War XV - Healing Prayer Encounter - War: Satan, Demons & the Fourth Dimension

It's time now for the rope.

There's another group of people who quite likely think about you at all.

You think they're thinking about you, but the truth is they don't.

And then there's a really, really small group of people who would just be thrilled to hear that you fell flat on your face.

But here's the thing.

I don't change my behavior to affect any of those relationships.

Because if I do, I become dysfunctional.

Welcome to another edition of The Road.

It's our vision to make whole-hearted disciples of Jesus Christ and to see you grow in the grace and knowledge of his love.

If you're in the area, we welcome you to come out and join us for our Saturday night service.

Beginning at 6 p.m., we meet at Chapel Hills Church, located at 2025 Parliament Drive, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80920.

On this edition of the road, we have a special guest speaker, George Sankey.

The Bible tells us in John 1010 that the thief comes to kill, steal, and destroy.

Knowing this, we as believers need to be aware of the enemy's evil schemes as he seeks to destroy our lives.

Today, George will be sharing with us about the transformational healing prayer.

This prayer is a focus time of intense personal ministry under the direction of the Holy Spirit moving through the caregiver, bringing the healing presence of Jesus Christ into the place of pain and brokenness.

Here now with today's message is George Stankey.

As you know, Pastor Steve has been ministering for quite some time on spiritual warfare.

And he was talking about power encounters, truth encounters, and so what I want to talk to you tonight is about a healing prayer encounter.

And healing prayer incorporates both the truth encounter and the power encounter.

And so John 10, 10 says the thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy.

The word steal is klepto.

It means to take away by theft.

But an interesting part of that definition in the Greek is that it's covert.

It's covert in an order not to be detected.

So those of you that have served in the military, can I just see your hands?

There you go, just raise them high.

Okay.

Do you understand what covert is?

You understand what stealth is, right?

See, we have a very real devil.

Those of you that believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, I hope you understand you're involved in spiritual warfare.

There's a very real devil, and there is a target on you.

And the enemy is focused in on that target, and he is trying to do exactly what the scripture says.

He wants to, in a very stealth way, in a very covert way, he wants to steal from you.

And it's amazing how effective he is at doing that.

It says that he also wants to kill, to slaughter, to destroy, to put out of the way entirely, to abolish, to put to an end, to render useless.

I like that piece about to render useless.

Have you ever felt like you've been rendered useless?

It's evidence of the very real spiritual warfare that you face.

Psalms 13 and verse 2, the writer is just pouring out his heart and he says, How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and lay down day after day sorrow in my heart?

How long will my enemy triumph over me?

How long will my enemy triumph over me?

Um, years ago, I I'm wired, and you've you've heard me say this before, I'm wired in such a way that the glass is half full and rising.

That's just my personality.

And so if I have a depressive moment, if it's two hours, three hours, that is like a major, major deal in my life.

But many years ago, after leaving the pastorate, I went into a depression for nine months.

And I tell you what, I experienced John 10 10.

Linda was scared because she had never seen me this way.

I was scared and I didn't even know what I was battling.

I didn't recognize that I was in depression.

I knew that I was struggling.

It got so bad that I actually began to question have I lost my salvation?

Has God actually abandoned me?

I can relate to the psalmist when he says, How long, how long will my enemy triumph over me?

Psalms 116, verses 1 through 4, I love the Lord because he has heard my voice and my supplications, because he has inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call upon him as long as I live.

Psalms 116:1–4

In verse 3, the pains of death surround me.

The pangs of Sheol laid hold of me.

I found trouble and sorrow.

Then I called upon the name of the Lord.

Oh Lord, I implore you, deliver my soul.

Lord, I implore you, deliver my soul.

Transformational healing prayer is about the deliverance of your soul.

It's about breaking the strongholds.

It's about, well, we'll get into that.

Wounds.

These are traumatic events that can take place as early as in the womb.

Do you does that sound crazy to you?

That while you are still in the womb, that there could actually be a traumatic event to take place before you're ever even born?

Well, we know that that's true.

We know that it's true.

Early childhood wounds, adolescent, teen years, adult years.

There is not a person in this sanctuary tonight that has not been wounded.

Now, if that is untrue, would you just be so bold as to stand and say, George, I have never been wounded because I would love you, I would love to know you.

I'd like you to pray for me, maybe give me some wisdom and insight.

But woundedness is a part of human history.

It's a part of life.

Now, here's the thing about spiritual warfare.

The enemy attacks us when we're wounded.

He never ever loses an opportunity.

He never loses an opportunity.

The Webster Dictionary defines a wound as a deeply distressing and disturbing experience, a very difficult and unpleasant experience that causes someone to have mental or emotional problems, usually for a long time, and emotional upset.

Am I speaking to the right crowd tonight?

I see a few heads shaking and a few heads saying, no, no, no, don't go any further.

There are many different kinds of wounds.

Some of these you may be familiar with, type A, not getting a child what is needed.

These are wounds of neglect.

Children need physical touch that is appropriate.

At the youngest age, they need physical touch and they need verbal affirmation, soft voice.

There are things that children need, and when they don't have those things, it wounds them.

Type B, kids getting things that they should not get.

Things that children that shouldn't happen to children.

One of the staffers, one of our female staffers at Focus, has spent almost all of her career working with wounded children, children that have been put in cages.

Cages here in the United States.

You've heard of people that breed dogs and they breed them and they put them in cages and they don't feed them and they become malnourished.

Sometimes they're abused.

Well, you know, there are evil people that do that to kids.

And when I listen to some of the stories, some of the cases that she's addressed, it just almost makes me sick.

The human beings can be so incredibly cruel.

You can be wounded by the things that you should have had that you didn't get.

You can be wounded by things that you got that should never have happened.

Event trauma, car accidents, seeing someone die.

One of the elders of our church died of a massive heart attack.

I went to the hospital.

I got there just shortly after his wife did.

And I had never seen a dead body that wasn't prepared for burial.

And I walked into the emergency room and I'm looking at my friend who is stiff and kind of contorted, and it was traumatizing.

It was traumatizing.

I'd never seen a body that hadn't been prepared for burial before.

Event traumas.

Being laid off can be an event trauma.

Divorce.

All kinds of traumas that can come from events.

Betrayal trauma.

Abuse of power.

When you feel betrayed, someone that you've trusted, it could have been a pastor, it could have been a spouse, could have been, I think, of uh a case where a coach, a person in a position of power, in a position of authority, sexually touching some of the boys.

That's traumatic.

And again, the enemy never ever loses an opportunity.

He's looking for ways to snag us, he's looking for ways to attach to us misbeliefs and lies, and they come through trauma.

False beliefs, John 8.44, the last half of the verse on the amplified reads this way: For he is a liar himself, and he is the father of lies and of all that is false.

All that is false.

When there is a wound that takes place, you've heard the scripture about those fiery darts, you know, those flaming arrows.

You know, there's a wound, you you're in a situation, something's traumatized you, and the enemy is there, and he's pulling back his bow and he's taking aim and he's letting that arrow fly so that it attaches itself to you, and you begin to believe that the lie is actually the truth.

I have always loved my father, and those of you that have heard me before have probably heard this story.

I've always loved my dad, but have never had a healthy relationship with him.

He was emotionally abusive, he was verbally abusive, and at times he was physically abusive.

And I heard these words so many times growing up as a kid.

When are you going to use your head for something besides a hat rack?

Interpretation of a little guy, why are you so stupid?

When are you going to stop being so stupid?

And I believed that.

And I took that lie all the way up into my adulthood, all the way up into my marriage, and I remember, and this just happened several years ago.

I mean, I'm now 64, coming up on 65, and some of those lies hang on for an awfully long time, and I don't remember what I was doing.

I was doing something and it wasn't working the way it was supposed to work.

And Linda heard me say, You are so stupid.

And she looked at me and she challenged me, thank you.

And she said, Why do you speak to yourself that way?

And it just stopped me in my tracks, and it's like, why do I do that?

Why do I, with my own words, validate the lie of the enemy?

And that was a turning point for me.

And I had to go before the Lord and say, God, I am not a stupid person.

And I am not going to validate those lies anymore out of my own mouth.

Is that making sense?

Some of you do that.

Some of you do that.

This is where the lies of the enemy are sown into the heart and the mind like I don't deserve.

I'm not good enough.

I have to.

I can't be.

No one can be trusted.

I mean, there's hundreds, thousands of different kinds of lies, and you're thinking of some of the ones that have attached themselves to you.

These false beliefs, these lies, impact how we feel about ourselves.

They impact what we think about ourselves, and they change our behavior.

When we believe the lies of the enemy, it changes our behavior.

There is an emotional upheaval.

An emotional upheaval can be considered, it's any unexpected surge of emotion that causes significant psychological distress for an individual.

Most people consider emotional upheavals to be directly related to past experiences of trauma, repressed emotions and or mental illness.

They can also be provoked as a result of unexpected lifestyle changes, such as a divorce, and may be associated with nervous breakdowns.

Emotional upheavals, a wound, false beliefs, and now something's happening to me personally.

Here are some symptoms of emotional upheaval, anger.

You may become increasingly angry and have a difficult time controlling your angry response.

You may snap at family members, friends, and other acquaintances because you don't know how to cope with the surge.

You don't know how to cope with the surge of emotion.

When I came to know the Lord, he broke all the addictive behaviors.

I mean, it was a glorious transformation.

No more drugs, no more alcohol, no more sex outside of marriage, no more pornography, no more chronic masturbation.

I mean, he broke all the addictive behaviors, but I had major issues with anger.

Major issues with anger and personal integrity.

And something would happen.

There would be this emotional upheaval, and the only way I can describe it, it's like I would blackout, tear things up, destroy things, and then all of a sudden come to and look at the devastation.

Those days are gone.

Anxiety.

The anxiety felt during upheaval may be intense and unforgiving.

You may feel a sense of fear about the future as well as fear about your current situation.

The anxiety may become so bad that you almost feel like you're gonna pass out.

Apathy.

Sometimes it may seem as if the upheaval will never end and you will be trapped in the emotional pain for an eternity.

Depression, dizziness, hatred, hopelessness, hyperventilation, hysteria, loss of control, screaming, shaking, stomach and knots, suicidal thoughts.

There's all different kinds of upheavals.

And again, there's not a person in this room that hasn't experienced one or more of those on a pretty regular basis.

Dysfunctional behavior.

We have the wound, the enemy takes advantage, sows those false beliefs and lies into us.

We believe them, we validate them, it affects our emotions and ultimately affects our behavior.

The term dysfunctional is defined as abnormal or impaired functioning on the part of an individual person between people in relationship or amongst family members.

Poor functioning refers to both behavior and relationships that aren't working and have one or more negative, unhealthy aspects to them, such as poor communication and frequent conflict.

Now, I was told years ago when I went into the ministry that this is what makes for a good sermon.

You can step on their toes, but you never mess up the shine.

I know I'm stepping on toes.

I pray I'm not messing up the shine.

But dysfunctional behavior, I mean, really, is there anyone in the audience tonight that hasn't experienced that?

I'd love to talk to you because you're an anomaly.

Everyone has experienced dysfunctional behavior.

And I've got a client in my office, he's married.

Thankfully, his wife decided to join him.

He was in Colorado, she was in Florida, and she graciously moved up and agreed to work on the marriage.

And the first time I'm sitting with this guy in my office, number one, he doesn't communicate.

When he does communicate, it's kind of nonsensical and almost offensive.

I mean, he is incredibly, incredibly brilliant.

Has to be for the kind of work that he does.

But his dysfunction in communication is off the chart.

He's better now, I'm glad to say.

He's much better now.

An example of this really would be King Saul.

So King Saul, if you read 1 Samuel verses 13 through 28, here's what you're gonna find.

He was impulsive and he was disobedient.

He was really kind of narcissistic.

He really was.

He was rebellious, he was jealous, he became vexed with demons, he pursued David relentlessly.

I will kill this man with jealousy.

He becomes so deluded and dysfunctional that he actually violates so many scriptures.

He goes to a witch, the witch of Indore, to see if she can conjure up the dead because he has a question that he needs an answer to.

That's how far gone he goes.

But then in battle, he begs for one of his fellow soldiers to take his life, and he says, There's no way I can raise my hand against the king.

And so he takes his sword and he commits suicide.

King Saul is an example of everything I'm telling you tonight.

Here are a few dysfunctional behaviors that are mentioned in Scripture.

It's always a good thing to bring the Word of God into a message, don't you think?

Okay, thank you for that, Amen.

I appreciate that.

Galatians 5, 19 through 21 immorality, impurity, indecency, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, divisions, that party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing.

Those are dysfunctional behaviors.

Ephesians 4 25 through 35.

Lying, sinful anger, stealing, unwholesome talk, bitterness, rage, fighting, slander, and any and every form of malice.

Those are dysfunctional behaviors that you can trace all the way back to false beliefs that you can trace all the way back to woundedness.

Here's a few that I've observed.

Withdrawing affection or assistance is a form of punishment.

I'm mad at you, no sex.

That's called dysfunctional behavior.

I'm mad at you at work, I'm part of the team, you need my information.

Guess what?

I'm just gonna let you burn.

Taking undue credit to yourself at the expense of others.

It was a team effort, but I'm gonna put my fourth, myself forth, and I'm gonna get all the credit and never say anything about my team that really did make it happen.

That's dysfunctional behavior.

Deliberately misrepresenting another person's actions or positions, engaging in bigoted behavior, that's a pet peeve for me.

I I do not begin to understand prejudice.

Refusing to establish boundaries when they need to be established.

That is dysfunctional behavior.

Failing to maintain confidentiality.

You know, prayer meetings can turn into gossip sessions so easy.

Now, I never ever promise blanket confidentiality.

I never do because I'm a mandated reporter.

But unless I absolutely have to tell another person, I guarantee you I will keep your secret.

Because to not do that is dysfunctional.

Abusive behavior.

There's The Angry Men and the Women Who Love Them is a very excellent book.

And if my memory serves me correctly, he outlines 21 specific types of abuse.

I never knew there was so much abuse until I read that book.

Goodness gracious.

Emotional, verbal, physical, sexual, spiritual, financial, just to mention a few.

Addictive behaviors.

Obviously, we get that.

Drugs, alcohol, gambling, gaming, pornography, etc.

Refusing to take responsibility for your own words and actions, always minimizing, always blaming somebody else.

Well, you know, I know what I did was wrong, but you wronged me first.

That's dysfunctional behavior, people.

Perfectionism, compulsion, criticism of a compulsive criticism of yourself or of other people.

Good is never good enough.

That is dysfunctional behavior.

Compulsive, overpromising, and underperforming.

It's called people pleasing.

Do you understand that getting trapped in pleasing people is dysfunctional?

I live for an audience of one, and I understand that as I live for an audience of one, that there are people that fall into various categories.

Now, most of the people I know are glad I live for Jesus.

There are some people that look at me and have said to me, to my face, I don't believe anybody can be as up and as happy as you are all the time.

I think you're a fraud.

I've had people tell me that, Christian people that love the Lord.

There's another group of people who, quite frankly, they don't think about you at all.

You think they're thinking about you, but the truth is, eh, they don't.

And then there's a really, really small group of people who would just be thrilled to hear that you fell flat on your face.

Now here's the thing: I don't change my behavior to affect any of those relationships.

Because if I do, I become dysfunctional.

I live my life to please Jesus.

I hope that makes you happy.

And if it doesn't, you really need to take it to God because I'm not going to change.

I have my own dysfunctions.

I don't want to add another one.

You get the picture.

Isolating yourself.

Isolation is dysfunctional.

Now, isolation happens.

When I was going through my time of depression, I was dysfunctional in so many ways, so many ways.

I know how long the preacher's going to speak, and I know where the door is, and I know exactly how long it's going to take to gather up my wife and gather up my kids and get in my car and get out of the parking lot so you don't have time to come up and say, George, how are you doing?

Because I don't want you to ask me that question.

And I don't want to have to answer that question.

I am well acquainted with dysfunctional behavior.

Moving right along, the life situation.

Now we have another therapist here in our group, and I've discovered that several of you have degrees in therapy, which I did not know.

You seek out a counselor when there is a life situation that is dysfunctional.

I've just discovered my husband's looking at pornography.

I've just discovered that my wife, who I thought was taking care of our finances, hasn't paid the bills in six months, and we just got a notice in the mail that they're going to repossess our home.

I mean, there's all kinds of reasons.

You know, we just discovered that our son is being bullied at school and now he's cutting himself.

There's all kinds of life situations that are filled with dysfunction that cause you to pick up the phone and say, hello, I'm looking for a therapist.

How much do you charge?

And do you work with my insurance company?

Isn't that true?

But here's the thing.

I am a biblical counselor.

Here's what that means.

I recognize that the Holy Spirit is the therapist and that I am the apprentice.

And I'm not ashamed to tell you that I haven't graduated yet.

But I will always be an apprentice.

And I will always do the best that I know how to do to allow the Holy Spirit to do what only He can do.

Because here's what the Holy Spirit does: He prohibits me from focusing on the life situation.

He prohibits me from focusing on the dysfunctional behavior.

He enables me to get past the emotional upheaval.

He enables me to discover what the false beliefs are that are attached to wounds, because when that happens, whoa! Dramatic things take place.

And we've got a brother who is going to go ahead and share a testimony.

So, Andy, if you'll come up, I want to read this statement to you.

Steve wanted me specifically to talk about transformational healing prayer.

Transformational healing prayer is a focus time of intense personal ministry under the direction of the Holy Spirit, moving through the caregiver, bringing the healing presence of Jesus Christ into the place of pain and brokenness.

And so, my dear brother Andy.

Well, thank you, George.

George asked me to share with you all about my encounter with the Lord.

It happened at the whole heart advance, and um I've been in prayer, I've been talking with the Lord about what he wants me to share because to be honest with you, there's there's a lot.

But I think the important thing that he wants me to share is uh about the experience and how it happened, because I think too many of us actually fear what God can do with us if we let him.

I've known the Lord my whole life.

I I was baptized at a very early age, and um I grew up in a Christian home, and yaddy yaddy, many people have the same story as far as that.

But it it was a tough walk, and I just had finally reached a place in my life where I was mature enough to understand what he could do for me if I really stepped out of the way.

Which was hard because I'm a I'm a very controlling person.

But we were sitting in the session, and George stepped up and he offered these one-hour appointments with whoever wanted it, whoever felt led to it.

And I I tell you what, I couldn't get out of the chair fast enough.

I was the first one to sign up willingly.

I was I was so excited, I was ready, and yet really fearful because I didn't know what he was gonna do.

I I can't tell you what he did.

I can stand here and tell you the events of what happened, but what he's done, what he's changed in my life, and can only be attributed to you and who you are and who you'll be.

By the time the session was almost over, I was laying flat on my face, literally crying uncontrollably, but as comfortable as I have ever been in my entire life.

I had so much peace that overwhelmed me.

And my God revealed to me the lie that I've been holding on to for who knows how long, that I was a mistake.

There's no way he could create someone who could create so much big trouble.

Certainly he made a mistake.

What's interesting is that there's probably lies that we know that we believe that he'll run over our brains with, but it's the ones that are so deep inside us that we've never heard before.

I have never heard that in my entire life that I was a mistake.

It could all have only come from him, and he's written the rest of the story.

You all get to encounter it, to be honest with you.

Because I God has turned me 180 degrees, and I have him to thank for it every day.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you.

One of the things that's interesting is uh one of the things I believe about repentance is that it's always visibly measurable.

And I'll tell people never confuse tears and confession with repentance because seldom are they the same.

I don't know if Andy's wife wants to say anything, but she can bear witness to the transformation that's happened in her husband, which is so cool and so important, because I can tell you that I've changed.

But if you don't see the evidence of that change, then my words really don't mean anything, do they?

So, what are the results of healing prayer?

I mean, we've heard of testimonies.

And this prayer model, now working from the wound up, in this prayer model, wounds from the past are identified.

The lives of the enemy are exposed and they are renounced.

The truth of God's word is embraced, resulting in increased peace, spiritual growth, and real, genuine life change.

In John 10, 10 in the amplified, the thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy.

I came that they may have and enjoy life and have it in abundance to the full till it overflows.

The word life is zoa.

The state of one who is possessed of vitality, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God and blessed.

I want you to think about your heart, think about your life.

Can you say that you are possessed with vitality?

That your life is vigorous and devoted to God, because that's his desire for you.

Before I came to know the Lord, I hated who I was as a human being.

I had disgraced my family.

Live in a small town where everybody knows everybody's business.

I I hated, I hated the man in the mirror.

Today I kind of like it.

Abundance.

Exceedingly, abundantly, supremely.

Isaiah 61, verses 1 through 3.

Isaiah 61:1–3

I had to put in a new King James verse here for the sake of Pastor Steve.

This is an honor of Steve.

He loves the new King James.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor.

He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives.

And the opening of prisons to those who are bound.

To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God to comfort all who mourn, giving them the garment of praise for a spirit of heaviness.

Here's what I've discovered about being a Christian for a few years.

Most of the Christians that I know do not live a John 10 10 B life.

They're saved.

They're glad they're saved.

But there is still so much brokenness, so much pain, so much that inhibits them from experiencing so much.

You've been listening to the road with special guest speaker, George Stanke.

We pray that you've been blessed by the message today.

Our hope is to make whole-hearted disciples of Jesus Christ.

And that's why we teach the Word of God verse by verse, scripture by scripture, and precept upon precept.

We're excited about all the things God is doing in the lives of our faithful listeners.

We understand that there are many trials and tribulations in this world, and we'd love to be able to pray for you if you encounter difficult times.

Please drop us a note and let us know how we can pray for you.

Pull box 88485.

Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80908.

If you can let us play this message, please let us know as well.

Again, the address is the road.

Pull by 88485.

Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80908.

If you're in the area, please come on the live and join us at the Road from our Saturday night service at 6 p.m.

We meet at Chapel Hills Church, located at 2025 from the drive.

Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80920.

You can find out more about the road by going on our website at theroad.org.

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Thanks again for tuning in today.

And be sure to catch us again next time for another edition of The Road with Pastor Steve Holt.