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It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!
You never know when I might play a wild card on you!
Today's Wild Card author is:
and the book:
Whitaker House (July 16, 2012)
***Special thanks to Cathy Hickling of Whitaker House for sending me a review copy.***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Joan
Hunter is president of Joan Hunter Ministries, a healing evangelist,
bestselling author, wife, mother, and grandmother. As the daughter of
the world renowned “Happy Hunters,” known and beloved
for their gifts of healing and supernatural joy, Joan was trained and
anointed for ministry at an early age. Today she carries on and expands
the family legacy holding miracle services and healing schools worldwide
addressing emotional and practical needs
as well as spiritual and physical healing. The mission of Joan Hunter
Ministries is “to equip believers to take the healing power of God
beyond the walls of the church to the four corners of the earth.”
Visit the author's website.
SHORT BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Trauma
impacts just about everyone at one point or another. Sometimes it
leaves behind visible scars; other times it leaves its
footprint on the soul, imbedding itself in the form of painful memories
that interfere with healthy thought processes and emotions. Writing as
one who has been there, Joan Hunter addresses trauma-related issues
whether they’re the result of physical violence
or emotional pain that just won’t heal. Joan shares how she and many
others have recovered from trauma by replacing painful memories with
positive thoughts, learning to escape stress, renewing the mind, and
accepting the unconditional love of God who wants
all of his children to be healed and whole! Start the recovery process
today with Joan Hunter.
List Price: $13.99
Paperback: 144 pages
Publisher: Whitaker House
Language: English
ISBN-10: 160374505X
ISBN-13: 978-1603745055
AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:
Chapter 1
THE TOLL OF TRAUMA
Trauma is one of
the most common causes of illness. It has incredible power to open the doors of
our bodies to sickness. When you experience something traumatic, it’s kind of
like an emotional earthquake in your body. It causes everything to “shift,” and
not in a good way. The 9.0-magnitude earthquake that shook Japan in 2011
actually caused the earth’s axis to shift.[1]
And that’s what happens in our bodies and minds where trauma is concerned.
Trauma gets our bodies out of alignment. It disturbs the electrical, chemical,
and magnetic frequencies of the human system. And then, before we know it,
stress comes on the scene and produces stress hormones, which inhibit the
function of the immune system. That’s why we hear so many prayer requests for
autoimmune diseases.
It’s important
for you to fortify your immune system and its functions, because you’re exposed
to sickness wherever you go. Shopping at the mall, traveling by plane, and even
sitting at home, you come across a myriad of germs and bacteria. And there is
only so much you can do to protect yourself. So, it’s important to keep your
immune system strong. But it won’t be strong as long as you’re suffering the
aftermath of trauma. In this chapter, we’re going to explore how to be healed
of trauma and its far-reaching effects.
It Isn’t “Just in Your Head”
Trauma manifests
in multiple forms. Just do a Google search of the term “trauma” or “cellular
memory” to learn about the physical effects of trauma, even trauma that was not
physical in nature. After someone goes through a traumatic experience, ill
effects manifest usually within six months to a year. And it is documented that
when trauma comes in, it affects every cell in your body and will remain inside
your cells until you die—unless God takes it away.
It is legitimate
to make a connection between emotional trauma and physical symptoms. Take, for
example, the medical condition takotsubo
cardiomyopathy—more commonly referred to as “broken heart syndrome.”
According to the Mayo Clinic, this condition, also called stress cardiomyopathy, is a “heart condition brought on by
stressful situations, such as the death of a loved one.”[2]
The clinic goes on to say that someone suffering from broken heart syndrome may
experience sudden chest pain and suspect that he or she is having a heart
attack, due to the heart’s reaction to an influx of stress hormones in the
body.
Earthquake
Babies
After the
devastating earthquake that shook Haiti in January 2010, I wanted to go down
and pray for the people within six months of the disaster. Praise God, I was able
to travel there less than four months after it happened. I prayed with the
people, casting out the spirit of trauma from approximately 1.1 million
individuals, and trained 700 pastors to do the same in their own congregations.
We visited orphanages, hospitals, and nurseries where babies were being
delivered in one big room, and we prayed over the newborns, casting out the
trauma they had experienced from the earthquake, which had occurred while their
mothers were still pregnant with them.
Just before the
earthquake hit, arrangements had been made for some unborn babies to be adopted
by American families. When these babies were between seven and nine months of
age, reports starting coming in from their adoptive parents, saying, “We don’t
know what is going on with these babies. They are screaming in anger, raging,
hitting us, biting, and demonstrating unbelievable hatred, and we don’t know
what to do.” These parents were even considering sending the babies back to
Haiti. Why were the babies acting this way? Because they had been traumatized
while still in the womb.
Trauma
Housed in the Heart
There was a woman
who was having heart problems, and it came down to her needing a heart
transplant. When she received the phone call informing her that a heart was
ready for her, she was extremely excited. After the surgery, she stayed at the
hospital, and, the first night, she had a horrific nightmare of being stabbed
to death. This nightmare repeated itself for the following two nights, and her
killer was the same person each time. So, the hospital contacted the police and
brought them in to do a composite sketch of the person in her dream, according
to her description. It ended up matching the features of the man who had
murdered the person from whom she had received her new heart. That person had
been stabbed to death, and that violent act was the last memory the person had
experienced. The man was convicted of murder and is now in jail.
There was another
lady who had a heart transplant and also was having recurring nightmares. Hers
featured a license plate—the same number every night. The police were contacted
and the plate number reported. Shortly thereafter, the police located the car
and asked permission to search it. The driver said, “Sure, why not?” In the
trunk, they found bloodstains which, when tested for DNA, matched the person
whose heart the woman had received. The donor’s uncle, who killed her, had
thought she was already dead, and he’d thrown her in the trunk. As she was
being shoved inside, she had seen the license plate, and the image of the
number had been burned on her heart. That man was convicted and sentenced to
time in prison.
That’s the power
of trauma. The same thing can happen to you. If your heart was transplanted in
someone else, what kinds of trauma would that individual inherit? We’re going
to deal with the problem of trauma and more in this book.
We all experience traumatic experiences, to some degree. But
we don’t have to deal with the repercussions forever.
My Own Traumatic Experiences
The
Death of Both Parents
Within a span of
two years, I lost both of my parents—my mother in 2009, my father in 2010. My
mom passed away on a Tuesday morning, and I was told that my dad would be gone
three to six days later.
On the eve of the
fifth day, I was overcome with grief and trauma, which manifested physically by
the loss of my voice. I was ministering out of town at the time and was
scheduled to do a television show the next morning, for which I would need my
full vocal capacity. So, I recognized that the spirits of trauma and grief were
trespassing, and I determined that they would not stay in my body.
I went back to my
hotel room, took a shower, and declared as loudly as I could, “In the name of
Jesus, I curse this spirit of trauma—I curse this spirit of grief—and I command
them to be gone. I command my voice to be completely restored, in Jesus’ name.”
Then, I shouted, “Hallelujah!”
Not only were my
vocal chords restored and my voice returned, but the heaviness of grief was
lifted off of me. Plus, the Lord granted me additional time with my dad. I
still missed my mom—don’t misunderstand me—but the weight of grief left
instantly. If I had not dealt with it immediately, I might not be here today,
because the grief and trauma could have crippled me.
An
Unsettling Phone Call
Before my
husband, Kelley, started traveling full-time with Joan Hunter Ministries, he
stayed at home, working and raising his four boys. One day, I called him on his
cell phone, and an unfamiliar male voice answered. When he said, “Hello?” I
said to myself, No, not again. God, I
don’t want to go through this again. God, help me. (You have to understand,
prior to my marriage to Kelley, I was married to a man who was a homosexual. I
couldn’t bear the thought that Kelley might be having an affair with a man.)
Fear gripped my heart, and I was speechless.
After a few
moments of silence, the man on the phone said, “Do you want me to get my dad
for you?” It was then that I recognized the voice and realized who it was:
Kelley’s son Kirk! I just wasn’t accustomed to hearing his voice, which had
gotten considerably lower in pitch because of puberty. Moreover, I wasn’t aware
that Kirk was staying at the house at the time.
When Kelley got
on the phone, he wanted to know why I was crying. How could I tell him? I
didn’t until much later. It took a long time for me to come around and be
comfortable explaining what had really happened. I was embarrassed that the
thought would even cross my mind, because Kelley would never do something like
that.
Nevertheless, I
was a wreck. It had shocked me to the point of trauma to hear a man other than
Kelley answer his cell phone. Some other ladies were traveling with me, and
they insisted on praying with me. They told me to put my hand over my heart and
to get rid of the trauma. I did, commanding that the spirit of trauma be gone,
in Jesus’ name. I knew I couldn’t afford to let the emotional trauma fester,
especially since my fears had been unfounded.
Chased
by an Alligator
I’ll give you
another story of personal trauma from my childhood. I was born and raised in
the Miami area, and we lived really close to the Miami Serpentarium, a tourist
attraction where the founder, Bill Haast, would extract venom from snakes while
visitors watched. Bill’s daughter, Naia, went to school with me, and we
sometimes got together to play. Every time I went to visit Naia, I got to see
the reptiles, since her family lived in the back of the same building that
housed the Serpentarium.
One day, we were
playing—having “tea,” if I remember correctly—and an alligator got loose and
came after us. Alligators are fast, and they’re a lot bigger than they look on
television. So, here I am, this little six-year-old, trying to outrun an
eight-foot alligator that’s chasing me and my friend. Scared beyond words, Naia
and I rushed into her bedroom and slammed the door behind us. That concluded my
trauma related to alligators—or so I thought. As it turned out, it was only
chapter one.
A few years ago,
I attended a book convention in Orlando, Florida. Alligators are commonplace
there, and I was not surprised when a voice announced over the loudspeakers
that there was an “alligator on the floor.” But I couldn’t get the image of
that eight-foot alligator at Naia Haast’s house out of my mind. Nor could I
stop picturing him chasing me again. Others were traveling with me, including
my stepson Curtis. I said to him, “Look for the alligator, Curtis. Find the
alligator. It’s got to be somewhere around here.” I wanted to find it before it
found me.
Finally, we
learned that the announcement had been a publicity stunt; there was a booth
with a baby alligator, only about four feet long, whose mouth had been fastened
shut. The alligator’s keeper told me, “You can hold it if you want to.” And I
did! I couldn’t believe how soft and smooth its tummy was. All of the fear and
trauma had vanished!
The Difference Between Trauma and Grief
When you are
delivered from trauma, it doesn’t mean that you forget the source of your
grief—the loss of a loved one, for example—or that the experience will not
cause you additional pain. That’s not what I’m talking about. I miss being able
to tell my mom, a well-known healing evangelist, about all of the incredible
miracles that happen in my life. I miss sharing with her, for example, “I went
to Haiti, Mom, and it was the biggest crusade our ministries have ever
organized.” I miss being able to talk to her. Everywhere I go, people tell me, “I
got saved in one of your parents’ services,” or “I got the baptism of the Holy
Ghost in one of your mom and dad’s services.” I missed her at my daughter’s
wedding. Every once in a while, I cry about things like that. But, please
understand, my feelings are free from heaviness and trauma. There is a
difference.
I want to remain
completely free of trauma and unhealthy stress. And it’s important for you to know,
beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you, too, can remain trauma free! Situations
will happen. Problems will arise. People you love will pass away. The longer
you live, the more people you will see die. It’s sad, but—praise God—I’m almost
sixty years old, and I’m getting younger all the time.
Deliverance Is Possible
We have the
ability to break free from trauma through the power of God. Trauma is wreaking
havoc in the bodies of countless people, and the only effective way of dealing
with it is through prayer—through seeking the divine Physician. No human doctor
has the ability to get inside our cells and scrape away all traces of the trauma.
God alone has the power to do this.
One of the
partners of 4 Corners Alliance, an apostolic group, had a friend in need of a
kidney transplant. All of a sudden, a kidney became available, and she wondered
why. Sure enough, there had been a horrendous murder the night before. She decided
to lay hands on the container in which the kidney was being stored before the
organ was put into her friend’s body. As she did, she said, “I command that all
traumas leave this kidney before it goes into my friend’s body.” It was a picture-perfect
transplant, with minimal swelling and no infections whatsoever. The organ just “popped”
in, almost as if God had performed the surgery. And there were no nightmares or
other evidence of residual trauma or cellular memory.
This case, as
well as the other cases of transplanted hearts mentioned earlier, has been
documented and verified by the medical community. Let me reemphasize that
trauma is real, and it isn’t an experience that’s merely metaphysical—it has
physical implications. Trauma comes in and produces stress, which produces
stress hormones, and these have the power to destroy the immune system if they
are not dealt with properly—in other words, if they are not given over to God
for healing.
Turn
It Over to God
When we turn our
trauma over to God, He cleans out every cell with a “Holy-Ghost scalpel” and
removes every ounce of trauma from our bodies. It works—hallelujah!
If you are
praying for someone who has just come through a traumatic experience, say, “In
the name of Jesus, I curse the spirit of trauma and command that it be gone. In
Jesus’ name, I command that any effect of the trauma be completely turned
around and that this body be restored.” Then, begin speaking the chemicals back
into alignment; command the electrical and magnetic frequencies to go back into
alignment. When you do that, it causes all kinds of things to be turned around and
restored to their proper state.
My book Healing the Whole Man Handbook includes
a chapter that deals with the electrical and magnetic frequencies in the human
body.[3]
In that chapter are prayers for the immune system. I pray for my immune system
every day, saying something like this: “In the name of Jesus, I thank You that
my immune system is doing what it is supposed to be doing.”
As we discussed
at the beginning of this chapter, our bodies’ electrical and magnetic
frequencies can be disrupted when traumatic “earthquakes” happen within our
systems. Because of humanity’s rebellion against God and subsequent fall, even
when we haven’t experienced trauma, we do not have the standard electrical and
magnetic frequencies pulling on our bodies, as Adam and Eve originally had.
There are people who wear magnetic necklaces, bracelets, shoes, soles, and
other components in order to enhance their bodies’ equilibrium. Some people say
that this practice is of the devil. It’s not of the devil; it’s a legitimate
method of helping to restore the body to its proper balance of electrical and
magnetic frequencies.
I can command, in
Jesus’ name, that my body be in perfect harmony and balance, electrically and
magnetically, without having to purchase expensive copper bracelets and such. I
am not against these things, however.
Restore
the Proper Balance
Those individuals
with bipolar disorder have often experienced something traumatic that caused
their bodies to be thrown off-kilter, chemically speaking. In these cases, it
is necessary to curse the spirit of trauma and the spirit of bipolar disorder
and to command the chemicals to return to harmony and balance.
To do this, place
your hand on one side of your forehead and, as you move it from one side to the
other, say, “In the name of Jesus, I remove the stigma of bipolar disorder.”
You should also curse any addictions to prescription medications.
Earthquakes can
cause the planet to get off-kilter, and we need to do what we can to keep our
bodies in proper balance. The body’s pH is another area where balance is needed.
When we experience stress, it produces acid, which causes our pH level to swing
in one direction. It’s important that we keep the proper amount of alkaline in our
bodies, or the acid may cause ulcers or produce acid reflux. We must simply
command our acid level to go down and our pH to return to its proper balance.
At a seminar
where I was teaching, the organizers had everyone present take a pH test. Each
of us was given a little spoon on which to put some of our spittle, as well as
a piece of litmus paper, one type of pH indicator, to measure the alkaline and
acidic levels of our saliva.
Next, each of us
was given a small amount of fresh, undiluted lemon juice to swish around in our
mouth, after which we tested our spittle yet again.
My results were
normal the first time, and, only five minutes after I had filled my mouth with
something that was highly acidic, my results were again normal—my body’s pH had
returned to its natural level in almost no time at all. Because of my strong
immune system and low stress level, my pH measurement returned to normal
extremely quickly. This was evidence of how well my body can handle stress.
Some of the other people present were extremely stressed, and it was evident in
the pH levels in their saliva.
It’s amazing, but
our spittle is one indicator of how our bodies handle stress. One lady
testified, “Mine came back perfect, and it’s because I read Joan Hunter’s book Power to Heal.” I responded, “Yes,
praise God for bringing that pH balance back into alignment.” I know what to do
when stress comes on the scene—how to deal with it and get rid of it for good.
By the power of
God, we can nip trauma in the bud. We can curse the trauma and the stress, as
well as whatever brought them on: grief, loss, rejection, abuse, and so forth.
We don’t want to open the door to schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, agoraphobia,
depression, fibromyalgia, a suppressed immune system, or anything of that
nature. And this is one reason why we strive to get to the root of the problem
before it grows into something disproportionately big.
Depression
plunges many people into a bipolar personality disorder or chronic fatigue. For
them, getting out of bed can be the most difficult thing to do. Romans 13:11
says, “And do this, knowing the time,
that now it is high time to awake out of sleep [out of depression]; for now our salvation is nearer than when
we first believed” (nkjv).
It is now time to
“awake” from depression. As
Christians, we have hope in Jesus Christ. Someone may protest and say, “If you
only knew why I am depressed.” That’s exactly why I am talking to you right
now. It doesn’t matter what occurred to cause your depression, your grief, your
trauma, or your stress. What matters is that you allow the blood of Jesus to
comfort you, cleanse you, and heal you. And you can do this only as you release
whatever it is that brought about your depression, handing it over to Jesus to
deal with.
Delivered from Trauma
By cursing the
trauma and turning it over to God, countless people have broken free from the
bondage of pain and launched new lives in freedom. The following are just a few
examples to serve as inspiration and encouragement. You, too, can be delivered
from trauma!
A
Woman Healed of Childhood Trauma
I was ministering
in Canada when a woman came up to me and said, “I want you to pray for me.” I
said, “Okay, no problem.” She went on to explain that when she was a young
girl, her parents placed her in an orphanage. The institution ran out of cribs,
so, when she was two or three, she was sleeping in a “big girl” bed. Without
any bars to keep her in, she had a tendency to get up out of bed and wander
around. The staff at the orphanage wanted to keep her in the bed, and so they
put her in a straightjacket and strapped her to the bed. She had to wait until
morning to go to the bathroom.
As you can
imagine, the experience was traumatic. So, here she was, extremely traumatized.
I asked her to cross her arms over her chest, as if she were in a
straightjacket. “I can’t! I can’t!” she screamed. I said, “If you’ll give me
about three minutes, you will be completely free.” She said, “Okay, okay, okay,”
and she managed to place her hands across her chest. Then, I told her that I
was going to squeeze her really tight, and she would be free. I used my arms
like the straps of a straightjacket and held her really tight as I said, “In
the name of Jesus, I curse this spirit of trauma and fear, and I command it to
go in Jesus’ name.” I released my hands, and she crumpled to the floor. Moments
later, she got up and said, “It’s gone! It’s gone!”
For years, she
hadn’t been able to be hugged by her husband. Now that she was free, she could
go home and embrace him with open arms and without any fear. Hallelujah!
A
Star Swimmer Regains His Winning Streak
My friend Debby Fry Wilson sent me the following testimony
about her son.
In
February 2011, my son, Hunter, was swimming in the Washington State high school
championships. We were very hopeful because the year before, as a ninth grader,
he was one of only a handful of freshmen to make finals at the state
championships. So, we went into the meet feeling very optimistic. And, indeed,
in the preliminaries, he swam great and made the finals in all his events.
But,
after Hunter swam his last event at prelims—his signature event, the 100-meter
backstroke—we noticed he was doubled over on the pool deck, clutching his hand.
Apparently, he had swum so fast that he’d smashed his hand into the wall of the
pool on his finish.
The
next day, Hunter was trying to warm up for finals, and he was in so much pain
that we rushed him to the emergency room. The doctor said he had a hairline rotated
fracture from the base of his index finger to the top of his hand.
The
problem was that in a couple of hours, he had to swim in two individual finals,
as well as in the team medley relay final, an event in which the team was
ranked in the top three in the state. He could give up his individual events,
but if he didn’t swim the medley relay, his relay team—three other boys and
himself—would have to give up their big opportunity at the state championships.
The
doctor said that if Hunter decided to swim, he chanced completely separating
the fracture and might require surgery. He offered to tape Hunter’s hand to
help.
We
prayed for a miracle and put our faith in God.
Hunter
jumped in the water and did the underwater pullout on his leg of the medley
relay—breaststroke—and, in that movement, he completely separated the bone. He later
said he felt the bone completely crack apart and that the pain was
excruciating. But Hunter kept swimming, and his relay team placed. He
ultimately had to give up one of his individual events and managed to struggle
through the other.
In
the next couple of days, we learned of the severity of damage to Hunter’s hand,
which was more devastating than we’d thought possible. Hunter required surgery
and had three screws permanently drilled into his hand bones to put it all back
together.
In
the last twelve months, we’ve watched Hunter struggle with swimming and noticed
that he’ll always be winning a backstroke race until the last twenty-five yards,
only to lose in the last couple of yards—by a hair, even though he is fast
enough to win these races and more.
A
calendar year went by, and it was time again for the Washington State high
school swimming championships. We all worried about what would happen there.
We
had the revelation, based on Joan’s teachings, that Hunter must have been
traumatized by what happened to him and was afraid of hitting the wall again,
so he was letting up on his finishes.
We
texted Joan and asked for prayer for Hunter, and we followed her instructions and
repeated the prayer over Hunter to curse all trauma and fear.
More
importantly, we really released Hunter and his swimming career to the Lord. As
much as we would have been thrilled to see Hunter win his events, we realized
that we had to let go and let the Lord execute His own plan for Hunter.
In February
2012, Hunter swam the best swims of his life in prelims and in finals. Hunter
swam fast enough to be recruited as a backstroker for NCAA division 1 in
college and potentially to qualify for the U.S. Olympic trials in four years—and
eventually more, if that is the Lord’s plan for him.
We
are so blessed to have the Lord answer our prayers over time and to give us
revelations through Joan and her teachings. We know that Hunter’s future, in
swimming and in life, is in God’s hands.
Feet
Are Healed and Pain Is Gone
In Northern
Ireland, a lady told me, “My feet hurt so bad. It’s like walking on glass.” But
she didn’t have a choice. She had to walk, since she had no wheelchair. Imagine
every step you take feeling like broken glass piercing the soles of your feet. She
also said that plenty of people had been praying for her, but to no avail. I
asked her, “Has anyone prayed about your trauma?” She replied, “No.” I asked
her when her feet had started hurting. She said that, five years prior, she’d
been in her car, and a street sweeper had come along and inadvertently picked
up her car, carrying it down the street. She’d panicked because she couldn’t
get out of her car. So, she’d leaned back and used her feet to kick out the windshield.
Glass had shattered everywhere, showering her as she climbed out, and her feet
had recorded the trauma of that experience.
I said, “In the
name of Jesus, I curse this trauma. I command it to be gone.” Within seconds,
she was saying, “Thank You, Jesus! Thank You, Jesus!” The pain was gone. When
I’d met her, her ankles had been swollen over her shoes, which were at least
one size too big to account for her inflamed feet. But, when we parted ways,
she could barely keep the shoes on her feet due to how much the swelling had
decreased.
No
More Gagging
A woman came up
for prayer when I was ministering in Myrtle Beach. She said, “I feel like I
have something in the back of my throat. It’s hard to swallow. I choke whenever
I try to drink liquids.” I said, “Okay, I will pray.” She added, “I recently had
surgery—a tongue reduction.” I had never heard of such a procedure before. She
went on, “I had a tongue reduction and a couple of other things on the inside
of my mouth.”
I soon found out
that as she was coming out of the anesthesia, she kept repeating, “I can’t
breathe!” The nurses had assured her, “That’s normal—you had a tube down your
throat.” She told them that it felt like she was being strangled, but they
said, “It’s just the anesthesia. Don’t worry; it’s a normal reaction.” Still,
she insisted, “I can’t breathe.” To pacify her, the nurses looked inside her
mouth, and they found a piece of gauze they had stuffed there to soak up the
blood from her tongue and had forgotten to remove. As a result, her tongue and
throat were traumatized.
I said, “In the
name of Jesus, I command all the trauma to go.” The woman drank an entire glass
of water without choking or gagging. It was the best glass of water she’d had
in years.
Healed
of Trichotillomania (Compulsive Hair-Pulling)
This powerful testimony
comes from a young woman who is about to graduate from high school.
When
I was in third grade (eight years
old), I began to
pull my hair out. Nobody knew why, and I don’t
even know how it happened.
I just started pulling my hair out.
I didn’t pull it out in chunks; I pulled my hair one at
a time. By the time I was
in fifth grade, I barely had any hair.
Kids would ask me if I had tried
to cut my hair, and
I would lie and tell them that’s
what I did. My parents had tried everything to get me to stop. They took me to
a doctor, who had never seen anything like what I was doing; they prayed for me; they changed shampoos; they tried everything they
could think of. Sometimes I would do better about not pulling, but I could never completely
stop.
I hated pulling my hair. I felt like the ugliest person, and I hated myself
because I couldn’t stop. By
the time I started my freshman year, I had
given up hope that I would ever be able to stop, and I felt like I was the only one in the world with this problem. Then I met
Kris Boston. She attends the same church I do, and she went
up to my mom and asked if I pulled my hair out, because she did also. She had
pulled for twenty
years and desperately wanted to stop, like myself. I can’t even explain how it feels to have somebody there for you who knows exactly what you’re dealing with.
We began to send messages back and forth
to each other. Then, in March 2009, Joan Hunter came
to our church for special services. I was excited to go, and the first night was an awesome service, but I didn’t go up to get prayed for. I was
skeptical because I had been prayed for about pulling my hair many times
before. Saturday night, during
the entire service,
I felt like I needed to get prayed for, and Kris came up to me near the end of
the service and asked if I wanted to go with her after the service to have Joan
pray for us. I said
yes.
As soon as the service ended, we went and found Joan and
explained our situations, and she prayed for us. She cursed the spirit of trauma, fear, and rejection. As soon as she
began to pray for me,
I felt a really warm feeling all over, and also the sense that a huge weight had been lifted
off me. I felt happy;
I wasn’t even sure
why. Kris told me she felt the same feelings come over her when she was prayed
for. I knew when I got home that my struggle was over and I wouldn’t pull my hair anymore. That was
three years ago, and Kris and I both proudly have full heads of hair.
—Maegan
Jewell
A Man
with Schizophrenia Released to Minister Healing to Others
I met a man I’ll
call Frank who had been to a healing school. I prayed over him in Jesus’ name
and anointed him. The next day, I found out that he had been diagnosed with
schizophrenia. I said, “That’s easy,” by which I meant that it was easy for
God.
Schizophrenia is
a condition that is brought on by trauma. Individuals with schizophrenia
endured a trauma after which they formed a sort of shield around themselves—an
alter ego or personality to hide behind, a wall that keeps them safe.
Schizophrenics lead lonely lives, but at least other people leave them alone.
When I prayed for
Frank again at the healing service, I said, “Father, in the name of Jesus, I
curse this trauma, fear, abandonment, abuse, and rejection; I command it all to
go. And I curse the spirit of schizophrenia, in Jesus’ name, and I command the
chemicals in this body to return to normal, in Jesus’ name. Thank You, Jesus.
Amen.”
After the
service, I asked Frank’s pastors about the trauma he had experienced. I found
out that when he was three years old, his mother had doused herself with
gasoline and burned herself to death right in front of him. Upon her death, his
father had gotten custody of the kids, and Frank’s upbringing had been even
more horrendous than watching his mother burn to death, if you can believe
that. As a result, he’d built a shell to hide behind.
I had prayed for
him on Sunday. The next day, he was back at the home where he lived, and he was
doing well; plus, the church had been counseling him for five years. He was
doing so well, they had provided him with toenail clippers, which is a big step
in that home, and his job was to trim the toenails of other residents at the
home. So, a man was lying on the table, waiting for Frank to clip his toenails,
when Frank noticed that one of his legs was short. Frank asked him, “Do you
have a back problem?” The man answered affirmatively. Frank prayed for him, and
he was healed! Frank was so excited, he could hardly stand it. He wanted to
pray for every person who needed healing.
A woman with a
swollen ankle came limping down the hall. Up close, one could see that her
ankle was a pretty shade of purple—pretty for fabric, that is. Frank said, “May
I pray?” The woman responded, “Sure, what’s it going to hurt?” He knelt down
and prayed for her ankle. Within seconds, the ankle returned to its normal size
and shade, and all the pain was gone.
Then, Frank went
to church, where he was viewed by other people in one of two ways: God can’t use Frank because he has schizophrenia
or If Frank can do it, I can do it,
too! Frank said, “I know Joan prayed for me, I know she laid hands on me,
but I really, really didn’t think God could use me.” He was totally, completely
set free from schizophrenia. Hallelujah!
Freed
from the Trauma of Agoraphobia
There was a lady who
came to a meeting in Florida, but she couldn’t bring herself to come inside the
church because she had agoraphobia, which is defined by Merriam-Webster’s 11th Collegiate Dictionary as
“abnormal fear of being helpless in an embarrassing or unescapable situation
that is characterized especially by the avoidance of open or public places.”
So, she just sat in the foyer with her dog. The woman has a multimillion-dollar
company, and one of her employees was a member of this church. This employee
explained that her boss ran her business out of her home, where she felt safe;
her conviction was that every time she would go out, something horrific would
happen. What a lonely life! For protection, she took her dog along whenever she
did venture out—to check the mail, for example. She never did anything by
herself.
When she came to
the church on that Friday night, I was informed that she was in the lobby, so I
went out there and prayed for her. I cursed the spirit of trauma and fear and commanded
the agoraphobia to go, in Jesus’ name. On Sunday morning, she came back to the
church, this time by herself! Hallelujah! She was totally free. What an awesome
work of God!
Healed
of Abandonment Issues
I was ministering
at a church, and I said, “Who would like to be healed as a demonstration?” A
lady came forward, and I started speaking to her, but she wouldn’t make eye
contact with me; she kept her focus on her husband, who was seated in the
second or third row. I thought to myself, This
is not going to work. Then, I turned her around so that she could no longer
see her husband.
Yet, as I talked
to her and asked her questions, she kept turning around! I thought, What is going on here? I soon found out
that she had experienced the trauma of abandonment as a child, and, as a
result, she feared that her husband would leave her, even while she was
standing with me at the front of the church. They had been married for more
than forty-five years, and he’d never left her, yet she was petrified that he
would! Every morning when he left for work, she experienced a panic attack. Can
you imagine leaving your wife while she’s having a panic attack every workday
for forty-five years? In public restrooms, she was stricken with fear and
insisted that her husband stand just outside the door so that they could
communicate, giving her reassurance that he was not going to leave her while
she was in the restroom.
Talk about a
controlling spirit of fear brought on by the trauma of abandonment and
perpetuated by a dread of future abandonment! She could not handle it. He
hadn’t left her in over forty-five years, but she still couldn’t shake the fear
that he would leave her today. God bless that man!
I prayed for the
spirit of trauma and abandonment to come out. A few days later, I received an
e-mail from the woman. She said that they got up one morning, and her husband
said, “Would you go to the local drugstore and get me a newspaper?” And she
said, “Sure.” She got in the car and drove to the store, only to find that it
hadn’t opened yet. While she was waiting, other cars pulled up in the parking
lot. She knocked on the window of one of the cars and asked the driver, “May I
pray for you while we are waiting?” And she did that to every other car in the
lot. Then, when the store opened, she went inside, purchased a newspaper, and
returned to her car. As she was driving home, she said to herself, “I’m really
healed!” She had left her husband at home! A few months later, she was driving
several hours to attend my meetings, all by herself. That’s freedom.
Healed
of Injuries Sustained in an Auto Accident
I prayed for a
lady who had been in a car accident in which another car had T-boned hers.
Although she had sustained no specific injuries, her body was in excruciating pain.
I did not pray for her healing. Instead, I said, “In the name of Jesus, I
command the trauma that the left side of this body is experiencing to go.” Just
like that, the trauma was gone, and so was the pain.
Beauty
Restored by the Departure of Trauma
I prayed for
another woman who had been in a terrible car accident that had destroyed her
face at the age of fourteen. Her head had been propelled forward into the
windshield. Thanks to skilled plastic surgeons, today, her face has no signs of
scarring; she is absolutely beautiful. But her body had been so mangled that
there was not a single place where she didn’t hurt because of the trauma, and
her body had contorted into the shape of the letter C. Everybody in her church had prayed for her. She had been told
that she would never walk again, yet, today, she is a gorgeous, tall blonde.
You would never guess that she had been in such a terrible accident. We prayed
for the trauma to go and for her body to go back into alignment. Her hips had
twisted and her collarbone had been broken, but we prayed for realignment, and
her body ended up perfect.
After that, she
said, “Only one thing: I feel like I have something right here.” I put my hand
over her face like a mask, to represent the impression caused by the impact of
the windshield, and said, “Father, in the name of Jesus, I command that spirit
of trauma to leave her face, and I command that mask to be taken off, in Jesus’
name.” And it was off. She’d felt like she’d had a clamp on her arm for many
years, but she was set free when we cast off the spirit of trauma.
Sleeping
Patterns Restored
I prayed for the
leader of a church in Illinois who had not slept in a bed for more than four
years—he’d slept only in chairs—and had incurred back injury as a result. Everyone
in the church had prayed for him. I said, “In the name of Jesus, I command the
spirit of trauma to go.” Immediately, all of the pain and trauma left, and he
has slept in his bed ever since.
Trauma Is Serious
Trauma has a
truly profound impact on the body. When I pray for people to get healed, the
results are phenomenal, but when I pray and cast out the spirit of trauma, it
propels people to an entirely new level of deliverance. I have been praying
this way for many, many years, but I am bringing it to the forefront now because
I am seeing the effects of trauma manifest in people’s lives more noticeably
than ever before.
We need to get
rid of the trauma. It truly is easier than most people might imagine,
especially for those whose hope is in Jesus Christ. He bears our burdens and
makes everything easier. He says to each of us, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you
rest” (Matthew 11:28).
Prayer for Release from Trauma
It’s time to get
rid of all of the trauma in your life, whether it was caused by an alligator, a
car accident, childhood abuse, or something else. Some of you were molested as children.
That was traumatic. Some of you were verbally abused by a parent or a teacher. That
was traumatic. Some of you have been traumatized by divorce or the loss of a
loved one. One simple prayer, below, will cover it all. But I encourage you,
after today, to pray over yourself again to be more specific. If I were praying
for myself, I’d name the trauma of being chased by an alligator, the trauma of
being abandoned by my natural father, and the trauma of being molested by an
uncle. Some traumas you may not even be aware of until you get the opportunity
to deal with something similar again.
I want you to
place your hands over your heart and receive this prayer: “Father, right now,
in the name of Jesus, I send the word of healing to each person reading this
book. Father, right now, in the name of Jesus, I curse the spirit of trauma and
command it to be gone. I curse any feelings of abandonment, of rejection, of abuse,
and of worthlessness; I command every bit of that to go. I curse any spirits of
hopelessness, depression, and oppression, and I command those to be gone, in
Jesus’ name. I speak life, health, wholeness, and complete restoration into the
life of this person, and I command all of the chemicals to be returned to their
proper balance, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”
When you have
been freed from trauma, you will find that some of the ailments you were
suffering from have gone, as well, because they were caused by trauma.
Scriptures to Take to Heart
Then they cried out to the Lord
in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses.
(Psalm 107:19 nkjv)
You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround
me with songs of deliverance. (Psalm 32:7)
[Jesus said,] “Come to me, all you who are weary and
burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For
my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28–30)
3 comments:
Posted with review
http://www.kathleenwachter.com/2012/08/freedom-beyond-comprehension-by-joan.html
All posted on my blog. Absolutely great book!
Posted with review. Late due to late arrival of my book.
http://onedesertrose.wordpress.com/2012/08/28/freedom-beyond-comprehension-by-joan-hunter-a-first-blog-tour-with-review/
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