FATHER LADDER Part 3

A Blessing and Prayer for you: (You can hold your hands out in front of you with your palms up to receive) Lord, I ask that You bless this precious one with a sense of release as they finish this portion of the Father Ladder. Lighten the load that has been so heavy for them to carry. I pray that your journey so far has produced Freedom in many areas in your life. Bless them Father with the gift of the Holy Spirit. Amen
 
                                     

If you have not done so already please go to FATHER LADDER Part 1 and Part 2, pray through those prayers first.

In the article prior to this one on PATTERNS you learned how Father God and Jesus relate to your earthly fathers, brothers, sisters and friends. In this article you will begin to understand how your relationship with your mother and other mother figures, as you were growing up, effects how you experience the Holy Spirit.

Our mothers, natural, steps and mother figures were supposed to instill in us an ability to nurture and bring comfort to others. When mothers nurture their children it gives the children a sense of approval about themselves. They learn how to receive teaching and correction in a healthy manner.

With that in mind, I am going to ask you a series of questions to help you feel and think. So as you did before please use pencil, pen, paper and journals to write down your thoughts and feelings (positive and negative.) For convenience I am just going to use the word MOTHER but that will include step-mothers and mother figures.

STRETCH – Take a moment to stand up and stretch. Get yourself a bottle of water. Remember to breathe nice slow breaths occasionally.

As you read these questions, if there is no pain when you bring up the memories, that is just fine. Don’t try to dredge up old feelings if you have already worked through the issues.

QUESTIONS:

What is your first thought when you think about your mother?

What is the feeling or feelings that come up within you when you think about her?

     Did you ever feel abandon by your mother? 

What were the circumstances surrounding that issue?

Did your mother abuse you? Verbally, physically, sexually?

What do you think your mother would say about you as a child?

Describe your most painful and/or positive experience with your mother.

Sometimes this process of remembering can be very painful and upsetting. But I can assure you if that is the case, what it is doing to you on the inside of your body is even worse. That is why we are going back over these areas, to get them healed and so can have a healthy vibrant relationship with God.

If you need too at this time, get-up, walk around, take-in some air. STRETCH

RED CIRCLE

Okay are you ready! Let’s move forward.

Read back over what you have written down. Now take a red pen or pencil, go back over it and circle every word that has a negative description to it. Examples would be: mean, never there for me, hit me, sexually or verbally abused me, etc.

BLUE CIRCLE

Now go back over your answers to the questions a second time using a blue pen or pencil and circle all of the positive descriptive words and fun times, etc.

On a separate piece of paper make 2 columns, one titled Negative and the other one Positive. Under the Negative column list all of the words circled in red that described your relationship with your mother.

Now do the same in the Positive column with the words you circled in blue.

Most people’s lists have more words in one column than the other, this is normal.

Have your paper that has the 2 columns of words on it in front of you.Quickly read through the prayer of forgiveness (below) once.

Holy Spirit I choose to forgive my natural mother (mother figure) for _____________________.  I renounce the lie and the stronghold that the Holy Spirit is like my natural mother (mother figure) and that He will treat me in the same way. I receive the truth that the Holy Spirit is my Comforter and Teacher. I receive this truth NOW in the Name of Jesus Christ.

Now I want you to go back to that pray and put whatever you called your mother or mother figure (example, Mom) in the prayer where it says natural mother (mother figure).

Then in the area after the word “for” insert the 1^st word from the list of negative words in your column. Repeat that 1^st sentence over for each negative word or feeling.

Make a fist of one of your hands and place it over your heart. Now go on to pray this prayer:

Lord I release my mother from all my judgments (Open your fist away from your heart.) and cancel her debt to me. In the name of Jesus and by the power of His blood, I cancel all of Satan’s authority over me in these memories because it is forgiven. Amen

If you have a list in the positive column and they are true go on to pray this by adding your list.

Thank you Father God for my natural mother (mother figure), because she was able to love me in these ways_________. I ask that You Father would bless her.

Finish by praying: 

Holy Spirit I ask that you give me new words to describe You and a sensation of Your presence with new intimacy with You. I receive these from You now.

John 20:22 And with that He breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit . . .” NIV

I know this has been quite a journey for you, breathe in, breathe out. Allow the Holy Spirit to wash you clean and restore you to wholeness. Take as long as possible to wait upon the Lord for His presence to come.

Wait, wait, wait.

When you feel His presence lift you can Click HERE for a closing Prayer.

Now go and Rejoice in your Freedom!!

PATTERNS

PATTERNS

I’m sure you have noticed a pattern if you have worked through the first two parts of the Father Ladder (if you haven’t done that click HERE  Part 1 and HERE for Part 2).

Father God relates to our natural fathers and father figures. Our earthly fathers are supposed to provide security, protection and provision for us. Fathers help us to know who we are and give us an identity. When that doesn’t happen our understanding of who Father God is gets twisted and warped.

Jesus relates to our siblings and friends. When we have brothers, sisters and friends we learn how to communicate and relate to others. They help us to get a sense of truth about ourselves. If those relationships are toxic and negative it makes it difficult to understand why Jesus died for us or how we can partner with Him to share His kingdom as friends, brothers and sisters.

What this means is that often the issues we have with being able to have intimacy with our heavenly Father and Jesus is rooted in our relationships with earthly Fathers, brothers, sisters and friends.

That is why it is so important to work through forgiving these folks. Please understand this does not excuse them from what they did to us. I heard someone say yesterday, it is like “we have been so hurt by someone we want to just poison them, so we drink a bottle of poison.” That is what holding on to anger, bitterness and unforgiveness is like. It generally doesn’t affect the other person, but it can create sickness in us and possibly death.

Negative thoughts and feelings actually release harmful chemicals and hormones in our brains that destroy not only parts of our brains; they also affect the rest of our body. The good news is that our brains can be restored with positive thoughts and feelings through forgiving others.

Now before we move on to the third part of the Father Ladder, ask yourself a couple of questions:

1) Do I have a relationship with the Holy Spirit?

2) What does that relationship feel and look like?

FATHER LADDER Part 2

A Prayer for you: Lord, as this dear one who is searching for inner healing continues their journey, I ask that You make Yourself known to them in a special way. Give them Your peace as they go through this process. Amen.

If you have not done so already please go to FATHER LADDER Part 1 and pray through those prayers first.

Again I will lead you through a series of questions to get you thinking and feeling. This time we will focus on your natural brothers/sisters, half brothers/sisters, stepbrothers/sisters, and childhood friends. Sometimes there is quite a long list, especially if your parents had multiple partners or if you moved around a lot as a child.

I suggest you just take a minute and list on a piece of paper or in your journal all your natural brothers and sisters, half brothers/sisters, stepbrothers/sisters, and childhood friends. Let the Lord bring them into your mind. Also you might want to write a word or two about any wounds (emotional/physical) that they were instrumental in you being on the receiving end of. Or if they were a blessing in your life jot that down.

Just allow the Lord to minister to you as you go through this. Have water and Kleenex nearby. Remember to take deliberate breathes occasionally and if you need to get up and move around feel free to do that.



John 15:15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. NIV

     
               Did anyone on your list physically abuse you?          Emotionally abuse you?

                    Were you teased unmercifully by anyone on this list? To the point of crying or where you had to strike back or get even?

              Were you abandoned by them at anytime so that you had “to make it” on your own?

                 Do you have emotional or physical pain as these memories come into your mind?

                Do you have a good relationship with them today? If not, what is the reason? Is it on your side or theirs?

    Has what happened with your brother(s)/sister(s) or friends caused you to distrust people and relationships?

I am sure this has stirred up a lot of emotional pain as you have brought these memories back in to your conscious thoughts. Where ever there is pain, there is still a wound that needs healing.

As you go through this prayer I suggest you do it one person and one memory at a time not as a group or blanket prayer. When you have finished with each person and each memory take a red pen and write “forgiven” next to their name on the list you made earlier. If you are unable to finish the list at one sitting keep the paper and come back and finish as soon as possible. Don’t dwell on the misdeeds.

I will be using the words “brothers/sisters” to cover all the “half’s and steps” in the prayer.

Jesus I choose to forgive my brother/sister/friend for list the incident/memory.

I renounce the lie and stronghold that Jesus is like my brother/sister/friend and that Jesus will treat me the same way that brother/sister/friend did. I release them and cancel their debt to me. In the name of Jesus and by the power of His blood, I cancel all of Satan’s authority over me in this memory because it is forgiven.

I receive the truth that Jesus is my Friend. He is a faithful Friend who will never leave me. I receive this truth NOW in the Name of Jesus Christ.
Lord Jesus I ask that You give me new words and mental pictures of You and I receive them now.

Holding onto Bitterness and Anger

Often times we will hold bitterness and anger inside of ourselves because of what brothers/sisters/friends have done to us. Even though you have just gone through forgiving them there is one more step and that is asking God to forgiven you and forgive yourselves for the anger and bitterness. So please finish with the following prayer.

Heavenly Father, forgive me for (the specific sin). I purpose and choose to forgive myself. In the name of Jesus and by the power of His blood, I cancel all of Satan’s authority over me in this sin – I am forgiven. Holy Spirit, heal my heart and tell me Your truth about this situation. Listen …to what the Lord says to you.

Now Go and celebrate your Freedom!

WHY ALL THIS EMPHASIS ON FORGIVENESS?

The most basic reason we need to forgive is because God told us too forgive others. In what is known as the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus’ disciples asked him how they should pray.

Matt 6:9-15

 "This, then, is how you should pray:

"'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts (sins), as we also have forgiven our debtors (people that have sinned against us). And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the 
evil one.”

Jesus goes on to say:

For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. NIV

On a physical level I have seen what unforgiveness and bitterness can do in a person’s body and to relationships. As a hospice nurse many times I have seen people when they are dying separated from family due to past wrongs and still be unwilling to make the 1^st move toward reconciliation. It breaks my heart.

I believe many diseases and psychological disorders are related to unforgiveness and bitterness. Science and the medical field are speaking out more than ever about how what we think and feel affects our bodies. The last statistic I read was that over 90 percent of our illnesses and diseases are rooted in our psychologically thinking as it relates to stress.

As you have been reading this did you think of any other male authority in your life that you need to forgive? Or did you remember another past wrong that was committed against you by someone you have just forgiven? Let’s clean this out now and get forgiven also.

Please pray this prayer with me:

In the name of Jesus, I purpose and choose to forgive 

(name of person) from my heart for (what they did). 

In the name of The Lord Jesus,

I cancel all their debts and obligations to me.

Dear Lord, I ask You to forgive me for my bitterness toward 

(name of person) in this situation.

In the name of Jesus and by the power of His blood, I cancel

Satan’s authority over me in this situation because I have forgiven.

In the name of Jesus, I command that all the tormentors that have been assigned to me because

of my unforgiveness to leave me, now.

Holy Spirit, I invite you into my heart and to heal me of this pain.

Please speak Your words of truth to me about this situation/person.

Take a moment to Rejoice in your Freedom!

FATHER LADDER Part 1

Before we start, ask someone you know to be praying for you as you go through this process. Click HERE to go to an Opening Prayer.

With this first step in SOZO (see A Bit of Personal History for an introduction to SOZO) I’ll first lead you through a series of questions to get you thinking and feeling.

As you read the following questions you will need pencil, pen and paper to write down your thoughts and feelings, so that we can come back to your descriptions and memories further on. Plus if you are journaling, this will give you a record of your healing.

Choose several or all of the following questions to describe your relationship with either Father God, your natural father or the main authority male figure in your life as you were growing up (i.e. stepfather, uncle, pastor, youth leader, etc.)

Often times just thinking about these memories can bring on strong emotions so take your time and be as honest with yourself as you can. If you are feeling anxious be sure you take a few deep breaths, letting them out slowly. Have a glass of water nearby so can start flushing out any toxins that get released through this process.

(Remember God loved you even through your painful past and He loves you right now.)

What do you think of Father God or your natural father, or the main authority male figure in your life as you were growing up (i.e. stepfather, uncle, pastor, youth leader, etc.)?

How do you see him? Is he close or distant? Is he smiling or stern?

What do you feel in his presence?

What do you think he thinks of you?

What was your relationship with your father or male authority figure

like as you were growing up? What is it like now?

Describe your most painful and/or positive experience with your father (father figure).

Okay, are you ready to go on?

Read back over what you have written down. Now take a red pen or pencil, go back over it and circle every word that has a negative description to it. Examples would be: mean, never there for me, hit me, sexually or verbally abused me, etc.

Now go back over your answers to the questions a second time using a blue pen or pencil and circle all of the positive descriptive words, fun times, supportive, etc.

On a separate piece of paper make 2 columns, one titled Negative and the other one Positive. Under the Negative column list all of the words circled in red that described your relationship with your father, Father God or main male authority figure in your life.

Now do the same in the Positive column with the words you circled in blue.

Most people’s lists have more words in one column than the other, this is normal.

Now I want you to just get up, stretch and drink some water.

Alright let’s get back to this, have your paper that has the 2 columns of words on it in front of you.

Just quickly read through the following prayer of forgiveness once. Now I want you to put whatever you called your father (male authority figure) (example, Dad) in the prayer where it says natural father (father figure) and then in the area after the word “for” insert the list of negative words in your column.

Make a fist of one of your hands and place it over your heart. Now pray this prayer.

Heavenly Father I choose to forgive my natural father (father figure) for ___________.

I forgive him for misrepresenting You Father God by treating me in ways that You would not.

I cancel all his debts and obligations to me and I release him from my judgment. Open your fist away from your heart.

I renounce the lie and stronghold that my Heavenly Father is like my natural father (father figure).

I receive the truth that God my Heavenly Father loves me just as I am.

I receive the truth that God my Heavenly Father will take care of me and He is a very safe Father.

He brings security, protection and provision into all the broken places of my heart. My Heavenly Father will provide for every single one of my needs.

I command every shattered place in my heart and my true identity to come into wholeness NOW in the Name of Jesus Christ.

If you have a list in the positive column and they are true go on to pray this by adding your list.

Thank you Father God for my natural father (authority figure), because he was able to love me in these ways_______. I ask that You would bless him.

Heavenly Father I ask that you give me new words and mental pictures to describe You and I receive these new words and pictures of You now.

Click HERE to go to a Closing Prayer.

Now go and Rejoice in your Freedom!

(Feel free to make comments I will respond as soon as possible!)

A Bit of Personal History

When I first started on this Inner Healing journey I went to a school in Redding CA at Bethel Church. They have a ministry called SOZO meaning total healing spirit, soul and body. As a nurse I believe that is what we need to sustain a healthy life.

Most everything related to Inner Healing has these components: forgiveness, repentance and cessation (stopping) from harmful and/or sinful behaviors (internal as well as external). There are many ways to accomplish Inner Healing (which is what this website is about).



I was pretty convinced that I personally didn’t need inner healing, because 1) I’d been a Christian for many years and I looked pretty good from the outside. 2) I had worked as a psychiatric nurse on an inpatient ward and believed that they, the patients, were what it looked like if you were in real need of inner healing. This is to just name a few of the false beliefs I held. Needless to say, denial is an interesting coping mechanism and it is not always a healthy one.

In order to take the class at Redding all attendees had to go through a SOZO ministry session prior to going to the classes. That is probably where I first realized I had some pretty big issues that needed healing (Duh!).

In the next few blogs I’ll be leading you through what I learned from SOZO and how to get started on your inner healing journey.

This link will get you to the SOZO Bethel site if you are in the area and want a live inner healing session. http://www.ibethel.org/site/sozo-personal-ministry

For those of you that are leading others through an Inner Healing journey, this link will get you to some great resource for SOZO. http://www.bethelsozo.com/

Explanation for delays

There was a big gap between my last post and the one before it. As I began to plan the steps of Inner Healing I got overwhelmed with the project (I probably needed more healing also). How do I lay out a simple yet effective map (so to speak) of the process of inner healing? Especially since there are so many ways to accomplish healing!

Then the holidays put me into a different time consuming mode. During this period I have been praying about what God would want for you, the reader, the seeker of healing. So after the first of the year I will start re-laying out a plan of inner healing for you.