Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Paranoia of God Deliverance

Deliverance from irrational reactions to God can come slowly and sometimes immediately.

As a psychotherapist, I have had patients whose negative issues with God cleared up along side the issues with their earthly parents. Somehow, parent emotional responses had cross-wired with God responses. Often the person only recognized their problem with God after it disappeared.

I often likened what happens as similar to having a physical disorder, take anemia, for instance. The person accepts that the tired feeling is the norm. One day a doctor diagnosis anemia, gives some pills and zappo, they feel good. Only when they have been delivered can they exclaim “so this is the way a normal person feels!”

My paranoia of the Father as I label the condition, was more spiritual than psychological.

In my first blog below,The Zapped Psychologist, I relate an encounter with God and was delivered from a problem I did not recognize until it was gone.

I wish I had another analogy I could use that would describe what sudden deliverance is like. The one I am about to use though, is similar.

I was in an office one day with a woman who was almost totally catatonic. Usual approaches had failed. In desperation, I took off my psychologist’s hat and donned my priest’s. Suspecting something deeper than I had ever encountered, I tried to get her to just say aloud the name of Jesus.

She tried, but the word would not come out.

I was treading somewhere I had never been, and really did not know what I was doing. So, I retreated to my office. There I began to quietly pray.

Suddenly, an inner, almost audible voice, said, “Brace yourself, she is coming.” To my alarm, there she was at the entrance to my office. Pathetically, she began to beg me to stop praying. “I know you think you are helping, but you are damaging my brain. You must stop!”.

In my panic, I had enough presence of mind to realize that there was no way she could have known I was praying, plus there was no way I could have known she was coming. I knew I was in over my head.

So, I said to her “I will call a friend of mine who knows about these things. But, Jane “I am not saying this to you, I am talking to that something or someone who is talking to me.”

I dialed my friend and he responded, “I am on my way right now.”

At that exact moment, she snapped up straight, color returned to her face and she exclaimed “It’s gone! It’s gone!” Raising her hands to her head, she said “It was like a giant vulture had his talons deep in my brain. I heard a whirring noise, and he was gone!”

(Afterwards, she went back to college, graduated with honors and did the same in graduate school.)

My point is that people have problems with God and don’t even suspect abnormality. There is such a thing as sudden deliverance, after which the person becomes aware that they were in trouble. They are also aware of being delivered.

So, my message is that everyone should check themselves for irrational paranoia of the Father. It can be gotten rid of, some by psychotherapy and the more serious condition, by prayer. (Mt 17:21).

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Exodus 20;5 tells us of generational curses that we don't know exists, or has not been brought to our consciousness. Therapy can help bring it into our consciouness, but only the blood of Jesus, the name of Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit, as a true believer commands the unclean spirit to come out, will it release the person.

Anonymous said...

For the last several months I have been reflecting on the experience of God's love. As I read your reflection, I heard you saying that it is possible to experience the love of God in a very personal way. And the experience of that love brings an inner freedom - psychologically and spiritually. Some of our inappropriate fear of God comes from projecting our unresolved parental issues onto God which obscure the actual truth of God's astounding love. And beyond whatever struggles we may have in our own psyche, there is this additional level of evil that can only be termed demonic that works to distort our perception of God - thus distorting our relationship with God. There seems to be no other way to explain the lady knowing you were praying. She certainly didn't hear anything you were saying. And how could you have known she was at the door without something paranormal happening? And whatever was at the source of the bondage in this lady's thinking, it left instantly. The transformation in this person's psyche witnesses to the freedom she experienced. I wonder how much of the feelings of shame and unworthiness that grips a lot of folks has it origins in this other dimension of spiritual reality. And how can you know the difference?

Anonymous said...

I find your writing inspired and practical. You have a way of speaking in plain language the spiritual truths of our walk with the LORD. I want to share your thoughts about parental images being confused with and interfering with the FATHER issues with some of my patients.

ADORATOR.DOOR said...
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Blogger said...

Je vous remercie de votre note. Peut-être quelqu'un qui parle français et lit ce qui peut répondre. Je ne parle pas la langue, mais je n'ai prier dans l'Esprit pour vous. J'espère que maintenant Dieu a mot pour vous.