and acceptance into the midst of that trauma, allowing Peter the freedom to go on and fulfill his destiny.

Assignment

In your morning devotions for a number of days, ask Jesus to bring to your attention any painful scenes you are holding within. As they come to your attention, jot them down, and then one by one present them to Jesus, asking to see Him present. Where does He appear in the scene? What He is doing? Journal out what transpires. Follow and cooperate with His leading. If he is touching you, soak in that touch and feel His energy entering, transforming and healing your body. Forgive and release all involved so your prayers are not hindered (1 Pet. 3:7 – HONOR everyone, rather than judging, despising and hating – Mk. 11:25). As you work with one or two scenes daily in your devotional times, you may find this inner healing prayer process will take you several weeks to complete. Take the time. Full inner healing of ALL painful scenes in your mind is a priceless gift allowing you to walk steadfastly in Kingdom emotions and Kingdom power. So each morning you ask a simple question. “Lord, is there any painful scene from my past that You would like to heal today?” When no more scenes float into you attention, this prayer approach is complete for the time being. Move on to additional prayer approaches.

Other Resources

Rita Bennet has a wonderful book, Emotionally Free, which lays out many testimonies of the above approach to inner healing. I actually use the inner healing steps from her book. It was Fr. Matthew Linn, SJ and Dennis Linn who initially introduced us to these steps to inner healing.

See a listing of more than 40 Spirit-anointed ways to pray.

Watch For Free

Right now we are running the Counseled by God video series for free, which includes a segment on Inner Healing Prayer.