Inner Healing Course for Pastors’ Wives and Female Church Leaders

One Levaire reader wrote in:

Greetings,
I have been entrusted with a ministry that train female church leaders and pastors’ wives and offer them opportunity to receive inner healing. My struggle is coming up with teaching ideas and materials. Any help you can offer me would GREATLY appreciated.

So, we gave the mission to one of our contributors. This is what she developed. We hope it can help with your future ministry efforts!

Introduction

See what God can do?

God called Aimee Semple McPherson to be a traveling evangelist in the early 1900s. The Lord used her in wondrous ways. Her ministry attracted over forty million people in the first seven years. Someone once said about her that he ‘never has heard language such as hers from another human being.’ During the Great Depression, Aimee’s church fed over a million people, and she was the first preacher to use the radio to broadcast sermons.

But Mrs. McPherson had to almost die from appendicitis before she listened to God and let Him use her. There had to be inner healing, which looks different to all of us.

This blog sets out a possible outline for an inner healing course for female church leaders. We start with discussing the four main pillars of such a course and then suggesting teaching ideas and methods to make it happen.

Icebreaker Ideas

There are many ways to kick off a course, and the possible icebreakers that one can use are numerous. We suggest three options here.

• What makes me blessed? Let the participants write down the first letter of their names on a colorful piece of paper and then strategize for words that equate with being blessed. Then, each person can share the story behind the word they choose. For example, Jacky = joyful, and Adam = anointed.
• My Christian influence. Do you have someone who caused a turning point in your Christian walk? Share with the group about that pastor, friend, or stranger that made you decide to turn your life over to Jesus. It is fun, and the group can bond through shared emotions and experiences.
• Tell me your story. Let the people turn to each other and spend two minutes each telling their life stories to each other. Now, let them do it again, but this time, they must do so differently. People usually tell each other about college and their various jobs the first time around. But when forced to do something different, they share things they never would in a professional setting. When reconvening in the big group, let a few people share how their partner changed their life story and why it was interesting.

The Four Main Pillars of the Course

1. How should we view inner healing?

One must be careful to use visualization techniques and mystical New Age methods. God wants to free us from negative emotions by letting us ‘die to ourselves’ and rising to walk in a new life. (Romans 6 v. 4). We must not dwell on the ‘dead flesh’ but instead focus on Him who saved us. He will transform our hearts and heal the hurt. What we feel about ourselves should not be the focus. Rather, it must be about what we know about God.

Inner healing is about being honest with yourself about what you are feeling and giving it all to God. Then, through His supernatural Word, He will provide us with the answers we seek.

2. Why is inner healing necessary?

We fell this explains the need for inner healing well:

Rats will go where there’s garbage. If you only remove the rats, but not the rubbish, the rats will return eventually. The rats are demons, and the trash, our inner hurts.

Inner healing is essential to remove the garbage, the trauma, and the wounds so that the rats can never return.

3. Do I need inner healing?

In this part of the course, one can discuss alarm signals that tell you that you might need inner healing. Here are a few signals:

• You feel alone and as if you’ve lost contact with God.
• You tend to think negatively.
• You can’t ‘shut’ down your mind.
• You are chronically tired or anxious.
• You feel empty, insecure, or jealous.
• You sabotage relationships or have an addiction issue.
• You cry a lot.

4. How to start the process of inner healing.

The process is going to be unique for everyone. Once you know something is wrong and not working right in your life, ask God to show you what is going on and where it started. God will often show people the originating event and something symbolic or representative.

Honesty is vital throughout the process. One can only heal if one expresses the ugly truth and how one feels. Then, finally, you can move on to forgiveness and repentance. Jesus will also show the solution.

Things will often change when you are in a room with two or more other people. If they ask God to reveal something, things change. God usually responds powerfully when we are together.

Teaching Ideas and Materials

We close with some more resources. These are just random ideas in no set order. One can move them around to construct a teaching course with different elements.

• Pray Psalm 46. https://www.soulshepherding.org/inne-healing-prayer-with-psalm-46/
• What the Bible says about inner healing. Different scriptures. One can use it by giving each participant a scripture to meditate on and share with the others what the Lord is saying to them. https://www.openbible.info/topics/inner_healing

• Discuss obstacles to inner healing. It can be unforgiveness towards others or toward yourself. It can be lost dreams or hopes, guilt or shame, and internal judgments. Demonic interference can also block healing.

Leo Tolstoi’s wife once said, concerning the great writer: “People will tell of how he helped laborers carry water, but nobody will ever know that he never helped his wife with her toils – not once in 32 years!”

How many of us have felt the same way? Pastors went off to help the people in the congregation but did not support their wives. These feelings can also be an obstacle to inner healing.

• Forgive yourself. If we don’t forgive ourselves during the internal healing process, we deny the very work of the cross!

More Ideas and Resources

https://wildatheart.org/prayer/prayer-inner-healing

https://www.healingcare.org/healing-care-group-curriculum

https://rediscoveringsacredness.com/inner-healing-work-what-is-it-why-do-people-fear-it/

John Eldridge on inner healing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oshTcG0_J_k

Books

The Vulnerable Pastor: How Human Limitations Empower Our Ministry – Mandy Smith

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017J89YXO/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1

21-Day Inner Healing Journey: A Personal Guide to Healing Past Hurts and Becoming Emotionally Healthy – Jimmy Evans

https://www.amazon.com/Day-Inner-Healing-Journey-Emotionally/dp/1950113612

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5bb3e0e234c4e2dd29db7437/t/6164c65deb0e545bf4902f77/1633994334532/Facilitating+Inner+Healing.pdf

Guide for Listening and Inner Healing Prayer

https://navresources.ca/product_details.php?item_id=4709

Resources Used

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aimee-Semple-McPherson

https://www.gotquestions.org/inner-healing.html

https://www.awesomechurch.com/inner-healing-part-1/

https://www.catchthefire.com/blog/guide-inner-healing

https://www.christianhealingmin.org/index.php/hl-issue-2013-3/190-magazine/2011-2015/hl-articles-2013-3/605-the-power-of-inner-healing-prayer

https://www.greatbiblestudy.com/emotional-healing/biblical-steps-to-inner-healing/

My name is Helena Bester. I’ve been writing stories and poems my whole life, but only recently discovered the wonderful world of freelance writing.

I love Jesus – He has been a constant presence in my life thus far. I try to sit at His feet – but often fail so miserably. Luckily, He still loves me, no matter what!

My greatest hope is to be honest in my Christian blogs and to be a vessel that God can use.

When I am not writing, I cook, read, or work in my vegetable patch. I am married to Hennie, a South African wheat farmer, and we have three beautiful children, Christiaan, Hendrie, and Jana.