Sin, injustices, trauma, etc., impact not only our thinking and beliefs, but our emotions as well. Often we are subject to strong emotional reactions, particularly in response to hurtful situations (injustices).

It can be very healing to “pour out your heart” to the Lord, giving our painful emotions to God. Someone has said regarding our emotions, “we have to name them to tame them.”


When a person is sharing a particularly painful memory, you can ask, “What emotions were you feeling at that time? It can be very healing to let yourself feel and pour it out to God.” They may begin to describe some of the emotions they felt.

If the person has a hard time clearly recognizing and/or feeling the emotions they experienced, you can ask God to help them do so. Tell them that you are going to ask God to help them feel their emotions, so they can give them to the Lord for Him to heal.


Once they are clearly feeling/naming the emotion(s), instruct the person to tell the Lord all the different emotions they were feeling when that was happening (e.g., “I felt abandoned, all alone, terrified,” etc.). Have them talk directly to the Lord, giving him all of these emotions, laying them at His feet.

Be sensitive to what the Holy Spirit is doing in this moment. You may feel led to ask, “Jesus, is there anything you want to say to ___(person’s name)___?”

If you are ministering to a recent event in a person’s life, you also may feel led to ask, “Lord, when was the first time they felt this way?” God may lead you to a deeper root of this issue to bring greater freedom in this ministry time. If so, use the appropriate tools as the Spirit leads (Freedom Pathway, etc.).