Prison Ministry – Hope for Complete Healing

Prison Ministry Report 10

Thank you for your prayers, they are needed. The only hope for these precious women is in Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome their addictions. We have new girls almost every Friday night. Some of the girls leave to go to the work-release block, rehab, or the state penitentiary. Many inmates want to hear the good news about Jesus. In the past several weeks, we had two salvations and two girls who made a commitment to make Jesus the Lord of their lives. We have ministered to 42 women as of today’s report. We have had two women consistently attend for all of 2023, Teresa and Shianna. Women who are long-term are waiting for their trial, which is very stressful for them.

Please pray for Miranda, a young mother who is an alcoholic but wants to be free. She has had dreams of drinking but reports that the dreams are subsiding since we taught her how to pray in Jesus’ Name to end the devil’s oppression in her mind. She also has a hard time forgiving those who abused her, though she knows she needs to forgive to free her mind from the control of those memories. She has been working through my “Hope for Complete Healing” booklet and has found it very helpful. She is being sent to a rehab center, but she knows that Jesus is the only one who can help her be free from alcohol addiction. Thank you for praying for Miranda. She is an incredible witness on the block and brings many women to the Bible Study.

Sandy, my co-teacher, has been teaching on the armor of God. She has been focusing on the Helmet of Salvation for several weeks now. All our thoughts need to be processed through the salvation of Jesus Christ who set us free from sin and the devil’s oppressive control over our thoughts. This is a struggle for many. Last Friday, Sandy, taught the Romans road Bible verses to the new women in attendance. Alisha just listened but seemed to be oppressed. Kristen believed and received Christ as her savior. At the next Bible study, about halfway into Sandy’s lesson on faith in Christ, Alisha wanted to pray and be saved. It was so precious to see the joy after their prayer. Please pray for these two dear women. Alisha is new to the Christian teaching as she was a Jehovah’s Witness and is just learning about what Jesus did on the cross for us. She did not understand sin and the role of the Holy Spirit. Please pray for her to grow in her new faith. She is troubled by the abuse she suffered and seems to have brain damage from the drugs she was using.

What do you turn to when you are distressed?

Some of us turn to food, sugar, chocolate, shopping, gaming, TV/movies, social media, etc. when we are emotionally stressed. Sugar is addictive and will cause many problems in your health. Mirada said she drank to numb her mind so she would not think about the abuse. I was a workaholic to cope with my mental and emotional distress. Just the other week, I became angry with my husband and became very ugly. To cope with the emotional distress, I began cleaning and sweeping the deck, etc. I asked God why his disregard triggered me. God showed me resentment from past hurt when my mother disregarded me. I did things to earn her praise, which she never gave me, and this caused resentment, which I did not know was there until it was triggered. I wanted my husband’s praise, so when he criticized me, I got angry. I forgave my mother and my husband, then asked God to take my desire for praise from me. The Bible says that everything we do is to be out of love and for God’s glory. I also asked Him to take my self-centered pride. I then repented and asked God for forgiveness for my reaction, and then I asked for my husband’s forgiveness. Though what he said was hurtful, I sinned by my reaction.

I explain in my website book, Hope for Complete Healing, how to overcome the many resentments and distresses of our lives, so you can be set free to love from a pure heart.

Thank you for praying for this prison ministry and for the women who attend. If you would like to read my other reports, go to Prison Ministry Reports.

Prison Report 9 – The Holy Spirit’s Role

We had five girls this past Friday. If the Holy Spirit reminds you about this prison Bible study on Friday nights, please pray for me and Sandy, my co-teacher. Please pray for all prison ministries throughout the world, that God would “open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me [Jesus]” Acts 26:18.

Please pray for Shaina, she was a drug runner to Philadelphia and faces State time. Her boyfriend died of an overdose. Then she tried to overdose on Fentanyl but survived. She realizes God saved her for a purpose. She has three children and cries herself to sleep over her many losses. She is growing in her faith but needs your prayers. Theresa has been very faithful in attending the Bible Study but is now legally blind because of cataracts. Another girl, Tiffany, returned from State prison for a hearing. She was so glad she came to the Bible Study because she really needed to know how the Holy Spirit helps her. The following is my Bible study. I only completed points one and two. The ladies were so grateful to understand the role of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

Friday, July 21, 2023

The only way we can be victorious over addiction or bad habits is to rely on the Holy Spirit, who gives us power and will lead us on the right path. Only He can keep us on the narrow path that leads to life. We cannot do it on our own or by willpower. But, when you cease to abide in Jesus and the Word of God, then temptations will lead you astray to the path that leads to destruction (Matt. 7:13-14; look up and read). Remember, James 4:7 (look up and read). If you do not submit your thoughts to God’s truths every moment, especially when you are tempted, then the devil will lead you away from the path of life. So, what is the role of the Holy Spirit in your life?

I shared my testimony of how the Holy Spirit helped and protected me when I got involved with the wrong group of people and dated a bad character who led me down the path of destruction. The Holy Spirit convicted me of my sin and kept reminding me of the truths that I learned as a child. I stayed in the party scene until my third year of college. A Christian friend invited me to go to a Christian Campus group and a local church, but I was still partying. During a Christian concert, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, “Either walk with me or don’t, stop walking the fence.” I made the decision that night to submit to God and walk with Him. After that, I found going out with my party friends very distasteful, and I found joy and peace in following Jesus. I struggled with my faith for a time, but the Holy Spirit encouraged me.

The following is my outline and questions on the role of the Holy Spirit. I hope you are encouraged.

1. The Holy Spirit is our helper.

John 14:26; “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

John 15:26; “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.”

___ How do you receive someone’s help?

___ When someone teaches you something, what do you do with what you learn?

___ Why can’t a prideful person receive help?

The Holy Spirit helps you pray.

___ What is prayer?

___ How often should we pray?

___ Why do you pray?

Rom 8:26-27 states, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. ²⁷And he [God] who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

___ What weakness do you need the Holy Spirit to help you with?

___ Is God’s will always what your will is? Whose will is better?

Eph 6:18-20 states, “Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, ¹⁹and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.”

___ How do you pray all the time in the Spirit?

___ How do we keep alert in prayer?

___ Why should we pray at all times?

1 Peter 5:8-9 tells us, “Be sober-minded; be watchful [stay in prayer]. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.⁹Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.”

He will lead you and tell you what to do or say.

Act 13:2 states, “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

Act 16:6 states, “And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.”

2 Peter 1:21 states, “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

___ How do you know when the Holy Spirit is speaking to you? (I shared the various times the Holy Spirit spoke to me and lead me to go places and to do something.)

2. The Holy Spirit gives you power.

Act 1:8 states, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

____ How do you know you have power?

___ What does it mean to be a witness?

Act 10:38 states, “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.” (Jesus was fully human, and I believe the anointing happened when the Holy Spirit descended on Him when He was baptized. I explained how God wants to heal them from the oppression of the devil.)

Romans 15:13 states, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

___ Why does the power of the Holy Spirit give you hope?

Next week, we will cover the next two roles of the Holy Spirit.

3. The Holy Spirit renews us.

Titus 3:3-7; For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.

⁴But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, ⁵he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit

⁶ whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

4. He helps you put off your old life and put on the new life: Eph 4:22-24; Col 3:5-15;2Cor 5:17; 2Cor 7:1.

1 Thessalonians 4:7-8 states, “For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. ⁸Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.”

Your old life of sin is full of destructive pain and guilt. Ask God to expose the sinful actions that hurt others or yourself, seek His forgiveness, and ask God to remove your guilt and the oppressive spirits from that memory and heal your emotions. Ask God to remove pridefulness so you can humbly seek forgiveness to help them be free from the pain you caused them. If you are angry or anxious, seek God to show you why. Then forgive those who betrayed you and ask God to heal your heart and remove the oppressive spirits attached to the resentment that controls your thoughts and emotions. God wants to purify you and heal your memories so you can put off your life of sin and put on a new life of righteousness, love, joy, and peace.

To read my other Prison Ministry Reports.

Prison Report 8–Faith, Hope, and Love

I need your help with my lesson on faith. We are seeing growth and understanding in the consistent Bible Study participants. Sandy taught last week about God’s love: acceptance, security, identity, and purpose. She emphasized the loving father in the Prodigal Son parable (Luke 15) and his true identity, security, and purpose. Despite the young son squandering his inheritance, the father loved and restored him. Just as the Father put on the robe of identity on him, Jesus puts a robe of righteousness on us, which is our identity. Sandy emphasized that the children in God’s kingdom are righteous because they have the entirety of the Holy Spirit sealed within them. We just need to renew our minds to let God move us to who He created us to be.

I am teaching this Friday about faith, hope, and love. Faith is a hard topic, so I would like to know your understanding and how to teach faith to these precious women. Please pray for Theresa, Shiana, and Hannah (who does not know the Lord). Yumyum was released to a mental hospital, MJ is still in the hole for her anger; please pray for her; she loves the Lord but struggles with retaliation from the hurt in her past. There is no guarantee that I will teach this lesson this Friday because if new girls attend, we address their issues and where they are in their walk or no walk with God. I may only be able to do half the lesson depending on issues the girls bring up.

Faith, Hope, and Love

We have hope when we trust God keeps His promises, which increases our faith when we believe in biblical truth. By faith, we receive God’s love and show His love to others.

1 Timothy 1:5 states, “The aim [goal] of our charge [instructions] is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”

Ephesians 6:23 states, “Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Define faith. (Read Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”) We have the assurance of salvation through believing in Jesus Christ as the son of God and the conviction that our sins are forgiven through the death and blood of Jesus Christ. So now we can hope for eternal life with God.

Define hope. Romans 8:24-25 states, “For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? ²⁵But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”

Some promises you can hope for are found in Jeremiah 29:11-13, which says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. ¹²Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. ¹³You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” You may not see the good plan God has for you, but when you put your trust in God and seek Him with all your heart, you will see it. Most promises come with a condition. For example, the promise is that God will hear us, but what is the condition?

What are the promises in these three verses?

Hope comes from reading God’s Word and trusting that God will do what He said He would do. Romans 15:4 states, “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” We increase in hope when we learn the truths in God’s Word, and read the Bible every day with endurance (persistence), then the Scriptures will encourage us to believe. There will be days you feel you are too busy to read your Bible, but I say with confidence that you will be glad you persist to read your Bible every morning. Joshua 1:8 states, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

(Look at a picture of the grapevine.) Faith is a seed that is only seen when it begins to grow above the soil.

If you put a seed in a pot without soil, will it grow?

Do you see the seed in the soil?

Can you see the roots? Does this mean they do not exist?

Where do we get faith? Read Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

Why do we need to have faith? Read Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

What does faith do for us? Read Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” 1Peter 1:9 “Obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” Ephesians 6:16 “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.”

Who is the evil one?

What kind of darts does he fling at us?

What does he hope the darts do in our lives?

Why does faith protect us?

Faith is believing in the existence of God when you do not see Him. And believe God will keep His promises, even when you don’t know how.

When you believe, the seed of faith is planted in your heart. Faith grows as we remain or abide in the Word of God daily, which is the soil that provides nutrients so our faith grows. Also, when you persist in believing the truth that God loves you, it will grow in your heart.

Briefly review Sandy’s lesson on the types of soils (Matt. 13:18-23). Faith won’t grow well in rocky soil or weedy, thorny soil.

The roots of our faith will not get a firm hold in rocky soil. Forgiving past and present hurts removes the rocks that stunt the growth of faith, love, joy, peace, and so on. Jesus instructs us to forgive in Matthew 6:14-15.

Removing worldly distractions, worries (outside our control), and selfish desires from your life will uproot the weeds and thorns, so your faith and God’s love get all the nutrients from God’s Word (soil) of your heart. Ask God to give us His ability to be patient and kind, and so on.

For faith to grow and produce fruit, it needs five elements:

1. Good Soil: Faith is planted in our hearts when we believe Jesus is the Son of God (Eph 3:16-17). Seeds need good soil (no rocks, clay, or weeds) to grow in (Matt. 13:18-23). Next, it needs to be rooted and grounded in love as we forgive those who sin against us (Matt 6:14-15).

2. Water: Faith stays alive when watered by prayer because Jesus is our source of living water (John 4:10).

3. Light: Faith produces a harvest of fruit when it gets the light of Jesus as we live through Him (John 8:12 & Gal.2:20). Because of the light of Jesus in us, we can be a light to others and plant seeds of faith when we witness and tell others about our faith or water someone else’s faith to help their faith grow (Matt. 5:16; John 12:46; and Acts 13:47).

4. Cultivation: Faith grows when cared for by daily reading and obeying the living Word of God (1Peter 1:23 and Hebrews 4:12).

5. Protection: Faith gets stronger when we obey God, go to church, and encourage one another (Jam. 1:19-27 and Heb. 10:23-25). We will die spiritually if we do not remain in the soil of God’s love, receive nourishment from the living Word of God, get living water from Jesus through prayer, and receive; light from Jesus’ life). Why is this true?

If you stay nourished by God’s Word and watered by prayer every day, your faith will grow and produce fruit through the Holy Spirit. John 15:4-5 states, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. ⁵I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

If a plant is taken out of the soil, will it grow and thrive? Why not?

If you don’t water a plant, what will happen to it? Why?

If you put the plant in a closet, what will happen then?

What does abide mean?

Galatians 5:22-23 tells us what fruit will grow when we abide in Him through His Word.

Love (1Cor. 13:4-6),
Joy (John 17:13 & 15:11),
Peace (Rom 12:18 & Phil 4:6-7),
Patience (Col 3:12-13 & Eph 4:2),
Kindness (2Tim. 2:24 & Eph 4:32),
Goodness (Rom. 2:10 & 15:2),
Faithfulness-Trust (Ps. 37:3 & Luke 16:10),
Gentleness-Humility (1Tim 6:11 & 1Peter 3:5), and
Self-control (Titus 2:12).

Love and Faith

1Co 16:13-14 states, “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, …, be strong. ¹⁴Let all that you do be done in love.”

1Cor. 13:13 states, “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

1John 4:12-13 states, “No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. ¹³By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.” And verses 16 says, “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” There is the abiding word again.

Jesus tells us in John 15:10, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” Psalm 119:10-11 says, “With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! ¹¹I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

Define love. (Read 1 Corinthians 13:4-6)

How do you usually react when you don’t get your way?

Are you being selfish or loving?

How can you be loving when you don’t get your way?

How do you think other people feel when you yell at them or hurt them?

Every day, we need to pray and ask God to help us love, be patient, and be kind because we are all naturally self-centered. Abiding in God’s Word every day and putting off unloving thoughts, feelings, and deeds, will help you grow in love.

Please leave a comment on how you would help inmates understand faith.

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Contact me at hopeforcompletehealing@gmail.com, and ask for a PDF of Eight Life-changing Prayers from the Bible. The prayers are for the Spirit of wisdom, renewal, spiritual strength, knowledge of His will, virtues of God, non-believers, 23rd Psalm, and victory. I will also send you the Lord’s Prayer Model to pray effectively. Please leave your name, so I know you are a real person making the request.

Prison Ministry Report 7

Sandy taught, continuing the bondage to freedom theme. I was out of town, so this is her report to me in an email.

Yum-Yum came in seriously dejected and in a very dark spot in her mind. She had lodged a complaint against a particular CO (Correction Officer) because this CO had thrown all of her commissaries (items she bought like shampoo, etc.) into the garbage while Yum-Yum was in another Bible study. Because of the complaint, this CO has determined to make life hard on Yum-Yum (who has lupus), by not allowing the other girls to help her get her meals. Yum-Yum cannot carry the trays and use the walker. She hadn’t eaten breakfast or lunch for days because of this. She talked to Medical…and we prayed that there would be a proper response.

This was a situation very much like we had with MJ. We did a deliverance sending evil packing with all the gals laying hands on her and then I asked Yum-Yum to pray. She asked for the Lord’s forgiveness and direction. THEN she and MJ prayed for each other, asking forgiveness from the Lord and each other and asking that their relationship be restored. They hugged, cried, and then LAUGHED. (Theresa too)

The Holy Spirit’s relief from the oppression was enormous: joy replacing the dejection. We then also prayed for this particular CO.

As you would expect; the lesson didn’t quite go as planned…but I saw the things the Lord had given me this week so totally fit in with the need. In a very real way, it was good that Betsy was not there, as this could not have taken place. After that, the group spontaneously erupted into LAUGHTER. The Joy of the Lord replaced the oppressiveness they had been under. God is so good…this is the power He has provided so that we can be set FREE. (A humorous side note- we had been declaring evil to be under our feet- then as the giggles erupted, they decided they would metaphorically put on their boots to really stomp out evil!)

We looked at the differences in King Saul’s and King David’s reactions to sin in their lives and then studied a bit about how King David humbly sought the Lord, recognizing that his sin was against the Lord. Psalm 38 is about David’s abject sense of sinfulness and depression. The ladies readily agreed that it totally reflected what they had been experiencing. We went on to Psalm 51, where David confesses his sin and the righteousness of God. We then went to Psalm 139 as direction for the ladies as they move forward. God knows us inside and out…everything about us. Then we must humbly ask Him to “Search us and try us to see if there is any grievous way in us and lead us to life everlasting!”

Pray for these women as each day they face many trials that we on the outside cannot imagine. Pray that they reflect Christ’s beauty and love.

Prison Ministry Report 6

It has been a while since I wrote my last report. Many of the Friday meetings were canceled for various reasons and some I could not attend.

We have two consistent attendees coming to our Bible study. Friday I was by myself, and there were four girls. Two of the girls were contentious because of personality conflicts, so please pray for MJ and Yumyum. MJ has been in the hole (isolation) many times for anger mismanagement issues. MJ means well but is getting on Yumyum’s nerves. MJ was in my previous reports if you would like to know more about her.

I felt led to teach a lesson about bondage and how to become free. Many of them are in bondage to drugs and alcohol, and in MJ’s case, she is in bondage to anger from the many hurtful situations in her life. She is getting better, but it will take time. I taught the girls how to take authority over their thoughts using the power of Jesus in them. You can’t control your thoughts with your own willpower or positive thinking. The following outline is what I taught.

BONDAGE TO FREEDOM

Luke 13:10-16 — Disabling spirit (vs.16, Satan bound a woman for eighteen years) (I explained how Satan uses spirits to keep us in bondage, and only Jesus can set us free. She had to go to Jesus for healing, so we need to go to Jesus and seek release from the oppressive spirits controlling us.)

Mark 9:14-29 — Jesus Heals a boy with an unclean spirit – deaf and dumb/mute spirits. (I explained that believing as you pray is necessary to remove unclean spirits and to ask Jesus to help your unbelief (vs. 24).)

Luke 11:24-26 — Unclean spirits coming back with worse spirits. (I explained that once you release an unclean spirit, you need to replace it with the Holy Spirit or a clean spirit. I used several examples, like asking God to remove the spirit of addiction and then replace it with the spirit of self-control and power.)

1 Timothy 4:1 — Deceitful spirit. We talked about finding a Bible-believing church, that not all churches honor the truths in the Bible. I also had them read 1 John 4:1-3, to test the spirits to see if they are from God because many Christian leaders appear to be Christian but are not following the truths in the Bible.

I had them turn to pages 13 and 14 of my Hope for Complete Healing booklet, and we read about how to remove evil spirits tormenting us and how to know if we have one. (You can read this in the section called 2–Removing Blocks to Healing, number 7 of the Seven Prayers That Heal The Heart.) I then took them through the Meekness/Gentleness/Faithfulness section (because Suzette was looking at it), and I explained how to pray to discover the memories and unhealthy beliefs that cause an inferior spirit or superior spirit of bondage. We went through the list of other possible unclean spirits, then I took them through the list of good spirits to replace the unclean spirits. Then we read the scriptural truths at the bottom to replace unhealthy beliefs. We also discussed healthy pride versus self-centered, sinful pride because MJ was confused.

2 Timothy 1:7 — replacing the spirit of fear with the spirit of power, love, and self-control.

John 15:26 and Romans 5:5 — How the Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth and will help us. He pours God’s love into our hearts, but if we have unforgiveness then His love can’t flow out of us.

Romans 8:2, 13; Gal 5:16-17; Eph 3:16-17; 1Cor. 15:45; and Rom. 8:11 — Spirit of life and how Jesus is the life-giving spirit, and how to walk by the spirit and deny the flesh.

Romans 8:15 — Spirit of slavery vs. the spirit of adoption.

1 Corinthians 2:11-12 — Spirit of God in us that helps us to understand the secret things of God.

2 Corinthians 4:13 — Spirit of faith

This study was fascinating to put together, and I could have gone over so much more. Thank you for following my ministry and for praying for me and Sandy and the inmates who come.

Prison Ministry Report 5

Last Friday was incredible, but I wanted to wait to tell you about it until after this Friday’s Bible Study. God is so good and faithful. He is doing incredible transformation work in the lives of these ladies. I would like for you to pray with me for these precious ladies.

Friday, January 23

Last Friday, my co-teacher, Sandy, taught us about forgiveness through Jesus’ life. Her lesson focused on Christ Jesus forgiving those who put Him on the cross because they were motivated by evil and did not know what they were doing. He had to forgive because His Father said to forgive, so if He was never to sin, He had to forgive before He died. What an incredible revelation. She explained how sin separates us from God and why we need His forgiveness and how Jesus’ death paid the punishment for all our sins. And those that hurt us were also motivated by evil and we need to forgive them, not that they are excused for what they did but that the power of the hurtful memory would no longer control our minds.

MJ kept asking, “How do I forgive.” Sandy explained that because Jesus forgave, He can help us forgive as we receive His forgiveness for our sins. MJ still insisted on knowing how to forgive. I was sitting next to her and knew that the memories of the abuse were beginning to take over her mind. She began to cry and recount the experiences. I took over and put up on the board the following outline for how to forgive.

FORGIVENESS PROCESS

Identify the hurtful memory. In Shattering Your Strongholds, Liberty Savard advised you not to replay your inner tapes of anger and guilt over painful memories, failures, humiliations, and the sins of others against you. So, forgive those who have hurt you, including yourself if necessary, and verbally put off the power those memories have on your mind and emotions.
Ask God to help you forgive the people involved.
Forgive the people who hurt you in the memory to break the power they have over your thoughts and emotions.
Ask God to remove all oppressive spirits from the memory so the memory does not control your thoughts, emotions, and decisions.
Ask God to forgive your unloving response to the hurtful actions done against you.
Ask God to show you the unhealthy or false beliefs that the hurtful situation generated. It could be a false belief about yourself, the other person, or even God. Then transform those wrong beliefs using God’s truth.
Find something to be thankful for about the situation or person.

Pray something like the following when you become offended:

I forgive (person’s name) for _(offense)_ and I release the resentment and the power it has over me in Jesus’ name. Lord, remove any attached oppressive spirits to the resentment. Fill me with Your love and grace. Forgive me for being unforgiving, unkind, or impatient. I put on and bind to my mind that I can forgive and be free because Jesus Christ helps me and sets me free as I submit to Him. (List other truths you can claim.)

As I explained the process of becoming free from painful memories, MJ was really crying, so I asked that the girls gather around her to pray. I asked MJ if she wanted to be free from the pain and she said “yes.” I laid my hand on her head and began to pray for her, I asked her to verbally say, “I forgive.” Sandy asked her to say it a few more times. I prayed for the oppressive spirits attached to her painful memories to be gone from her in Jesus’ name. She coughed several times and choked and then a calm came over her as I prayed for peace and joy to enter her heart. Other girls were crying as they forgave those who hurt them. MJ became calm. I continued my lesson and explained that oppressive spirits are attached through the wounds of our souls, and they keep us oppressed through painful memories. I also explained that being thankful for something about the situation transforms the painful memory. Being thankful is the hardest part of transforming a memory.

Friday, January 27

What a change in MJ when she came in tonight. She was unable to forgive, but after the deliverance, she later wrote down all the people who hurt her and what they did then wrote forgiven next to the incident. She then crumpled up the papers and flushed them down the toilet and submitted all her painful memories to the Lord. She then prayed like she never prayed before and felt a huge weight lift off her. Praise the Lord.

She had a problem retaliating against people who crossed her, which is why she is in jail. She retaliated against an inmate and knew she would get punished for it. At that point, she knew she had to forgive and went through the forgiveness process described above. When she was called to the superintendent’s office, she thought she was getting in big trouble for what she did, but she only got a warning. What surprised her was that she was crying tears of shame and repentance for what she did. Praise the Lord.

Sandy taught about the love of our Heavenly Father. Though we may feel abandoned, God does not abandon us. She started off by having the girls read Psalm 142. We can call on God at any time and He will hear us and help us. She shared her testimony of how she was sick for 15 years and could not eat except to drink carrot juice and was very weak. She had little children that had to take care of themselves and her, and her husband had to carry her up and down the stairs. She was ready to die and wanted to die. One of the inmates, who is not a Christian, amazed us and asked if that was a sin to want to die. Sandy said yes, and she had to repent and ask God to show her why she was so sick. To make a long story short, God showed her it was because she felt unloved and abandoned by her parents and she felt God didn’t love her and had abandoned her. She asked for forgiveness and went through a prayer of deliverance from the devil’s oppression and released the spirit of abandonment, and she was instantly healed.

I gave MJ a copy of my book, Hope for Complete Healing to help her transform other painful memories. If you have painful memories, you can find this book on my website, just click on the title of my book. Thank you for your continued prayers. I will continue teaching out of the study booklet called Living a Victorious Life. Every inmate gets one of these booklets. Please pray that the truths in this teaching material would transform the lives of the inmates.

Check out my latest book Breaking Mental Strongholds which you can order on Amazon. To learn more about it, read my post called Breaking Mental Strongholds Book.

Also, check out Fighting Unseen Battles on Amazon. To learn more about this book, read: How to Fight Unseen Battles.

Prison Ministry Report 4

People are messy, but God is good and loves these girls. A few believe they are innocent and didn’t do wrong, some know they did wrong and want the judge to have mercy. Surprisingly some did wrong to get into jail so they can get the help they need. I will be writing about two meetings in this report.

Last Friday, we had three returning girls and three new girls. The new girls had a lot to say, but one was upset and wanted to tell her story. She believes she is innocent. Sandy taught on John 14:6a, “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” She began in Haggai 2:4-9 and said that God was going to do something good, even great in our lives. Then she had us look up Scriptures about “the way” and what is the wrong way versus the good way. We are to seek the truth found in God’s Word. Find life in Him and how we should live and how the Holy Spirit helps us. At the end of our time, I asked if there was anything in particular that the girls wanted to learn, and they said forgiveness. That is a hard topic to teach incarcerated women.

This past Friday, I shared about forgiveness, and I did not get past the first page of notes out of five pages. We had four returning girls and three new girls. One of the new girls was the daughter of a pastor who rebelled and got into trouble, she seemed to accept being in jail, and wants to get right with God. One new girl broke down crying and left in the middle of the Bible Study. She can’t believe God forgives her and she can’t be forgiven because she killed someone and is facing life in prison and is 23 years old. She has been in prison since she was 20, so very sad. Please pray for her, she goes by Smalls (jail name). She did not want to share what happened because she doesn’t want it to get back to the block about what she did, and she threatened violence if anyone said anything to anyone back in the block. Then Tracy breaks down about Smalls’s situation because she is so young. I told you that teaching forgiveness is hard to do but so very important. Satan does not want us to receive forgiveness nor forgive others. Lord willing, I will teach on that next week. Sandy is going to first share how much God loves them, which is why He forgives them. Love is a hard concept for these girls to grasp as well.

I finally was able to move on to talk about the five reasons why we should forgive then MJ (another jail name) broke down crying because she is concerned that other girls are being abused like she was by a past boyfriend but no one believes her. We had to leave early because the correction facility went into lockdown and the inmates are to be in their cells. So, we couldn’t continue to minister to MJ, please pray for her, she has such a tender caring heart. The following is what I was able to share with these precious girls.

What the Bible Says About Forgiveness

God forgives us: 1John 1:9 states, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

We must forgive others: Colossians. 3: 13 states, “Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” And Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. ―Ephesians 4:32

Perhaps the greatest demonstration of supernatural forgiveness in all of history is when Jesus prayed to His Father as He hung on the cross to pay the penalty for the sins of all of mankind, “Forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). Share the salvation message with the girls.

Often, we need to forgive ourselves: After receiving God’s forgiveness and forgiving others, you may have guilt for the wrong you did towards God and others, which is why forgiving yourself for the sins you committed, will release the guilt you feel. The following passage is an example. 1Corinthians 6:17-20 states, “But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.¹⁸Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. ¹⁹Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, ²⁰for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

Why Forgive- 5 reasons

Forgiving releases us from the bondage of being offended and from resentment toward the person who offended us.
Forgiving helps us not to focus on that hurtful issue so we can love others as Christ does.
Forgiveness is essential for healing because it releases us from the power and control of a wrongful action or offense.
Forgiving someone does not excuse their wrong actions but sets us free to heal and move on.
Forgiveness releases bitterness from your heart and eliminates your desire to judge and punish those who hurt you. When you forgive someone’s sin, it begins healing the wounds from the painful memory.

Thank you for your prayers.

Joyce

Check out my latest book Breaking Mental Strongholds which you can order on Amazon. To learn more about it, read my post called Breaking Mental Strongholds Book. Also, check out Fighting Unseen Battles on Amazon. To learn more about this book, read: How to Fight Unseen Battles.

Prison Ministry Report 3

Today’s Scripture is James 4:7, “Submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” This verse gives the inmates hope to overcome their destructive thoughts and live a successful Christian life and overcome temptations. You submit to God by letting Him control your thoughts and actions. Our sinful nature and the devil will put tempting thoughts into our minds and entice us to sin, at this point put those thoughts out of your mind in Jesus’ name and focus on truth from God’s word or just pray for God’s help and mercy to resist the devil and sinning. The more you practice this, the quicker you will submit to God and not to the devil. In 1Timothy 4:7, it tells us to train ourselves for godliness, that is to train our minds to think godly thoughts, not sinful thoughts.

The women’s Bible study was canceled this week, so Sandy and I went to the men’s Bible Study, which was very enlightening. In the prison system, several blocks (A, B, and C) house different types of inmates. The women’s Block B was locked down for covid, so our women from block A had to work in the kitchen. Our husbands lead the men’s Bible study, and they were surprised when we walked in. I did not know what to expect. Usually, they have a large group, but they only had three because only one block can attend at a time to prevent covid spread. The men do their Bible study according to the questions the inmates have, so you need to know your Bible well.

Pres started with a question in Luke 12:54-56, “He also said to the crowds, ‘When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens. ⁵⁵And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens. ⁵⁶You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?” Jim (Sandy’s husband) referenced the fact that Jesus “also said” at the beginning of the Scripture, so he suggested reading from the beginning of the chapter to get the context of the scripture. The verses prior to the above verses referenced the coming of the Holy Spirit by fire and baptism, which Gary (my husband) led us to read in Acts 2 about the Holy Spirit. The Bible study went from Scripture to Scripture as the Spirit led to answer questions the inmates had. To do this kind of Bible Study you really need to know your Bible. Sandy and I like to prepare a Bible Study to encourage the women in their relationship with Jesus but leave room for the Holy Spirit to lead or change our plans. Like He did last Friday night.

Pres commented about another Scripture referring to us as sheep, which led to another Bible discussion. My husband spoke about the passage in Isaiah 53:4-6, “Surely he [Jesus] has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. ⁵But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. ⁶All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—everyone—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Then Pres asked what iniquity and transgressions meant. Sandy explained them as a progression of deeper sinful behavior but how Jesus bore them all on the cross and forgives us, but Satan will cause us to doubt. I added James 4:7 that when we submit our minds to God and resist the devil, our thoughts won’t be influenced by the devil, which led to another discussion about resisting temptations. It was an interesting Bible study. Please pray for the inmates. Pres, who desires to grow in his faith. Chris opened up and shared the self-denigrating thoughts he has about himself for the things he did and still does, and how his depression led him to commit crimes. Please pray for John and his wife as they work through the current situation with him being in jail.

How To Train To Be Godly?

Posts About Godliness

I have written Breaking Mental Strongholds which you can order on Amazon. To learn more about it, read my post called Breaking Mental Strongholds Book. Also, check out Fighting Unseen Battles on Amazon. To learn more about this book, read: How to Fight Unseen Battles.

Prison Ministry Report 2

It is a privilege to be a servant of God and to minister to those in need. Are you ministering to anyone in need? Ponder the following Scripture and ask yourself, “How am I serving Jesus?” Matthew 25:41-46 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴²For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ ⁴⁴Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ ⁴⁵Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Yikes! These Christians are in the second group.

This is a tough Scripture to read. I am afraid that people who say they are Christians may be in the second group who are going to hell. I know that faith saves us and not our works (Eph.2:8). Serving God and ministering to others is the demonstration of our faith. If you are not currently serving in some capacity in the church or community, earnestly seek God to reveal where He can use you, then go. Examples are, Gideons International, Child Evangelism Fellowship, Salvation Army, Samaritan’s Purse, food banks, making lunch for the needy, and helping in homeless shelters. There are many places you can serve. Jesus said in Luke 4:18, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.” If Jesus is your life through believing and receiving Him into your heart, then you are anointed to proclaim the good news to the poor, set the oppressed free, pray for people, and so on.

Ministering to Inmates

The fourth week with the inmates was beautiful. We are trying to establish a core group of girls to disciple so they can then support one another throughout the week and be a witness of God’s goodness for the other girls on the block. We had four girls in attendance, including a new girl who was raised in a Christian foster home but rebelled. She knew the Lord as her savior and lead her cellmate to the Lord. We were happy to see Destiny come back; she is so eager to learn more about Christianity. Sandy reviewed her previous lesson in the Beatitudes for those that missed it and then finished her lesson. I reviewed my previous lesson in Matthew 7:13-14 about how Jesus is our life and will lead us to the path of life and keep us on it (John 14:6; John 10:10). I continued the discussion by explaining that once Jesus becomes our life, we have His Spirit and will understand the mystery of God (1Cor 2:9-12 ). Wrapped up the discussion by explaining the power of the Spirit of God in us helps us understand the Word of God which teaches us how to live the Christian life (Ps. 119:105; 2Tim. 3:16; Heb. 4:12). We ended by discussing Joshua 1:8, “This Book of the Law [God’s instructions] shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

The fifth week was right before Christmas. I taught about why Christ in Christmas. We had six girls with one new girl who did not know about the Christian faith but wanted to just listen. We began by understanding that God is a spirit and the trinity nature of God (John 4:24; 1Cor. 2:11-14). I explained that Jesus was the image of the invisible God and how His birth was predicted (Isa i ah 7:14; Isaiah 9:6; Luke 1:34-35; Col. 1:15&19; Heb. 1:3a). Next, we discussed why He had to be born and how He came to earth to be tempted as we are, yet did not sin, and how he helps us not to sin (Heb. 2:17-18; Luke 4:18; Acts 26:18; 1John 3:5-8; John 8:12). Ultimately, the purpose why Jesus came to earth was to make atonement for our sins (John 1:29; 2Cor. 5:21; 1John 4:9-10; John 3:16).

Sandy ended by doing a paper communion, which was interesting because we can’t take anything in except paper and Bibles. She explained what communion was and the power of prayer (James 5:16) and how our prayers are incense in a bowl before the throne of God. Revelations 8:3 states, “And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, ⁴and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel.” So, Sandy had small pieces of paper with a picture of bread, and she asked us to write on the back something for which we are thankful. The second small piece of paper had a goblet on it to represent the wine. On this piece of paper, she asked us to write what we want God to do for us. We put these pieces of paper in an envelope and sealed it. Sandy was going to take them home and burn them to represent the smoke of our prayers going up to God’s throne. One girl was very confused because she wanted God to bless her and didn’t want her prayer to be destroyed. This is an unusual type of communion that Sandy put together for the inmates, but it was meaningful to them.

I have written Breaking Mental Strongholds which you can order on Amazon. To learn more about it, read my post called Breaking Mental Strongholds Book. Also, check out Fighting Unseen Battles on Amazon. To learn more about this book, read: How to Fight Unseen Battles.

Prison Ministry Report 1

Have you ever wondered what it was like to work with inmates at a corrections facility? Does the thought scare you? When God said He wanted me to do a prison ministry. I thought of everything bad that could happen and felt woefully inadequate. The Gideon’s International organization I was a part of began a Bible Study in the local corrections facility. I joined the prison ministry team a year later. God led me to write my healing testimony in Hope for Complete Healing, which I provide on this website. I gave this book to all the girls who came to our Bible Study to offer hope to these precious inmates.

Over the course of the next year, God was working on eliminating the strongholds in my life through a hostile layoff. So, I added the many strongholds God removed from my life to my testimony book. I have seen a miraculous change in my life and in the lives of the inmates.

The corrections facility has recently allowed volunteers back in after two years. In those two years, I published two books, Fighting Unseen Battles and Breaking Mental Strongholds. It is so good to be back to leading Bible Studies with these hurting women. We have completed four sessions so far this year. I will summarize each session to give you an idea of how we do our prison ministry.

The first week we had eight women, and only one girl knew nothing about the Bible or Christianity. We got to know the girls, what they like to do, and where they were in their relationship with God. Sandy is my co-teacher, and she taught that night out of Hebrews 12 about God’s discipline and His love. The inmates were eager to share their thoughts.

The second week, we had two girls come. Anytime two girls come, I know God wants to minister intently into their lives. One woman returned, Destiny, who knew nothing about Christianity, and a new girl, Kate, who grew up in the Amish community but left at 21 years old. They said others had signed up but were not on the list. I taught that week about how Jesus is the only one who gives us life and keeps us on the path of life. His spirit gives us understanding because the spirit of God knows the thoughts of God and will reveal them to us.

I began with Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus says, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. ¹⁴For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” They already knew what the destructive path is, so I focused on the path of life, how to find it, and how to stay on the path of life. I had to explain what the Bible was, the difference between the old and new Testaments, an overview of the books of the Bible, who wrote it, etc. Destiny had a lot of questions. Kate said that no one ever explained the Bible to her, and she said she wanted to receive Jesus into her heart so she can be on the path of life. We went through the last page of the Gideon Bible and asked if she believed each scripture listed and she said yes, then she prayed to receive the Lord as her savior. How exciting! They sent her upstate to the women’s state penitentiary the next week. That was the only time we saw her. Please pray for Kate. Destiny did not know what sin was or understand who Jesus was, so she was not ready to receive Him. Please pray for Destiny.

One lesson I learned was to always pray for God’s protection from demonic forces. When you minister in a demonic stronghold, you must cover yourself with the blood of Christ and His protection, then when you leave, ask for all evil spirit attachments to be removed. We forgot to do that because we were so happy that Kate came to know the Lord as her Savior. The next morning, I could not wake up, I felt so tired. I went to my sister’s house, and she discerned I was being oppressed by demons, so she prayed over me, and they left. Then my feet and legs cramped, which I have associated with a demonic attack on my body. She prayed again, and it left. I called my friend Sandy, and she said she had the same experience.

In the third week, we had three girls, two new girls, and one from the first week returned. Destiny was not there. Some girls went home on probation or were sent to state prison. The girls that came said they knew Jesus as their savior. But one girl seemed to have a mental illness, which is not unusual because of drug use. Ashley was in a Texas state prison for several years and found the Lord there. When she got out, she got involved with the wrong people again. Now she is in our Bible Study and has rededicated her life back to God. Sandy taught about God’s love and the Beatitudes and how Jesus is teaching us how to live our lives. God touched each girl in a special way.

Teaching inmates is very rewarding. It is helpful to prepare lessons applicable to the needs of the inmates. Depending on the leading of the Holy Spirit is critical because each inmate has different needs. Next, be flexible because inmates come and go, and you may need to review or change the direction of what you planned based on the need of those who attended. Check out this post: Free from Anger–County Jail Testimony and Teaching to see how I ministered to an inmate who was extremely angry and wanted to kill her mother.

If you like these updates, I will continue to write about my experiences teaching at the county jail.

If you find this website helpful, you will benefit from the latest book. You can order Breaking Mental Strongholds on Amazon. Also, check out my book called Fighting Unseen Battles on Amazon. I would love to hear what you think. To learn more about my book, read: How to Fight Unseen Battles.