There are people I meet who can detect when every person is deceiving them, but one. The man in the mirror can tell a nearly undetectable lie! When we have deceived ourselves, it can put us into areas of bondage that we cannot see. How can there be healing from deception? The one way to heal quickly is to embrace the truth found in the Word of God! Have you heard that one truth can shatter a thousand lies? It’s true. The scripture says:
John 8:32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” NKJV
Case Study: Jane
To introduce a method of breaking through self-deception, I’m going to share a testimony of one of the women who came to my office for freedom and healing. By the time Jane got to me, she was suicidal, full of shame, and could not receive love. She obviously believed a lot of lies but was oblivious to be able to detect even one of them.
Jane was struggling to learn her identity in Christ. Our team decided to ask the Lord to reveal what only He knew. She was surprised when the light came on that illuminated her false identities. The following are the steps we used and the result of exposing the lies.
Six Steps to Healing from Deception
Step One
- Ask the Lord to reveal the lie.
With her permission, I asked the Lord to show her the lie. I prayed, “Father, would you give Jane a picture or words to reveal to her how she sees herself.”
Jane began to cry. She saw a picture of herself with tattered clothes, covered up by old newspapers and all alone. She saw the words: anger, confusion, shame, hopeless, anxiety, shame… Jane also saw the pride flag. She so identified with the picture the Lord revealed; she knew it was the truth and knew no other way to think of herself.
The Power of the Truth
It does no good to just know a lie. The deception has to meet the power of the truth to be broken.
Step Two
2. Ask the Lord to reveal the truth.
Once she saw the lie, we then asked the Lord to reveal the truth. I said, “Father, she sees the truth of how she sees herself. But, will you show her the truth of how you see her? Will you break the lies with the power of your truth in the name of Jesus?”
When He responded, she shook her head, “How can this be?” Slowly, she matched her faith with what she saw from the Lord. A smile washed over her face as she said, “I see me sitting at a piano and worshipping. I am surrounded by wisdom, peace, and hope. I see the rainbow in a flag, but it does not mean what it did in the first picture. It is a promise and a true holy love. I’ve never seen that before! Wow!”
The Power of Faith
After the lie has been exposed and the truth has been released, there is still yet another layer of healing.
Step Three
3. Believe the truth
It can be difficult for a person to digest the truth after having a diet of deception, betrayal, and lies. But, the Lord has given us the perfect measure of faith that we need to help embrace what He says is true. (Romans 12:3)
The importance of choosing to believe the truth cannot be overstated. For Jane, when she chose to believe what He said, a major breakthrough occurred. It was such a vivid revelation that she said, “Oh how I wish I could paint!”
A few days later, she sent the photographs above with an apology that she couldn’t capture it like she wanted. She can now look at the truth and choose to believe it when the enemy comes to accuse her of a false identity, as he always does.
The Power of Deliverance
The fact that Jane was depressed, suicidal, confused, and hated herself came from early trauma and the fact she didn’t see God’s truth. These issues became open doors for the enemy to come hide in her emotions.
Step Five
5. Command the attachments to go
Among the bondages that had attached themselves to Jane were the spirits of heaviness, fear, and error. Once she came out of agreement with the lie, we simply made the command, “Every unclean spirit attached to the lie that she is, (we began to name all of the words on her paper), I command to loose her now in the name of Jesus.”
Her only job was to let it go. Those bondages go a lot easier when the person comes out of agreement with their reason for staying. Jane was well on her way to sustainable freedom.
I recommend the Deliverance Companion. It has assessments and methods to walk through a deep deliverance.
The Power of a Renewed Mind
After acknowledging the lie, proclaiming the truth, and choosing to match her faith with the truth, Jane was ready for the step that would seal the victory forever.
Step Six
6. Review the Mind
What does a person do who has erroneously believed all their lives that they are unworthy and unwanted? Even though they know the truth and the enemy has been given the boot, the mind learns through repetition and will need to relearn how to think. The emotions may even need to be trained to think in the parameters of the truth.
Jane has been working on renewing her mind renewed by:
- Reading the Word. This act would cleanse her mind, teach her about God, and reveal to her the truth of her own identity. (Romans 12:2)
- When old thought patterns would come up, she would speak out loud the truth. She would say the truth and refute the assault of the lies. (James 4:7)
- Breaking habits. Prior to freedom, she would let her mind run wild. She had to learn not to allow her mind to do that. Proverbs 25:28 Philippians 4:8
- Separating herself. Jane stopped watching shows that glorified her past or made her feel the things she felt when she saw how she viewed herself. She cleaned her home of bad things and dedicated all of her life to God. 2 Corinthians 6:17
Living a Life of Freedom from lies
We need to get really good at asking ourselves questions like,
- “Why do I hate myself?”
- “Why do I believe what I believe?”
- “Why do I think no one will like me?”
- “Why do I believe that everyone’s life is better off without me?”
- “Why do I reject anything good that is said about me?”
- “Why can’t I feel love?”
Questioning our thought processes, habits, and behaviors will help us detect hidden lies that have produced self-rejecting issues. Asking the Lord to reveal the root of our beliefs can launch us into quicker healing! Proverbs 20:27 Proverbs 21:2
To receive healing from deception, we must know the truth so much that when lies and counterfeits come, we can easily recognize and separate what is true from what is false. Hebrews 4:12
