The Process of Healing

This is an exercise that can be done in your Life Groups or individually. If you or your group members a struggling from a past or present hurt I encourage you to give this a try. This is an article from Christianity Today International.

1. Give each person in your group a black piece of paper and some black pens or pencils. (I know that writing black-on-black will make it hard for anyone but the author to read the paper, and that is by design. This step is between each person and God).

2. Have your group spend some time asking the Lord to reveal a sore spot-a place where you feel a darkness in your relationship with God, or with his people. Instruct your group to ask the Lord if there are any unhealthy vows that have been made that are keeping them in that darkness.

3. As they identify unhealthy vows, have group members write them down on their dark piece of paper.

4. The next step is for the group to think and pray about what lies they might have believed that led to those vows. As people identify those lies, have them write them down, then renounce the lie with God's truth. John 1:4-5 says, "The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it" NLT

5. Once the lies have been renounced, have group members write down the painful wound that started the process.

6. Say to your group, "What you wrote down on your dark piece of paper is part of the darkness that Jesus came to illuminate. Wen Jesus came to earth to make his home with us, he know very well that he was moving into a dark place. But Jesus still wanted to be here with us. And even though we deal with darkness in our relationships, the Lord wants to shine his light into those dark corners or our Christian community."

7. As a final step, locate a medium-sized cross and place it on a wall or table. Then have the group members lay their black Wound, Lie and Vow papers on the cross, symbolizing Jesus' redeeming and healing work on our behalf. Close by praying for one another.

Dan Lentz; copyright 2008 by the author and Christianity Today International.