Inner healing

If you had a brother in Christ in front of you who needed ministry because of a problem he was experiencing, which would you do first?: seek inner healing for his woundedness, or counsel him so that he can understand what part he played in the problem? Have you personally had a problem for which you were counseled and yet left unhealed?


There is a proverb which reads “Each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one else can share its joy.” (Prov 14:10). No man truly knows another man’s heart, yet we each experience our own heart through our thoughts and emotions and this is where inner healing takes place. When Hannah sorrowed over being barren, Eli, the priest, did not understand her heart because he looked at her behavior (1 Sam 1). Eli felt the need to correct the behavior and did not truly “see” Hannah’s need for ministry until she revealed the sorrow that lived in her heart.

Besides knowing our own hearts, there is One Who searches hearts; the Lord (Jer 17:10a). Through the Holy Spirit the Lord gives us the ability to minister to others, seeing with His eyes into the sorrows of another’s heart. Indeed, one of the purposes of prophecy is to show the secrets of another’s heart (1 Cor 14:25). Through Word of Knowledge this gift is manifest also, and by Word of Wisdom a man can be counseled.

God holds the hearts of men as precious and does not entrust their “secrets” to us until we have learned how to love people. A minister who judges, or is offended at a man in need of ministry will not “see” how to minister God’s inner healing to that man. Jesus explains this principle in the parable of the man seeking to pull the speck of sawdust out of his brother’s eye (Lk 6:41-42). The speck was small in comparison to the plank in the observer’s eye. He could not help the brother with the speck until he himself removed his plank so he could “see”. Yet, once he could see, he was able to help his brother.

Seeing is representative of spiritual sight. Paul calls our understanding the “eyes of your heart” (Eph 1:18). When we set aside our own thoughts and offenses at our brother’s problem, then we can receive spiritual sight from God. Jesus demonstrated this when He ministered to Peter after His resurrection. Peter had denied Jesus three times. In the past, Peter had shown himself to be impulsive, sometimes getting on the wrong track. Peter had all appearances of having left his discipleship to return to his trade of fishing. Yet Jesus’ words restored Peter to his calling and he became a mighty apostle. Jesus saw His investment in Peter, and Peter’s giftedness. By affirming Peter’s calling to “feed My sheep” (Jn 21:15-17) Jesus brought out his ability to love Him, and the brethren.

People may not know their hearts completely, and may indeed be in need of counseling. However, when we draw attention to the person’s reaction or emotions concerning their problem, we are ministering to their head instead of their heart. If we dig for dirt, there is bound to be mistakes we will discover. This kind of ministry will leave a sense of incompleteness and invalidation in the person. If the issue is not received in an unjudgmental fashion, a man, knowing the pain in his own heart, will then experience negligence concerning his inner pain, or feel that he is required to erase the problem before it is really dealt with. This invalidates his sense of personhood, for the heart is meant to feel, and the emotions, no matter how they offend us, are meant to express the attitudes and pains living in a man’s heart.

There is healing balm for the inner pains of men’s hearts. It consists of love, working through compassion, and the clear truth that comes with the “sight” of the Spirit working within us. This brings healing and restoration to men. Let us bring inner healing through the ministry of the Holy Spirit first, restoring those who are brokenhearted to who they are in Christ. Our counsel, if needed, will then bring completion to the work of the Lord. Amen.