Being freed from memories, schizophrenia, fears

Take hold of eternal life!

Jesus is the way,
the truth, and the life

Chapter 6 -
Freedom in Christ

In the previous chapters, we talked about how many people may have a spirit of heaviness (Isa 61:3) resulting from past experiences. They may carry inside them events that happened years ago and from which they have not been able to get free. These can be sexual abuse, emotional rejection, physical violence, parental rejection of them before they were born, a traumatic experience at birth, a difficult accident, or an experience of war. These may still be very heavy memories and affect a person's everyday life often causing nightmares and raising fears for which there seems to be no apparent reason.

   (Strong fear of heights, dogs, elevators, etc. can also spring from past experiences. In her book The Broken Image, Leanne Payne describes a man whose fear of open places arose from a traumatic experience at birth where he almost suffocated and felt severe physical pain. This man was freed by prayer.)

   In the same way, many people who are schizophrenics or mentally ill belong in this category. Many of these people have suffered a lot of burdensome experiences and are brokenhearted. (Isa 61:1).

   When people have had such heavy experiences in the past, there is reason to pray about each of them individually, that is, to give in and give them up to God. If you have bad memories and nightmares bothering you, this can be very necessary. The following passage describes how bad memories can bring a man down. Perhaps you are faced with a similar situation:

Very often, when I have a discussion with people who have been hurt deeply and who are full of anger and pain, they just look at me coldly, with no emotion on their faces. But it all changes when I look deeper into the issue and ask, "What is the worst memory that you can remember? What is it that usually pops up into your mind and causes pain?" At first, they shiver a bit, then their eyes begin to water, soon their cheeks are wet with tears, and before long even strong, sturdy men tremble with pain and anger. (18)

Giving your life to God and forgiving

The first stage in becoming free is always surrendering and giving our life to God and Jesus and receiving forgiveness. We should ask Jesus to come into our hearts (John 1:12) and give our life to Him. You can pray for salvation in the following way:

Lord, Jesus, I turn to You. I confess that I have sinned against You and I have not lived according to Your will. However, I want to turn from my sins and follow You with all my heart. I also believe that my sins have been forgiven by Your atonement work and I have received eternal life through You. I thank You for the salvation You have given me. Amen.

When we have surrendered and given our life to God, and want to follow His will, we can think about the people whom we have not yet forgiven. We already talked about this in the previous chapters but if you have not done it yet, you can do it now. Taking this step is important because if we do not do it or we do not want to give up our life to God, how can we expect God to help us? A wrong attitude can easily prevent help from coming. That is why you should confess to God the bitterness you feel towards other people. When you make your confession, you are cleansed through the atonement of Jesus:

- (1 John 1:9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

BREAKING THE bonds

- (Jam 4:7) Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

After having forgiven others and confessed your sins (like anger at yourself, self-pity, suicidal thoughts, or other sins in the same area), you can let go of all depression, distress, fear, bitterness, anger at yourself and other powers, and command them to leave in the name of Jesus Christ.

   If you know you have the wrong bonds and feelings of guilt, perhaps concerning your parents, you can as if with invisible scissors cut yourself loose from such addictions in the name of Jesus. Each of us can think of areas in our lives where such bonds and shackles come between us and other people.

   Breaking those bonds can be done in the following way, for example:

In the name of Jesus Christ, I command all powers that cause confusion, fear, bitterness, self-directed anger, the wrong kind of sexuality, … etc., to leave me, and to leave the area around me. You no longer have any right to torment me because I have confessed my sins in these areas and Jesus Christ is my Lord now.

   I also dissociate myself from all bonds that cause any wrong kind of dependency and false guilt that are between me and (whoever it is). I break these bonds in the name of Jesus Christ. "

giving matters to God

Whenever painful memories from the past come into our mind, we need not think about them and carry them by ourselves; we can give them to Jesus. He said that we can go to Him and give our burdens to Him, and He will give us rest. We can find peace in Him:

- (1 Peter 5:7) Casting all your care on him; for he cares for you.

- (Matt 11:28) Come to me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

- (John 14:27) Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you: not as the world gives, give I to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

- (Ps 147:3) He heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds.

Jesus – who healed the physically sick – came also to bind broken hearts, to comfort all who mourn, to give the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. So you do not need to shake off bad memories from your mind; you can wait for Him to do it for you. Wait for His miracle in your life.

- (Isa 61:1-3, compare Luke 4:17-21) The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on me; because the LORD has anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

3 To appoint to them that mourn in Zion, to give to them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

- (Hebr 2:18) For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.

- (John 8:36) If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.

Healing through THE atonement of Jesus

The reason, by which we can get freedom from our painful memories (peace), is the atonement of Jesus: He did not die only to assure that our sins would be forgiven, but also to give us peace and restore health to our bodies. Our liberation took place and our wounds were healed 2,000 years ago -- we do not need to do anything to earn it.

   As we give thanks for our atonement through Jesus, we can also give thanks for Jesus’ taking our bad memories and illnesses upon Himself. He was punished so that we could be freed from these.

  Thank God for this, even if you do not yet feel anything. It is a matter of faith, not of emotions; it’s a question of you believing and trusting in what the Bible says about Jesus and in what He has done for you:

- (Isa 53:4-6,10) Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was on him; and with his stripes we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he has put him to grief: when you shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

Process

- (Phil 1:6) Being confident of this very thing, that he which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

As we become free from the past, prayer often brings about changes very fast. However, healing can also be a long-term process, just like our personal transformation. Generally, if we feel our emotional life is being healed, we also experience the renewing work of God in our personal lives – these go hand in hand.

   God may use other people's positive reactions as one tool. If we are expecting rejection but instead get approval, it will certainly further the healing of our emotional life. The following examples illustrate the impact of positive reactions from other people:

Paul Tournier: I am convinced that nine out of ten people seeing a psychiatrist do not even need a psychiatrist. They need someone who loves them with the love of Christ (…) and so they will get better. (19)

A particular group of students was a great help for Erik's inner growth. The group was composed of students from different sectors and they met up almost daily in the university café. There were boys and girls in this group. In Erik's budget coffee and buns were unnecessary luxuries but in the right company he, too, sometimes could not resist the temptation. The group had their own table in the university café. There they sometimes spent long times between lectures, told jokes, chatted about all kinds of things, sometimes they even mulled over a difficult question. The tension between the genders left its own mark on these times of being together; they were in a way group get-togethers with the other sex.

   - This group reduced my inhibitions. It was a relief to notice that I was accepted into the group to which at first I thought I did not belong. Perhaps for the first time in my life, I did not mentally run away but I was a part of the group. I experienced the same that many experience in group therapy: with the help of others, you start to see yourself in a new light, to discover new sides to yourself. (20)

Other areas in liberation

Sometimes, we can also be driven by other negative experiences besides rejection. If we have practiced such things as spiritualism (see Deut 18:10-12), automatic writing, clairvoyance, fortune telling, astrology, hypnosis, spiritual healing, yoga, transcendental meditation, or participated in some non-Christian movement, there is good reason to confess these sins to God, to dissociate ourselves from them and destroy all objects relating to them (Acts 19:17-19).

   Also, if you know that such activities have taken place in your family, you may be bound by those activities or stressed about what family members have done. In that case you can bring these matters before God, too, and cut all ties with them.

   You can dissociate yourself from these things in the following way:

" Lord, Father, forgive me for taking part in spiritualism (or automatic writing, or … ). Thank You for forgiving me and cleansing me from all wrong things through the blood of Jesus, Your Son. I also pray that You will break all of my wrong connections with the spiritual world —remove all those spiritual things that are not from You. I ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen."

   "Satan and all demons, I have confessed to God the fact that I have taken part in spiritualism (or …). Now you no longer have any legal right in me because through the blood of Jesus, I am forgiven by God for these thoughts and activities. Therefore, I command you, in the name of Jesus Christ, to leave my spirit, leave my physical space, and don’t ever return!”

   “I also dissociate myself from all the sins committed by my ancestors and parents, such as…(name whatever activities you know about). I surrender my life to Jesus Christ, who is my Lord and Savior now. I command all wrong powers and enemies of God that have been handed down to me through my family to leave my life immediately in the name of Jesus Christ!"

REFERENCES:

1. Donald Bubna: Rohkaisun voima (ENCOURAGING PEOPLE), p.24.

2. Leanne Payne: Kuunteleva rukous (LISTENING PRAYER), p.108

3. David A. Seamands: Kristitty ja tunteet (HEALING FOR DAMAGED EMOTIONS), p.41

4. Sven Reichmann: Vapauteen kutsutut (KALLAD TILL FRIHET), p.113

5. Mauri Viksten: Ahdistuksesta avaralle

6. Sven Reichmann: Vapauteen kutsutut (KALLAD TILL FRIHET), p.64,69

7. Olli Valtonen: Tänään Kalevi Lehtinen, p.75, 76

8. Eeva Riihonen: Syömishäiriöitä, p.115, 130, 132, 133

9. David Wilkerson: Itsemurha, lopullinen ratkaisu? (SUICIDE), p.80

10. David A. Seamands: Kasva aikuiseksi (putting away CHILDLISH THINGS),p.102

11. Nicky Cruz: Juoksu jatkuu (WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I WAS HURTING), p.32

12. Neil T. Anderson: Vapauttava totuus (REALIZING THE POWER OF YOUR IDENTITY IN CHRIST), p.181-184

13. Veikko Lähde: Kestääkö perustus?, p.46

14. Merlin Carothers: Taivasta maan päälle (BRINGING HEAVEN INTO HELL), p.32

15. Sven Reichmann: Vapauteen kutsutut (KALLAD TILL FRIHET), p.115

16. Atle Roness: Uskalla olla oma itsesi (VÅG Å VAERE DEG SELV), p.17

17. Hal Lindsey: Maaplaneetan vapautus (THE LIBERATION OF PLANET EARTH), p. 206

18. David A. Seamands: Kristitty ja tunteet (HEALING FOR DAMAGED EMOTIONS), p. 60

19. James Bryan Smith: Rakkauden varassa (EMBRACING THE LOVE OF GOD), p.178

20. Saara Karppinen: Kasvun tie, Erik Ewalds, p.68

Jari Iivanainen