A Powerful Prayer for Healing Your Hardest Memories
Like a quiet sea at dawn, an orchid ocean of clouds hovers above the northern skyline. Even the oaks stand in awe—their lush summer canopies outstretched in reverence. I look to the heavens and utter a powerful prayer for healing as I think of a friend who’s been dealing with the sting of hard memories.
Does any part of your past “sting” when it comes to mind?
A stinging memory is sharp. It pricks you and deflates you—like a bee sting or a needle to a balloon. A stinging memory just might take the wind out of your sails or lead you into the pit for a few hours, a few days, or a few months.
When an emotional wound is new, it’s natural and healthy to feel the sting. However, God wants to heal our hearts. He wants to take away the sting of the old wounds that leave us paralyzed with pain and defeated with grief. Some wounds will always ache, but they don’t always have to sting.
Like my friend, for many years, I wrestled with the sting of difficult memories from my past.
Painful images often popped into my mind and pierced my heart.
I pursued God’s healing by memorizing Scripture, talking to therapists, confiding in friends, casting out lying spirits, worshiping, wielding the sword of the Spirit, and more. I moved toward healing, but the memories still pricked me like a bee sting.
You might have some stinging memories as well. Maybe you lost a loved one, and your heart hasn’t moved through the grief. Your memories might involve shameful sins, abuse, a traumatic event, or a loss from which you never recovered.
A Powerful Prayer for Healing Your Painful Memories
God wants to heal your heart and take away the sting of your difficult memories.
My first experience with this kind of healing took place before I had a phrase to describe it. At the time, I didn’t even know whether my experience was biblical; I knew only that Jesus’ presence healed me.
I was in my early thirties, and for several months, I’d been having vivid visual flashbacks of the most shameful sins of my late teens and early twenties. One evening, I attended a worship service at our church, and the presence of God was palpable in the room. I sensed Jesus inviting me to sit down and let the flashbacks come.
One at a time, as each of the three shameful flashbacks came to mind, Jesus showed me his presence within the flashback. In one scenario, he was knocking on a closed door like a loving Father who had come to rescue me. In the most painful flashback, he walked into the room, scooped me into his arms, carried me outside, and told me that he would always come for me when I cried out to him.
Recognizing Jesus’ presence with me healed me from the trauma of my flashbacks, and I’ve never struggled with the flashbacks since that day.
Invite Jesus to Reveal Himself to You in Your Memory
Sometime soon, go to a quiet place where you can revisit your painful memory with Jesus. Ask him for the courage to revisit this memory. As you return to the scene, ask Jesus to reveal his presence to you within the situation.
He might show you how he was holding you, speak his Word over you, or show you something that forever changes the way you perceive your difficult memory. You might discover that Jesus’ presence within your memory takes away the sting.
Afterward, test your experience to see if it aligns with Jesus’ character as described in Scripture. You might also share your experience with a mature believer for added discernment. If you sense the Lord leading you to take additional steps toward healing, follow his lead. Jesus is waiting to heal your heart.
A Free Devotional Filled With Hope and Healing Words:
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