Shalom Prayer Ministry
Healing Prayer Ministry Proves the Power of Prayer
When Dr. Peter Boelens transferred his title of Executive Director of the Luke Society to Dr. Wrede Vogel, he joined his wife, Eleanor, in looking for ministry opportunities in Vicksburg, Mississippi. God burdened their hearts for individuals who were struggling with baggage from the past and feelings of being separated from God due to disorders like depression and anxiety. They began a ministry called “Shalom Prayer Ministry,” which uses healing prayer to heal damaged emotions and to restore Christians to a better and more personal relationship with Jesus.
“When working with individuals, our goal is to listen, love and pray,” says Eleanor Boelens. “We take a written history, delving particularly into their early relationships with parents or other care-givers, making note of key information.” “Most of us have been damaged emotionally in some way in early childhood and/or during our development into adulthood,” Dr. Peter Boelens explains. “Some of these hurts are severe, such as abuse, and others may seem minor, such as damaging words spoken in ignorance or in anger. Each can have a profound effect on how we function or malfunction as adults.”
After a person seeking healing prayer approaches the Boelens, his/her first step is to understand that they need healing. The second, equally important, is that they desire it. They spend time in prayer, asking God to reveal the wounds in that person’s life realizing that, “The lamp of the Lord searches the spirit of a man; it searches out his innermost being (Proverbs 20:27).” “God stands ready and eager to cooperate with our prayers in bringing the prayer client to a new wholeness in Him,” Dr. Boelens says. “The result of God’s work is not only freedom from these hurts but also spiritual renewal.”
The Boelens assure the person that Jesus understands their victimization, that He experienced it firsthand, and that He died to restore their spirit, soul and body from these traumas. “The sin of unforgiveness and bitterness is readily confessed after a person has been able to release all hurt and pain to Jesus who was wounded so they might be set free. God desires this freedom for all of us because He chose us, adopted us, redeemed us, and sealed us with His Spirit,” Dr. Boelens explains. “The Apostle Paul makes certain we understand why by repeating it three times: ‘for the praise of His glory (Ephesians 1).’ Satan will do everything in his power to prevent us from living in this way. Thankfully the power of God is greater than that of Satan.”
Depression and anxiety have been the target disease in the Boelens’ ministry. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that by 2020, depression will be the second-largest problem of poor health worldwide. The WHO website describes depression as, “a common mental disorder that presents with a depressed mood, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, low energy, and poor concentration.” It says depression can impair an individual’s ability to care for everyday responsibilities, sometimes leading to suicide. In fact, the WHO reports that about 850,000 lives are lost globally every year due to depression.
Because of the negative social stigma associated with depression and anxiety, a form of mental illness, many of the Boelens’ clients were ashamed of past traumas and often their present lifestyles. They didn’t know where to turn for help. Many of the clients learned about the prayer ministry in their physician’s office. Others were influenced by friends and family members who had already received this transforming work of healing in their lives. Although some were skeptical of the help they could receive from prayer, they were willing to try, and all have experienced some relief with most becoming completely free of the disorders.
Around the world, the Luke Society focuses on holistic health – caring for the whole person. Dr. Boelens is also concerned that his ministry is holistic. Their first goal with a new patient is to “look past their faults and see their needs through the unconditional love of Jesus in order to bring His healing to their spirit,” Dr. Boelens says. The only way to heal the spirit is to (re)introduce Jesus to that person and share about His plan of love and peace for his/her life.
The next step is for God to heal their soul/psyche. This phase of the healing is dealt with by walking through the patient’s life and seeing how he/she has been affected by different events. “As we look at our clients, a great number have a history of past hurts, mistakes or sinful behavior,” Dr. Boelens says. “They ruminate about these hurts or behaviors to such an extent that pathologic thought patterns are imbedded in their brains. These thought patterns involve the way they think about themselves, others and life in general.” Those memories are brought out in confidential prayer sessions. After connecting emotionally with these painful memories, through prayer God separates the painful emotions from the memory with prayers of confession for unforgiveness and bitterness and with an inner healing.
“The stage is now set for the individual to develop God’s pathways of thinking through the praying of Scriptures counteracting the old ways of thinking,” Dr. Boelens says. “With the Holy Spirit’s help, minds are renewed and individuals begin to emerge out of their depression and anxiety into the sunlight of God’s presence.”
Since depression is a chronic disease without cure, the Boelens teach prevention – how to keep the spirit, soul and body healthy. This stage requires a regular routine for each client of meditation on Scripture and engaging with God in prayer. “If they have a cooperative attitude, pray select scriptures daily, focus on Jesus instead of their problems, ask for and follow His guidance, release new wounds to Him, continue to forgive others, etc, then they remain close to the Lord and experience His love, joy and peace in their lives,” Eleanor says. In doing this, she reminds the clients to maintain a vertical (God) connection rather than a horizontal (problem) focus.
Sheronda went through the Boelens’ healing prayer ministry. She accepted Jesus when she was 12 years old, but she said she had never experienced true freedom because of past hurts. “I am amazed that there isn’t a line of people waiting to go through this program,” she says. “I now see God’s presence in little things. I had taken so much for granted. I now have a greater appreciation for His love and grace and mercy.”
Sheronda was nervous about healing her soul. “It was painful to experience things that were root problems. It was scary to dig up that garbage,” she says. Her root problems were feelings of abandonment. She had no relationship with her father while she was growing up. She remembers thinking, “If a father that lives with me and sees me every day can’t love me, then how can my heavenly Father?” She soon realized that she was putting up defensive barriers to protect herself from further feelings of abandonment. After just one session of reviewing her history, she realized, “nobody really knew me. I was devastated at the end of the session, but I realized it was just the beginning.”
Now that her prayer sessions are complete, Sheronda’s personality has changed. Her coworkers have noticed that she handles stress much better. She is calmer and easier to get along with. “It was like coming out of my own prison,” she says. Now she is working at preventing depression from regaining control of her life again. “It’s not just a Sunday event,” she says. “It’s daily, and I have to take one step at a time. I want everyone to experience this kind of joy.”
As Mary went through life, she suppressed her emotions. She went through her parents’ divorce as a young child. In her teens, her mother passed away. Later in life, she lost her father. “My pain was never dealt with or recognized,” Mary says. “I was just accepting of life as the way it was. I didn’t know God’s promises when I was younger. I just needed someone to talk to and someone to listen.”
Mary went through healing prayer with the Boelens. “Going through the ministry, I was finally able to grieve,” she remembers. “It has given me the freedom from feeling battered and abused.”
Carolyn’s husband went through healing prayer teaching taught at his church by Dr. Boelens and suggested they both go through the prayer sessions as well. After going through healing prayer, both are better at communicating with each other. “I understand now that God sent someone to tell me I can be free,” Carolyn says. “Things I vaguely remembered, God brought back vividly. Those were the things I needed to be free from.”
“I came into this healing prayer experience with no expectations,” she says. “Now the words in the Scriptures are coming alive and breaking through the bonds the enemy is holding me back with.”
In June, Dr. Boelens will be traveling to Duke University to present his findings on the effect of healing prayer on depression and anxiety. Duke University Medical Center is conducting a three-day conference for researchers across the United States who are investigating the effect of religion and spirituality on health. “During this conference, six researchers have been chosen to present and discuss in detail their research data,” Dr. Boelens explains. “And we are one of the six. We have been handed a wonderful opportunity to hold high the name of Jesus.”
Dr. Boelens will begin the presentation by giving a brief introduction to depression and anxiety and the effects these have on society. He will then explain the process of the study, which is outlined in the sidebar. The findings will be presented and discussed, and following the conference, Dr. Boelens will look to have the study published in a medical journal.
“How much interest the study generates in the scientific community will be dependent a great deal on the results of the cortisol (a stress hormone) measurements,” Dr. Boelens comments. He adds, “The general public, however, is very interested in how emotions and memories contribute to thought patterns resulting in depression and anxiety and the steps necessary to stay healthy.” As for the Christian audience, Dr. Boelens expects interest, but also skepticism. The guardedness about spiritual healing stems, in part, from televangelists who perform “healings” in theatrical ways.
What sets Dr. Boelens’ work apart from usual works of healing is what was being prayed for. “In this medical study never once was any prayer offered that Jesus would heal a person of depression or anxiety,” he explains. “There wasn’t one prayer!” Instead, the Boelens’ facilitate God’s healing in the areas of trauma. “It is God’s miraculous work that separates the painful memories from their corresponding emotions and throughout this entire process a spiritual renewal takes place with clients experiencing God and His creation in a brighter and fuller way,” he says.
Although there may be skepticism about the healing prayer ministry, there is no denying the results in the clients. Family and friends noticed differences in their personalities and found them more pleasant to be around. Their relationships with their children and spouses are improving. God is truly healing and many feel free for the first time in their lives.
Laura Eisenga