A few days ago, I was driving home and across the street and down a couple of houses, I came face-to-face with Death and Fear. 

Take a look....

There they were staring straight at me. And all I could think is, this 12-foot-tall representation of the ministry of satan, is no longer in hiding. Death, the skeleton, is prevalent everywhere. 

And fear... Look at this beast. Also 12 foot tall. Did you know its eyes light up at night? Sheesh. No wonder so many live in perpetual fear and affliction. These characters are now standing in the shadows in every neighborhood. And not just on Halloween.

They loom large and have real consequences. I pray with so many who are wrapped in fear. Let's push back against death and fear.

Everything about our Father is LIFE! And Jesus came to give LIFE and abundantly. We must speak life into our lives, our bodies, our relationships and communities.

Bless with life. Rebuke Death and Fear.

So, I rebuke these two characters every time I drive by this house. I hope to drive by soon and see one of both, face down on the ground. Just because some 5'4" blonde lady prayed. 

I would laugh with glee. 

Happy fall. Life in Life. Blessings and hugs, Lynn

Hello my dear brothers and sisters,

Lynn Donovan, with you today. I’m feeling extra empathy and compassion for all of us who have walked the road of the unequally yoked or any long-term difficult relationship.

In a prayer session this week, I was praying with a friend, and uncovered an area of unhealed pain that needed the love of Jesus….. and needed my love.

You see, Jesus took me back to when I was newly married, within the first three years, to the moment reality came crashing in that my husband and I were at odds about this major part of my person, Jesus. I remember that moment clearly. I experienced devastation when that understanding hit me. And frankly, the reality that my husband didn’t care, or seem to care, that I was in pain, the devastation increased. Ugh!

It’s difficult to be transparent about this, as it’s a deeply personal moment. However, I’ve always chosen to be real with you because we learn together how to overcome pain?

Now here is the best part.

In my prayer time this week, I discovered that this was the moment where I became disappointed with myself. I realized that my fairytale wasn’t going to unfold as expected. This moment was the beginning of a lie that devil began to tell me that I was a disappointment to myself.

This is the moment when I began to unlove myself.

Ugh! I didn’t even know this pain and reality was inside. It was absolutely revelation from Jesus. Jesus then arrived to love on this young girl. And through this experience, He loved on me. I forgave myself for this disappointment. For the rebellion against God and not following His written Word. I forgave myself and acknowledged the difficulties this young woman faced and the deceit she lived in at the time.

I blessed her. And Jesus blessed me.

My love of self, found healing. And this morning when I woke, I’ve been surrounded by a simple peace. I feel whole unto myself. And I realized how much I truly love my husband, Mike.

My brother or sister, sit down with Jesus. (NO DISTRACTIONS). Ask Him if there was a place where disappointment and unlove entered in. Ask Him to reveal any roots to this pain and forgive yourself. Forgive others if needed. Love yourself. Bless yourself.

We are so hard on ourselves over our past mistakes. One of the great things I did in this prayer session was to forgive my young self for the choices she made. As my entire life has felt the consequences of her decisions. (And I realize it’s myself I’m speaking of, but that girl….. and the woman I am today, are very different people. Praise the Lord Jesus Christ.)

This process is inner healing. It is beautiful. It is necessary and it is FREEDOM.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1

If you need inner healing, make a Healing Prayer Appointment with me. I am tender and full of compassion. Jesus will meet you where you are, and He will set you free also.

With great love and compassion, I greet you this day. Love, Lynn Donovan

Healing Prayer with Lynn Donovan

Credit: Getty Images

Jeanne here!  In my prayer time this morning Jesus was telling me (and all of us), “Rise up, rise up and rule! Take the seat that has been purchased and prepared for you.” The things he was saying were quite remarkable, and I will talk about them in another post.

But as I was writing down his words, he gave me a picture, a memory of something that illustrates who he is and what he needs us to do.  It’s not what you think!

A little context might help you understand.  I am the second-youngest of 12 siblings, spread in age over more than 20 years.  Throughout my childhood I had siblings who were adults and teenagers.  On Sundays in the summer, a handful of my siblings’ friends would join us and we would play volleyball on the front lawn.  We had a volleyball net that would be set up for the games, and we used a garden hose to mark the boundaries of the “court.”

I don’t know how anyone else decided which team to play on, but I’d always want to be on my oldest brother’s team, because we would be sure to win.  He wasn’t a flashy player or a ball hog; he certainly didn’t win every point.  But somehow he always managed to be in the right place at the right time.  If the ball was on our side and about to drop to the ground, my brother would sacrifice his body for the ball (as the saying goes) and dive across the court to put his fist between the ball and the earth, giving us another chance to get it over the net.

I have vivid memories of myself as a little kid, small and uncoordinated, but wanting to play and wanting to win.  There were bigger people all around me, but my brother seemed always to be nearby.  If the ball came to me, he’d let me hit it, and then he would swoop in and take whatever feeble effort I managed and turn it into a real hit.  He clearly wanted to win, but he never scolded or excluded those of us who weren’t athletic.

What Jesus showed me this morning is that he is just like my volleyball-playing brother.  He is always nearby.  He doesn’t take over and do it all for us, but he takes whatever we are able to do and turns it into victory.  Our most important play is to choose to be on his side in every game we play. 

At that time the disciples came up and asked Jesus, Who then is [really] the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And He called a little child to Himself and put him in the midst of them, and said, Truly I say to you, unless you repent (change, turn about) and become like little children [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving], you can never enter the kingdom of heaven [at all].  Whoever will humble himself therefore and become like this little child [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving] is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.     (Matthew 18:1-4, Amplified)

This is so counter to our culture, where we each want to be independent and in charge. But we can’t win the game, or the battle against the enemy, in our own strength.  Jesus wants us to be trusting, lowly, loving, and forgiving, and he will make us great in his kingdom!

Last week we began a series on healing of a broken heart. And for most of you who are readers here at Thrive Ministries with Lynn Donovan have submitted yourself to the hard work of prayer and study to find healing.

I’m so proud of you. Healing takes effort, time and persistence. For more on the spiritual principle of persistence, I’m writing about that at SpirituallyUnequalMarriage.com. Click here for the first in that series.

However, how do you know if the healing efforts have been enough? Let’s look at our lives and consider seven aspects of our behavior that indicated we might have some more work to do.

1. Anger: Is there a slow burning resident of anger under the surface? If you are set off by triggering events and people, and rage manifests, there is some more spiritual work to be accomplished. And there can be a demonic oppressor that is contributing to your torment.
2. Are you overly insecure? Shame, blame and guilt seem to be your constant companions and you never feel good enough or worthy of love or acceptance? You feel the constant need for affirmation and encouragement. You are uncertain of your decisions.
3. Pride: This is the other side of insecurity. You may have thoughts such as: Because of my pain I’m going to show the world I’m better. I’ll take care of me. No one will hurt me again.
4. Are you overly independent? Do you refuse to accept help? This often manifest in inner statements such as: Because of my wounding, I can’t trust anyone. I don’t need anybody. I don’t trust God. Side note: Ahem, yep, this was me. Praise God He was so patient to help me unwind all this pain and wounding. Hallelujah!
5. Overly Sensitive: This is where we are offended easily. No one can say anything to me because I’m sensitive. Our culture today is in a constant state of offense. I’ll share this with you. A few years ago, the Lord said to me, “Lynn, the second you are in offense. You are in sin.” Ouch!
6. Excessively shy: This will manifest in avoidance. Because of the emotional bruises and feeling beat up, you won’t risk relationships.
7. Excessive need to control: Controlling of relationships, time, emotions and others. This is born from living and/or a childhood where there was no control. This is where we manipulate our circumstances to our optimal best because we cannot face uncertainty. I’ll admit, this one I still battle with. Lord help me!

My friend, if you just read through all of this, then you are a prime candidate for healing. And God is filled with love, mercy and forgiveness. And if you are breathing, there is always hope for healing and a better tomorrow.

Take the time to do the hard work of healing. I promise, as a child of God, who has done so much work in prayer and practice myself, it’s worth it. The peace, the truth and the reality of our loving God and Kingdom family is worth all your efforts.

To schedule a Healing Prayer session with me, Lynn Donovan, visit: HEALING PRAYER

Have a blessed day. Lynn

On Sunday my pastor took on a very difficult topic that is rarely addressed to a congregation on a Sunday morning. Pastor Hector provided specifics and talked about the reality of why people are broken, how they find healing and how the determine if they need more healing.

It was so good.

I thought I would share some of my notes with all of you.

First the most important truth every person needs to know is this: Jesus came to heal the brokenhearted. 

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Luke 4:18-19

So let's first discuss what is broken? Well the Hebrew word broken is Shabar. It means to shatter. Like a glass dropped upon a tile floor. A heart can be shattered in so many ways. But what is crucial is knowing what happens is that we actually have a breaking of our soul. The soul realm of an individual is their emotions, their will, their mind and this is the realm that the demonic can occupy. 

This is why I preach so much about taking thoughts captive. It's our thought-life that the demonic works to influence. It's int he soul that the enemy preaches lies that corrupt our identity and God's identity. The lies keep us in bondage and in broken pain. 

The demonic gains legal rights and will continually reenforce the core lies and erroneous belief systems we hold. The keeps us in pain and unhealed. These wounds can then carry forward to the next generation. Eventually becoming generational curses.

BUT, Jesu came to see the captives free. He came to heal the Shabar and to set us from the pain of our past. However, we also have a significant part to play in this process. And in future posts we will talk about some of the steps of healing.

Today, let's look at three signs we are moving toward healing. 

1. Awareness
2. Prayer
3. Wise counsel

If you have become aware of brokenness, issues and have prayed and asked for healing, that's the first steps of healing. And for some, this is all a person may require. But if you are like 99% of the human race, you need more. And we will discuss this in future posts.

Next week we will look at seven signs you need more healing. 

So, where do you see yourself in your healing journey? How can I pray for you? See you in the comments. 

You are deeply loved, Lynn Donovan

*Pastor Hector Gutierrez