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