Thanks, Phil. I learned a lot from this email. Hmm. Besides yourself, is 
there anyone else here who is trained in intercessory prayer? I'm asking 
because you may not always be home, whenever I call. After all, we all have 
lives to lead, things to do, places to go, people to pray with, clothes to 
wash, food to cook, firewood to cut, Christmas trees to put up, remnants to 
clean after the tree's taken down, gifts to wrap, shopping to so, cakes to 
bake, dinner to cook, Christmas cards to send, and well, ok, you get the 
idea. I don't want to tire you out just hearing it.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Phil Scovell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 10:05 PM
Subject: Anxiety or Panic


> Here is something I wrote some while ago but thought it might be useful.
>
> Phil.
>
> The Pain Of Anxiety And Panic
>
>
>                         By Phil Scovell
>
>
>
>     Something startled me awake.  She was Gone and I knew it.
> Still I felt around in the darkness for my wife.  "She's dead," I
> heard the voice say and a clammy damp cold blast of wind blew
> across my body as if it were blowing right through me.  My heart
> began to pound in my chest and fear rose.  Logically I reasoned
> she was sleeping on the couch because she did that sometimes if
> she began coughing in the night.  Knowing that had been it, I lay
> back down and tried to go back to sleep.  My body trembled from
> the fear that now was all around me and seemed to be inside of me
> as well.  I pushed at it and tried to force it down.  I struggled
> against the urge to get up and to go out and see if she was on the
> couch or sitting up in the recliner so she could breathe better.
> I forced myself not to move.  I had to win, mentally win, this
> battle but I somehow knew it would only get worse as time went by.
>
>     I had been sleeping even more poorly since my wife's cancer
> treatments had stopped.  She was well and all her blood tests
> showed she was progressively getting better.  She had been doing
> well for several months now, too.  I, on the other hand, was doing
> worse.  That, in itself, was puzzling.  During the year long
> treatment of interferon shots three times a week, I felt confident
> and had slept well nearly every night.  Now, for months, I had
> been waking up every single night and multiple times each night.
> This time, however, was the first I had awakened with the cold
> fear of anxiety washing over me.
>
>     I had become acquainted with anxiety attacks many years
> earlier when the church folded that I was pastoring.    I decided
> then that I had failed the one thing in life I wanted more than
> anything else.  So if I had failed, I reasoned with a little
> demonic help, well, with a lot of demonic help, then I failed my
> wife and my family and others, too.  I had no job now, after all,
> I reasoned, and since I had failed, well, God probably wasn't
> going to help me out any longer.  More demonic suggestiveness.
> So, that must mean, therefore, I had failed God.  Being a failure
> yourself is one thing but failing God?  That's a biggy, folks.
> You can't survive much longer once you've failed God.  Additional
> demonic influence on that one, too.  Yes, you could say that I
> became somewhat suicidal.  Demons love encouraging Christians to
> kill themselves because it is the only way they can once and for
> all stop you from living out God's perfect will for your life.
> They know you are going to Heaven even if, by this point, you
> doubt it yourself.  However, the real demonic plan isn't death but
> it is to totally complicate your life so you hardly know your own
> name.  This way you can make your own life miserable and if they
> have their way, they will be able to influence everybody who is
> around you as well.
>
>     When you generate enough courage to counsel with your pastor
> or his wife, and this assumes you haven't been burned before along
> these lines in some church some where, the enemy is delighted with
> your decision.  Why?  Well, this way, as you lay out your heart's
> deepest feelings, which is another way of saying you are dumping
> your garbage out for someone to inspect, this will give the
> pastor, and or his wife, something to think about.  If they were
> honest, they would tell you, they have the same fears and doubts
> and worries and concerns as you do.  Chances are pretty good,
> though, they won't be admitting to any such thing.  In which
> case, they will take the other avenue of counseling techniques and
> that is, they will tell you that you just haven't been thinking
> right.  They may whip out a list of bible verses for you to
> memorize, or perhaps read, several times each day.  Not a bad idea
> in itself, of course, but your problem, although you don't know it
> at the time, doesn't have anything to do with your lack of
> interest in the Bible.  So you take the verses home and follow the
> instructions.
>
>     For awhile it appears to help but the stupid voices haven't
> gone away so something isn't right and you go back for more
> counseling.
>
>     In this session, you admit you are having what the
> professionals call anxiety episodes.  You don't want to refer to
> them as panic attacks yet because somehow panic attacks sounds
> much worse than anxiety attacks.  You read somewhere about anxiety
> episodes and that even sounds less ominous as anxiety attacks so
> you opt out and use the lesser of two evils, sort of speak, and
> call how you feel, anxiety episodes.  Your pastor knows what
> anxiety is, it's fear, so he turns to his laptop computer, dials
> up a list of verses on fear, flips on the printer, and runs off a
> copy and hands it to you.
>
>     Because the pastor has been experiencing fear himself,
> although he would never call it anxiety, he has just finished
> reading a book on fear by some well known Christian author.  He
> hands the book to you.  You thumb through the book as the pastor
> talks and looking at the author's name, you realize you've never
> even heard of the guy.  No matter.  The pastor says he is well
> known so surely the author must be.
>
>     Your instructions are as follows.  Keep reading and
> memorizing the verses from the first time and add this new list to
> the original list.  Then read the book on fear.  It is probably
> called something like, Victory Over Fear, Freedom From Fear, Fear
> Not, Facts On Fear, Living Without Fear, How to Cope with Fear,
> Fear; The Opposite of Faith, or Things All Christians Should Know
> About Fear.  I don't know if any of those titles are real or not;
> I just made them up as I went along.  Anyhow, back to your
> instructions for successful Christian living.  Read the Bible
> Verses, read the book, read your Bible every single day, and never
> miss any church services.  Oh, yes, and don't forget to pray.  You
> feel it a waste of time to point out that you read your bible and
> pray every day already, not to mention that you are a faithful
> church member and haven't missed any services for years.
>
>     Going home, you follow the instructions.  Sure enough, it
> works, for awhile.  You are still miserable and frightened and
> fearful and lonely even though you have six kids and your life is
> busy from the crack of dawn till midnight every night but somehow
> the exercises, the Christian exercises that is, helps and you
> don't feel as bad about feeling miserable and frightened and
> fearful and lonely as you thought you did.
>
>     When another anxiety episode awakens you in the middle of the
> night and your heart is pounding so hard, you can hardly breathe,
> you figure something is still wrong so the next morning you call
> and make another appointment.
>
>     In the third session, the pastor congratulates you for all
> the progress you have been making.  When you say you don't
> understand because you still feel as lousy as you did before,
> maybe even worse, he says, "Well, you haven't missed a single
> service, I noticed.  Did you read the book?"  Your reply, at
> first, is that you have indeed been reading your Bible every
> single day just as you've been instructed.  "No, no," the pastor
> says, "I mean, have you read the book I loaned you on fear?"
>
>     "Oh," you say, "why, yes.  I've read it three times."
>
>     the pastor says, "You didn't happen to bring it with you, did
> you?"
>
>     You did, in fact, bring it with you and you hand over the
> book to him.
>
>     ""Good," he responds, "very good.  I'm sure you've learned
> much more from the book than anything I could ever tell you so
> what can I do for you today."
>
>     so you describe how your days have been and the recent
> experience of being awakened in the night with cold,
> unadulterated, raw, freezing fear.  His eyebrows nearly touch in
> concentration and a puzzled look clouds his face.  He drums his
> fingers silently on the well polished desk he is seated behind and
> then says softly, "Hum.  That's strange.  I wonder..." and his
> voice trails off.  You sit quietly and wait.  Finally, the
> silence is becoming uncomfortable and you, as casually as
> possible, try and hint around about hearing voices."
>
>     "Voices!" the pastor booms; as though he was shot from a
> canon.  "What sort of voices?  You mean just thoughts you think in
> your own mind, don't you?"
>
>     "Well, no," you say, hesitantly; trying to figure out what
> exactly you should say.  "I guess I mean I hear real voices."
> Then you quickly add, in hopes of softening the confession, "So I
> guess they are thoughts in my mind," but in your heart, you know
> you are hearing voices.
>
>     The silence lengthens between you and the finger drumming by
> the pastor is now continuous as he thinks about what you've said.
> He is stumped because the only thing that comes to mind,
> Biblically speaking, when it comes to hearing voices, seems to be
> something about demons.  He hasn't read any books on demons, well,
> none with which he agrees, and besides, he knows from the one
> semester of psychology in seminary that people who hear voices
> need professional treatment.  Finally the pastor says, "Have you,
> by any chance, spoken with your medical doctor about this?"
>
>     "Oh, my, no," you reply.  I'm afraid he might think I am
> crazy."
>
>     this is, of course, exactly what your pastor is thinking,
> too, but he doesn't think it is wise to say so at the moment.  He
> concludes the session with a strong suggestion that you indeed see
> your family doctor and tell him that you are hearing voices.  He
> assures you that he and his wife are praying for you and to keep
> him informed.  This sounds somewhat final to you but then you are
> already feeling paranoid enough the way it is so you dismiss it as
> just one more thing wrong with you.
>
>     A week later you've been to the doctor and now have a few
> pills to swallow each day.  Your doctor informs you that some of
> the pills take a minimum of three to four weeks to begin to take
> effect and that to really get a good idea if they are working or
> not, three months is better.  You are thinking to yourself, how
> am I going to last another three months like this.  So you mention
> the anxiety episodes.  He assures you, the prescription covers
> that but again reminds you of the three months.  He quickly adds,
> however, that three to four weeks is the minimum.  You think about
> mentioning the voices but that generates a wave of fear so you,
> instead, explain you aren't sleeping very well and keep waking up
> during the night.  In fact, you find it almost impossible to even
> fall to sleep and once you do, you are lucky if you sleep for an
> hour before awaking.  The doctor asks a couple of questions and
> then scribbles another prescription and says, "Take one of these
> at bed time every night.  If one doesn't work after a few nights
> of trying them, take two before bed time.  However, do not take
> more than two."  You take the small piece of paper and put it with
> the others he has given you and he instructs you to make an
> appointment for a month from now to come back to tell him how it
> is going.  You really want to tell him about hearing voices before
> leaving but under the circumstances, perhaps you should wait and
> see what the medications can do for you.
>
>     To your amazement, the pills seem to be working, and to think
> you didn't even have to believe in them for them to work, too.  In
> fact, after the first one, you swear you felt better.  At least
> now you have been doing something about your condition.  You have
> taken up calling it a "condition" now because those with whom you
> have spoken about your problems have called it that so that sounds
> like it is ok to use that term.  You worry, however, that you are
> feeling better simply because you feel as if you are doing
> something about your condition and there is that measure of doubt
> that the pills haven't had time to start working as the doctor
> said.
>
>     time passes and nothing different seems to happen.  You've
> taken on helping out as a Sunday school helper and you even ride
> on the Sunday school bus to help out with keeping the
> children occupied to and from the church.
>
>     One day, as you are peeling potatoes at the kitchen sink,
> your oldest daughter, a girl of sixteen, comes home one day with a
> tattoo of a butterfly.  At least you think its a butterfly but it
> looks more like a bat instead of a butterfly.  You never would
> have noticed it because it is normally where she wears her watch
> but she had taken her watch off to wash her hands at the kitchen
> sink.  You dropped the potato peeler right into the sink when you
> saw it and demanded to know where that came from while pointing at
> it with your quivering index finger.  You are informed that it is
> her own body and she can do whatever she wants with her own body.
> If you don't like it, you are told, you can take it up with the
> ACLU.  This pronouncement alarms you more than the tattoo because
> of the ominous tone of your daughters voice.  You and your husband
> gave up spanking years ago after reading a couple of good books on
> the subject of child behavior but you wonder if your husband might
> change his mind when he gets home.
>
>     In the ensuing argument that occurs when dad gets home and
> sees it for himself, all hell breaks loose.  "I don't have to take
> this," your daughter screams louder than anybody has ever heard
> her before, and when she cuts loose with three or four swear
> words, the show is over because your husband bans her to her
> room.
>
>     That night you take three sleeping pills, instead of the
> prescribed two, but they don't even work at all and you are awake
> nearly the entire night; sick with worry and concern.
>
>     It's Sunday and you decide this Sunday you are going to go
> forward during the altar call and ask for prayer.  To your
> amazement, the sermon is on faith.  You brighten a little because
> maybe this is exactly what you need.
>
>     The tears come to your eyes as the sermon progresses because
> somehow the subject of not trusting the Lord with your problems
> and depending upon medications to meet your needs becomes the
> focal point of the entire sermon.  You cry for your daughter who
> has run away.  You found her at a friend's house and her parents
> say it is alright for her to stay for a few days until things get
> worked out.  You cry for your husband who doesn't know what to do
> for the first time in his life.  Plus, he came home from work
> Friday and announced he had been told that the company might close
> down within six months and he will be without a job.  You cry for
> yourself, too, because you aren't the Christian you want to be and
> nothing, not even the Bible, is working for you now.  You've read
> at least 50 Christian books in the last few months and some of
> them you read two and three times.  They didn't help either.
>
>     You stumble forward in your grief to the front, someone
> prays for you but you can't even remember the words.  Life somehow
> just doesn't seem worth it any more.  You leave the church feeling
> even worse than when you came and feeling that nobody cares.
>
>     Since your husband has lost his job, you don't have the money
> needed for the counseling so you ask your parents for a loan.
> Your parents have come to stay with the children as you and your
> husband drive the 1200 miles to a large Christian counseling
> ministry, which has a national radio program, where you will spend
> a week.  This is your last hope.  If this doesn't work, you aren't
> sure what is going to happen.  Your husband has become as
> depressed and disturbed as you by this point and he, too, is on
> medication.  Your family insurance ran out last week so neither of
> you know what you are going to do to pay for the medications
> because there is no way you can afford buying them without your
> insurance coverage.  Your husband doesn't talk any more and the
> entire 1200 mile trip is done in silence.  No one has seen or
> heard from your daughter since she ran away for the second time.
> The only thing that has kept you out of the hospital is the
> knowledge you have no insurance coverage any more.  Crying doesn't
> even help relieve any of the stress and pressure as it once did.
> As the car moves down the highway, you ponder if you should admit
> to these counselors about the voices in your thoughts.
>
>     Arriving home, your parents anxiously ask if any good came
> from your trip.  "They told me I was manic depressant and to keep
> taking my medications," you reply with weariness clearly in your
> voice.
>
>     "But the pills haven't been doing you any good," your mother
> says with some alarm to her voice.
>
>     "I know it mother; I know it."
>
>     "What about Bill?" your father asks.  "What did they say
> about him?"
>
>     "They just said he was depressed about losing his job and if
> he gets another job, he'll snap out of it."
>
>     "Another job!" your father replies.  The plant was the
> highest paying job in the county."  "I don't mean to be negative,
> Honey, but he'll never make that much money again; not in this
> town anyway."
>
>     "I know it, dad," you reply.  "We'll both have to go to work
> or something."
>
>     "but what about your marriage?" your mother says; concern
> strong in her voice.
>
>     You don't answer because you don't know what to say.
>
>     When your husband has his first heart attack, the panic
> attacks begin.
>
>     This story is common among Christians today.  Some find help
> but most do not.  In my case, if I had gone to my pastor with what
> I was facing, he would not have been able to touch my problems
> with a ten foot pole nor would he have wanted to address them in
> any way, shape, or form.  Why?  Because my problems would have
> not only stirred up similar emotional woundedness in his own life
> but he would have had no idea of how to work with what I was
> facing.  Additionally, I had a fair amount of demonic activity in
> my thoughts.  My pastor only knew that you should pray and cast
> them out.  If they didn't go, well, then, this was a case for the
> medical profession because you weren't demonized; you were
> mentally ill.  This attitude among Bible Believers is incredibly
> sad.  The very people that should be able to help the most, are
> those who only seem able to do the least for those who need it the
> most.
>
>     What is the difference between anxiety attacks and panic
> attacks?  Do you want a clinical explanation or a personal?  Here
> is a Phil Scovell personal explanation.
>
>     Severity for starters indicates the difference between forms
> of anxiety and panic.  Anxiety can be mild and is general in
> response to things historical, current, or futuristic.  For
> example, my father died when I was eleven years old.  I thought,
> throughout my entire life, I had passed through that experience
> with minimal drag on my spiritual life.  I was fifty years of age
> before I discovered how wrong I had been.  That, I learned, was
> one of many historical events where woundedness occurred which, in
> later years, created pain that seemed to have no origin.
>
>     Current events quickly translate into futuristic concerns and
> worries.  For example, If you missed paying your rent or house or
> car payment one month but got it caught up, then the next month,
> when the bill comes due, it isn't uncommon to experience some
> level of fear.  If the current event is traumatic or protracted,
> that is, repetitive in nature, even when the problem goes away,
> the past can come back to afflict you.  In this example of not
> being able to make a rent or house or car payment, thirty years
> later, even after many years of success and financial blessings,
> you may write a check some day to pay a mortgage payment and all
> of the sudden, from nowhere, you break out into a cold clammy fear
> and you have no idea why.  You have forgotten the original event
> from many years ago but your emotions have not forgotten how they
> felt.
>
>     Fear is anxiety.  This is best explained by someone who has
> had a heart attack.  The anniversary date of the original heart
> attack often produces a degree of anxiety.  "Will it happen again?
> Will I die this time?  What if I'm alone when it happens?  Will I
> be able to call for help?"  Anxiety always produces questions we
> cannot answer.  It is used by the enemy to take us away from daily
> Lordship and to invalidate His eternal Words of promise.
> "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that
> pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that
> hath called us to glory and virtue:  Whereby are given unto us
> exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be
> partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that
> is in the world through lust," (2 Peter 1:3-4).
>
>     Futuristic anxiety is quite simple.  You attempt projecting
> into the future and you say, "I'll never make it that far."  Why?
> "I've tried it before and failed."  That particular trail always,
> absolutely always, has an origin which is easily healed by the
> True Lord Jesus Christ through intercessory prayer.  Why is it
> easily healed?  Because the origin is always a lie.
>
>     Increased levels of anxiety can produce all sorts of
> problems.  A very identifiable characteristic of severe anxiety is
> not being able to project into the future.  This means, we simply
> look forward, and what used to be nothing more than a challenge,
> now becomes not only impossible, but totally hopeless and
> desperate.  The fear level has just jumped to the top of the
> scale.  If allowed to continue, the body will naturally respond.
> Respond how?  You name it.  Headaches, poor sleeping habits,
> nightmares, back aches, heart conditions, and just about any
> physical ailment you might name, including hearing voices.
>
>     The voices normally begin by taking on the form of
> suggestiveness.  "You aren't good enough.  If you were a better
> person, this wouldn't be happening.  If you were a more spiritual
> Christian, you wouldn't have these symptoms.  You were born this
> way so nothing can ever be done about it."  These are all lies
> implanted by the enemy but we never recognize them as such.  In
> fact, we normally are deceived to the point that we believe the
> thoughts we are having are the real truth about us.  Even when the
> suggestive thoughts take on the form of audibility, and sometimes
> definite persona, we still refuse to identify them for what they
> really are.  Yes, doctors can proscribed medications for just
> about everything.  Will they work?  Yes, for the most part, they
> can help.  They cannot cure the real pain, however, because the
> source of the pain cannot be targeted by medication; the symptoms
> of the pain alone can be treated with pharmaceuticals.
>
>     How many people experience various forms of anxiety?
> Certainly not Christians, do they?  If you sit down and make a
> list of everyone you know, and I mean everyone, and if you could
> call each of these people and get them to be honest, they would
> all have to admit various levels of anxiety in their life.  Then
> why don't we deal with it as a church?  People, and this includes
> pastors, missionaries, Sunday school teachers, deacons, elders,
> ushers, youth pastors, assistant pastors, Christian school
> teachers, and anybody else you can name in church ministry, have
> their own anxieties stirred up whenever dealing with someone who
> has come for prayer, or healing, related to anxiety.  So, you can
> see how reluctant people are when it comes to assisting others.
> In short, they don't want their own emotional feelings of anxiety
> stirred up.  This forces those of us facing such things in our
> life to turn to our own medical doctor in our desperation, and to
> radio and television ministries that make us feel better, and to
> books authored by those who can accomplish a level of well being
> even if it is temporary.  Something is better than nothing when it
> comes to the one suffering from acute anxiety and depression.
>
>     Medically speaking, anxiety is treated by tranquillizing the
> patient, or in some cases, antianxiety drugs may be recommended.
> Such antidepressant and antianxiety drugs deal with attempting to
> balance serotonin levels in the brain.  In other words, the
> doctor assumes there is a chemical imbalance in the brain causing
> the anxiety.  If more severe levels of anxiety and panic are
> experienced over prolonged periods of time, such a chemical
> imbalance is very likely.  If emotional healing, on the other
> hand, is experience through intercessory prayer, the chemical
> imbalance will not occur or if it already has, it will assist in
> reducing and correcting the imbalance simply by removing the cause
> of the fear.
>
>     Let's talk about panic attacks.  Are they different than
> anxiety attacks and if so, how?  Frankly, although the psychiatric
> community may define them somehow differently, the truth is, they
> are the same.  The big difference is simply the intensity.
>     Anxiety can be prolonged by focusing on what one thinks might
> happen.  For example, if your mom might die in the next five to
> ten years, although she could live even longer, anxiety says, "She
> is going to die tomorrow or the next day and you aren't ready for
> that."  On the surface, panic displays no such origin of thought.
>
>     Panic can occur out of the clear blue for no reason, at
> least, no reason you are aware of consciously.  Panic attacks
> often display much more severe physical attributes.  I know people
> who have had such violent panic attacks, they would stop breathing
> and pass out from the generated fear.  Some people report they
> feel as if hands are choking their throat.  I have, for example,
> had that one happen to me and believe me, it is scary when it
> happens.  One anxiety attack I had was so severe, I felt as if a
> huge wide belt had wrapped around my body at chest level and was
> literally squeezing the life out of me.  I got some help during
> that attack and without that help, I honestly believe it would
> have escalated into something  severe.
>
>     People having panic attacks can forget their name, address,
> or where they live.  They can become paralyzed, unable to move,
> due to the power of the fear they are facing.  Panic attacks can
> generate powerful heart palpitations until you think your heart is
> literally going to explode.  Your speech can become slurred, your
> skin clammy, or you may suddenly become freezing cold or burning
> hot.  Your hearing may go haywire and normal sounds may change to
> something totally abnormal.  vision may blur and disorientation
> and dizziness are quite common.  These are also just the tip of
> the iceberg when it comes to severe panic attacks.  It is even
> somewhat common for panic attack cases to become agoraphobic.
> This is basically a fear of being outdoors.  The reasoning is, if
> I stay inside, nothing will happen to me.  This is a lie, of
> course, because the panic doesn't go away on its own even by
> remaining indoors.
>
>     As with anxiety, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, bipolar
> disorder, anorexia, bulimia, OCD, Dissociative Identity Disorder,
> Tourette Syndrome, panic disorders, and just about anything else
> you want to name, there will always be an origin.  If the enemy is
> involved, he likewise may have implanted a lie in the original
> event which is the cause of the level of fear one is suffering.
>
>     Strange as it may seem, what is happening at the moment with
> anxiety or panic attacks, most likely have very little to do with
> the current event.  The anxiety or panic is often, but not always,
> a direct result of an implanted lie by the enemy.  It could be a
> lie planted last week, last month, a year ago, or dozens of years
> ago.  Many lies are most easily planted during childhood because
> the child does not have the ability to process the information
> without assistance.  An adult, on the other hand, would recognize
> it as a lie immediately.  Unfortunately, even an adult may indeed
> believe the lie, due to the deceptive power the enemy possesses,
> and the process becomes complete, (I.E.  the person is trapped).
>
>     Something easily overlooked with any disorder or syndrome is
> the pain being suffered.  What we are experiencing externally is
> only a covering, a mask, or a shield to keep others from seeing
> the true pain being suffered deep inside.  Anger, for example, is
> an excellent shield that most of us use.  Anger wards off anyone
> from probing too deeply into our personal life.  Most people,
> unless called to intercessory prayer ministry, will immediately
> back away from any displayed anger.  Thus, the person suffering
> deep pain from some emotional trauma is unhelped.
>
>     Pain is also often masked by pride.  You will never find a
> person with the issue of pride without there being a painful event
> which has not been uncovered.  Sometimes, unfortunately, we
> identify egotism, arrogance, and conceit, as desirable character
> traits.  If not desirable, secretly admired because we think it is
> the outcome of a strong will to succeed.  Sometimes even self
> control and self esteem are actual demonstrations of pride in
> order that something can be left uncovered and undiscovered in a
> person's life.
>
> When our emotions become destabilized it doesn't mean we are
> mentally ill or emotionally ill; it means we spiritually need
> repair through the renewing of the mind.  This is easily
> accomplished through the ministry of intercessory prayer.  The
> problem eventually becomes some form of manifested fear.  Fear
> helps protect the pain.  Why?  Because pain hurts and nobody wants
> to suffer pain.  The only way, however, for the symptoms to be
> alleviated and removed totally, is through the healing power of
> the True Lord Jesus Christ and the ministry of intercessory
> prayer used as a tool.  Can it be done on your own?  Of course.  I
> have done it dozens of times.  If, however, the symptoms do not
> atrophy, you will need someone to pray with you in order that the
> power of agreement can be applied.  "See Matthew 18:19).
>
>     Finally, the greatest need in the church today, in my
> opinion, is accountability.  No other verse in the Bible so
> graphically illustrates this than Ephesians 5:21: Submitting
> yourselves one to another in the fear of God.  This verse is in
> the context of maintaining the Spirit filled life.  Yet, in my
> experience, this form of accountability is rarely available in
> most churches today.  Keep in mind that I am not referring to
> calling your pastor or an elder or someone in the church to pray
> for you when facing a problem because that should be a natural
> outcome of inner church relationships.  If it isn't, your church
> is spiritually dead regardless of the attendance, music, drama
> plays, Christmas programs, evangelistic outreach, radio and
> television ministries, membership roles, invited guest speakers,
> or the number of missionaries the church supports.  Why?  Because
> every local New Testament church has its first priority to its own
> people.  If it doesn't, the church is dead or dying.  For proof of
> this statement, read the New Testament once and see if it doesn't
> clearly teach this form of personal accountability in the church.
>
>     I have already mentioned one example of what accountability
> is not.  Perhaps I should expand upon this in order to explain
> what accountability is.  Accountability is not going forward after
> a service and requesting prayer.  Accountability is not how good
> of friends you become with the pastor and his wife.  It is not how
> much money you give, how many services a week you attend, and it
> is not the office you may hold in the church.
>
>     Accountability begins, and is propagated, on a one-to-one
> bases.  Group sessions can be employed as well but most find it
> easier to be accountable to another individually than
> collectively.
>
>     What kind of a relationship is accountability?  Simply, it is
> truth between two people.  Yes, it can be things you share between
> you and your pastor or his wife.  It can be things shared between
> you and a Christian counselor.  It works best, however, between
> people who care for each other and have established a friendship.
> It is conducted in the "fear of God."  This implies respect of
> confidentiality.  Such accountability goes deep and personal but
> most importantly, by those trained in intercessory prayer, it goes
> to the depth of healing that only the True Lord Jesus Christ can
> do.  Sunday morning altar calls are nothing more than temporary
> fixes yet I am not suggesting we for sake them.  I am suggesting
> we experience healing for ourself first and then learn how to
> become intercessors in order to minister to other hurting people.
>
>     Where do we begin?  We begin and end with prayer but with a
> form of prayer called intercession.  This form of highly focused
> intercessory prayer is a tool used to allow the Lord Jesus to be
> seen and heard in a way which discovers the darkness by employing
> the light of His eternal Word.  When Jesus, therefore, speaks the
> truth, we are set free and our lives change.  The result of this
> freedom is a maintenance free walk with the Lord.
>
>     Jesus said, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy
> laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn
> of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest
> unto your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light,"
> (Matthew  11:28-30).
>
>     Several years ago, I was working in my office in my home.  I
> was praying silently to myself as I worked duplicating cassette
> tapes for churches.  Well, some might call what I was doing
> complaining but it was really prayer; there is no doubt about
> that.  I was telling the Lord how heavy my own burdens were and
> that I just couldn't carry them any longer.  I demanded, well,
> recommended, but it sounded like demanding even to myself, He drop
> everything and do something about it.  I very clearly heard the
> Holy Spirit speak in my thoughts.  "If your burdens are that
> heavy, then you are carrying something other than that of the
> Lord's because His are light."  Quite simply, therefore, if your
> pain is so deep, and your fear is so strong, and your confusion is
> too acute, it isn't the Lord's doing.  The problem then becomes,
> how do I get help.  You just found it.  Call the intercessory
> prayer line below and make a telephone appointment for your first
> prayer session.  It's free.
>
> Phone:  303-507-5175
> Mountain Time Zone
>