I'm deepening my understanding of intercessory prayer with my spiritual director, but I think what I lack is e.g. an experience of healing by prayer, like you have. In my country there are no such people, or I haven't heard about them. So thanks for the names and I benefit from your testimonies. I wonder how much spiritual pride hides in my desire to know that my prayer "works", to receive some confirmation, some proof... maybe it's just about praying and leaving the rest to God.

I'm aware of Jesus words about prayer. I have an intellectual understanding of the power of prayer, but still I need God's help to believe more in the real power of it. But He's already teaching me, since he moves me to pray for others.

transferring from another thread...

Posted 01 July 2009 09:29 PM Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by Phil:
...The link below is interesting in that a psychiatrist reports some successes using exorcisms as part of his healing practice. Yes, yes, I know that introduces more complications to the discussion, but I've often wondered whether the alienated/repressed parts of our psyche don't provide "hooks" of sorts for fallen spirits to work their mischief.
- http://www.fortea.us/english/p...iatria/evolution.htm

That psychiatrist seems to be on the "cutting edge" of this area of research. He seems genuine, able to be vulnerable, and I appreciate his wanting to work and teach in an area that is so repulsive to most.

His contribution to this field is that he presents a more complex picture of the question over multiple personality disorder and demonic possession. He's seen that it can be a "both/and" rather than an "either/or" problem in a given patient. Most Christian healers approach MPD's alter egos as either a psychological phenomena or a case of demonic possession, but I've not heard of someone suggesting that in some cases it's both.

Most of the "inner healing" ministries understand the long-range effects of trauma and woundedness on personality problems in the way Phil describes above. I've heard this sort of thing a million times across several of these models: when your father cursed you, a spirit of self-loathing got inside you and has convinced you that you are hateful. Actually, I'm beginning to believe something like this happens if we can broadly define "spirit" as something that means more of a 'cluster of perverted energy' that is lodged in the psyche rather than some supernatural being with a will for destruction.

In fact, I was in session the other day with a patient who had been gang-raped. This person was relaying a part of the horror. Just at what felt like the apex of her trauma memory, I suddenly felt a sharp knife-like sensation stab my throat. I had to pray in the Spirit under my breath just to get through the next few minutes because the pain was almost alarming. (The Lord carried me through this near panic moment while both the patient and I recovered, and I praise Jesus for His ministry of love and healing.)

I felt my strange reaction was more than some psychological empathy on my part over her pain. It was definitely a 'spirit,' a kind of vibration, that was 'pulled out' so to speak during the patient's recall.