FREEDOM JOURNEY 1
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4. Healing Prayer for the Roots of Sex Addiction previous page: Cut Free
Working through the Deal with Sin page and the Cut Free page may have surfaced some troublesome memories from the past. Though everyone has negative experiences in life, some people are more deeply damaged than others and may carry emotional scars that affect them for years to come. People can easily turn to the pleasures of sexual sin or other things (alcohol, tobacco, drugs, etc.) in attempt to medicate the pain from the scars of the past. Examples: • • • • • •
An adolescent who turns to masturbation to medicate the pain of rejection he or she experienced from peers A woman who finds solace in a lesbian relationship which caters to her hatred of men, developed through years of sexual abuse from her father A person who becomes promiscuous in attempt to find the love and affirmation that his or her father failed to provide during their childhood A man who turns to sadomasochism to punish himself for enjoying sexual abuse from a neighbor as a child A person who retreats to masturbation to fulfill their desire for independence from God and people, after several unpleasant sexual relationships in their teen years A man who rapes as an expression of the anger and revenge he harbors toward his mother who severely rejected him as a child
God’s will for each of us is that we are restored to wholeness in our body, soul and spirit (Psalm 103:2-5, 3 John 1:2, Isaiah 61:1-3). God wants to help us deal with the troublesome memories and remove the current obstacles that hinder our wholeness. He wants us to enjoy life and no longer be enslaved to sin or the memories of it. Jesus confirmed this as he announced his mission on earth: 18
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Luke 4:18-19 KJV (see also Isaiah 61:1-3) Jesus stands ready to help us and heal us from the brokenness, bruising and bondage of the past. Identify root memories The first step in the healing process is to find the roots that are causing or contributing to our current struggles. As in the examples above, common roots include: • • • • • • • • •
Trauma (death of loved one, horror movies, torture, rape, accidents, abortions, etc.) Unhealthy relationships (manipulation, control, word-curses, etc.) Rejection or lack of affirmation from parents, family members, friends or members of opposite sex Abandonment Betrayal Abuse (verbal, emotional, physical, sexual) Unpleasant sexual experiences Failure Occult experiences (e.g. spiritualist healing, séance, fortuneteller, psychic, witchcraft, spell-casting, palm reading, coven meeting, Satanic ritual, black magic, levitation)