As I mentioned in my previous post, faith plays a huge role in my emotional healing.
I believe God answers prayers for sickness in our natural world through wisdom such as doctors, science and understanding of physiology and medicine. I also believe God also works in the supernatural, such as answering prayer, faith healing, the laying of the hands, and the miracles that were presented in the Bible.
Desperate to find answers, I asked around and found out that there are different approaches to the spiritual gift of healing based on different interpretations of the Bible. There’s a lot of debate on whether some of the approaches are valid or doctrinal. At the time, I just wanted to see what was out there and hopefully find the answers I was looking for.
I grew up praying and believing. Although I learned about spiritual gifts empowered by the Holy Spirit, I had no idea there were different views on faith healing.
If you attend a church that is cessationist (people that believe that miracles through spirtual gifts ended in the Apostolic Age), that church probably views churches that promote miraculous work (prophesy, gift of healing, speaking in tounges) as misinterpreting the Bible.
If you attend a charismatic church that is continuationist (people that believe that miracles continue today), that church probaly probably views cessationist church as denying the Holy Spirit and not letting God’s Power work within them.
I grew up in a church with open-but-cautious views, open to the idea that anything is possible for God, but I was always cautioned to discerned whether the miracles and signs were of God and served His Glory.
“Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah,’ or ‘There he is,’ don’t believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones.”
Jesus to His Disciples, Matthew 23:23-24
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
John the Evangelist at Ephesus, 1 John 4:1-4
I grew up in a church where we learned from a sermon, we studied the bible, chapter by chapter, “verse by verse.” We prayed, we worshipped, we gathered together on Sundays and on other days. I attended youth service and my family would meet with other family in small groups for bible study and prayer. Even as in school, we’d have weekly chapel from our school pastor or guest pastors from local churches, and had religious studies. I did not grow up in a “charismatic” church.
I remember my first visit to a Pentacostal church in high school, it was foreign to me. I felt a little uncomfortable and out of place, like I didn’t know what to do or how to react. I was more quiet and reserved and liked to just listen to the sermon quietly and connect with others in a smaller setting. In this particular church, people were “speaking in tongues.” People were wailing, screaming. Some fell to the floor, and the worship and sermons and prayers, seemed intertwined with no agenda. I didn’t really understand it. That was my views on what a charismatic church was like. I just accepted that different groups of Christians worship, pray, and fellowship differently than others.
At the time, I decided not to attend charismatic church. Years have passed and I found myself praying and looking for solutions for emotional healing. A Christian friend suggested a few charismatic churches, ministries, and services that may have the answers I was looking for. while I avoided them in the past, I felt that this was the direction God was taking me and this was part of my journey.
The word “charismatic” comes from the greek “charisma” or “charismata” which means gift of grace. In other words, a spiritual gift. It is a gift meaning it cannot be earned or merited. It is spiritual in a sense that it is given by God, and are operations or manifestations of the Holy Spirit. In the original greek, the word “charisma” is used in 1 Corinthians 12:4 and is translated to gift in English.
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
Paul, in a letter to the Church in Corinth, 1 Corinthians 12:4-11
Although there is considerable overlap, Charismatic Christianity is often categorized into three separate groups:
- Pentecostalism, which started in 1901
- the Charismatic movement, which crossed over to different church denominations in the 1960s
- the Neo-charismatic movement in the 1980s
There’s a broad range of charismatic churches, just as there are many different denominations in Christianity.
In my journey, I immersed myself in the charismatic church, learning everything I could, different perspectives, and practicing what I learned. There were times, where I often questioned some of the practices. There are times where I found the answers I was looking for. There were times where I felt more lost and distant from God from when I first started, but working through those experiences, built up my faith in God even more.
When people ask how faith helps support my emotional and mental health and provide healing. The answer is both complicated and simple. I truly believe that if we pray and seek God, we will find the answers, but everyone’s journey and experience will be different. For me personally, I learned a ton of different things to realize that later on, that faith is simple, and the gospel of God’s love is more than enough. It took years to get to that point Maybe if I didn’t overcomplicate things and let my worldview get in the way, maybe it would’ve been sooner, but it was a journey I had to go through.
I will share my experiences, even though I believe that most of what I went through may not be very helpful or necessary for what others’ are going through. By sharing my experience, I hope to connect and save time and confusion. My hope for sharing is to encourage people to not give up on God, even though it seems that things aren’t working out.
When my friend invited me to charismatic church services. They emphasized signs and wonders, establishing God’s Kingdom by utilizing spiritual gifts. Soon I found myself in services that were part of the “Word of Faith” movement. I spent a year following this movement, before I realized it did not provide the complete healing I was looking for.
I eventually learned of “Deliverance Ministry” which attribute people’s physical, psychological, spiritual, and emotional issues and disease to the activities of these evil spirits in their lives. I found some progress with this type of ministry.
Finally, I felt as if God lifted a huge eight off my shoulders, when I attend a church service that took place in a bar in Kona, Hawaii. I flew there for a day. After service, the pastor asked me about why I was there. The pastor prayed and I believed that the Holy Spirit was working through him. He spoke through the issues that were the source of majority of the hurt in my life. It was a prayer that emphasized forgiveness and God’s love. It also showed me that forgiveness does not justify the wrong actions or make it any more right, but my choice was to forgive anyways. Although I’ve heard this and tried to process it mentally, I truly believe that the healing was deeper than just talk therapy, but affected my soul on a spiritual level. It made me feel loved and increased my love and appreciation to God.
My journey doesn’t end there, I’m still on a journey, but that was where I had the most breakthrough in my life. Knowing that I am loved help me let go of my desire to be fixed. All throughout the way, the issues I was dealing with were brought to my attention. Now that I look back, it similar to talk therapy, but for some reason, it did not click with me in the sessions with my therapist.
I believe for me, faith and relationship with God helps me understand myself, my purpose according to my beliefs. Believing in God, helps me realize that all my burdens is not on me. I am not alone. Any hurt I feel or felt is insignificant to the love God has and looking back on my life, I realize that God is present in my life.
The truth is that I sought God out of desperation for healing as many people seek God.
Many people with similar issues told me that they’ve “tried religion” and it didn’t work for them. I’ve felt the same way on my journey, but i kept looking, believing, praying, and having faith. Faith is different than belief. Belief is the matter of the mind. Faith is the matter of the heart.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1
Today, Jesus Christ continues to be the foundation of my life and our family. It’s been years since that day of breakthrough, and God is still working in my life today.
Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about purpose and praying about what to do in life especially since I’ve had a lot of downtime during the pandemic. It’s part of why I started this blog, to help serve others, share God’s love, while utilizing my unique gifts and experience.
If you’re reading this and looking for spiritual healing, I pray and hope you find it. Feel free to reach out and I love connecting with people on this journey.
I have a heart for people like myself who overcome challenges that come from mood disorders. I wasn’t able to connect with my mother when she had her challenges with mood disorders, but now knowing what I know now, I hope to connect and show grace and love to those that have challenges.
Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.
John the Evangelist to his friend Gaius, 3 John 1:2
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, nutritionist, or registered dietician. I do not claim to help cure any condition or disease. I do not provide medical aid or nutrition advise for the purpose of health or disease.
The information I provide is based on my personal experience and is for educational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for medical treatment by a health care professional. Information provided here does not take the place of professional medical advice.
The products and claims made about specific products and services on or through this site have not been evaluated by the United States Food and Drug Administration and are not approved to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease.
-Holan
