by Chris Boersma Smith | Jul 3, 2018 | 5 Gospel Keys, Deliverance, Empowering and Freeing Choices, Faith and Repentance, Forgiving and Forgiveness, Freedom, Healing, Holy Spirit, Individual Prayer Ministry, Unbound
After more than 50 Unbound sessions, our 5 Keys to Freedom in Christ team has seen the Lord do amazing healing and deliverance. Yet not everyone who comes for Unbound ministry gets set free, as they were hoping, or they don’t Stay Free, doing what’s needed to hold onto their freedom. Prayer, preparation, and personal responsibility help first or second-time Unbound recipients get the best possible results.
What can you hope for with Unbound ministry? The majority of those we’ve prayed with have received freedom for which they’ve been very grateful, if not astounded! We’ve seen healing physically, mentally, and emotionally, as well as spiritually. Relationships have improved. Self-loathing and self-criticism have been curtailed. Depression and anxiety have yielded to peace and trust. Shame and guilt have been overcome! Always, a lot of forgiveness happens, which can be miraculous even if that were the only outcome! On the other hand, we’ve shared some disappointment when forgiveness and relief are the “only” fruits of a ministry session. So we’ve thought about what makes the difference.
I’ve needed more than one ministry session myself. The first time I experienced deliverance and freedom, I’d prepared my Need to Forgive List very thoroughly and I did receive an amazing feeling of freedom and healing of relationships. But I hadn’t yet heard of or read Unbound and there were important behaviors, attitudes, and past occult experiences that I didn’t know to bring to the session. A year later, after having studied the book and attended two Freedom in Christ Conferences, I was set free of deeper emotional pain (at a short session during a conference). The more I learn, the more often I use the 5 Keys on my own and turn to my teammates, too. Freedom is a process, and there is always more to receive—addressing new material that comes up with deeper reflection and/or sharing parts of our story that we hadn’t brought up before.
Our Unbound team rarely says No to a request for ministry, but we sometimes feel prompted to say Later. We review requests for ministry and pray to discern if the timing is right, and if there’s a good fit between the person and members of the team. At times the Holy Spirit alerts us that an individual’s unusual situation or experiences call for a prayer leader with expertise we don’t have. Scheduling is complex; our team members are volunteers with jobs and commitments that affect our availability, so appointment times and staffing are not conducive to scheduling exactly as some people request. We urge those seeking ministry to pray and trust that the Holy Spirit is at work in the intake process to influence the timing and the composition of the prayer team that will minister to you, often for reasons only God knows for sure. We trust that the Lord orchestrates it all.
Before you make a prayer request, ask the Lord if now is the time — if you’ll have time to prepare, who’s in your life to support you, and whether you’re ready to take personal responsibility, possibly give up some unhealthy choices, and follow through. Motivation is another factor: why do you want to make an appointment? Have you learned enough about Unbound to be making an informed request? Are you being drawn to it prayerfully?
If you’re looking for ongoing support from us because you don’t have Christian friends with whom you can share your faith and struggles, it’s probably not the time for Unbound in your life. Unbound teams are not in a position to offer ongoing support. Rachel Lozano explains that the enemy’s desire is to isolate people, so Unbound encourages everyone to first find healthy, loving Christian fellowship. We are not created to live alone but in relationship, and once we become free, we need relationship to stay free.
Abe Lincoln said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” The proportion of prep time to ministry time is generally significantly higher in successful Unbound sessions!
Preparation begins with reading Unbound: A Practical Guide to Deliverance by Neal Lozano, available at the St. Dominic’s Parish Office, at Heart of Father Ministries in book or MP3 form, and at online suppliers. Ideally, you’ll have attended a Freedom in Christ Conference or Live Free! or read the first half of Unbound even before requesting ministry, so you know about the Five Keys and how they work in a session.
Once you have an appointment, re-read the first seven chapters of Unbound prayerfully, marking up the book or taking notes. Notice what stories stand out to you, which you relate to, or the description of dark influences you’d previously thought were “just part of who I am” or that “sound like the way it was in my family.” Ask the Lord to give you personal insights. We provide Preparing for Ministry – Personal Reflections to guide you in preparing. If you’d like to go deeper, or if you’ve had a previous session and didn’t get the freedom you hoped for, we offer Deep Reflection Questions. Don’t leave your prep to a few days before your session. You’ll benefit from using these Reflection documents over the course of at least several days.
We know that it’s the Holy Spirit and the prayer recipient who actually do the work during ministry sessions. The prayer ministers are trained to come alongside and coach you through it, but God and you are the key players!
Your freedom depends on YOU — Freedom is God’s will for all His children; but God has laid out how to attain it, and it’s your choice as to whether you will do what it takes to Become Free, and then to Live Free and Stay Free. If you’ve taken on the identity as someone possessed or if you’re involved in the occult, you’ll need to be ready to let that go. You are NOT powerless over evil spirits, but if you believe you are, you will be. You may have been victimized, but you won’t stay a VICTIM if you’re willing during your session to renounce the victim spirit and take back the authority and power you’ve given away or had taken from you. You’ll need to be open to repent of your sin, to stop making excuses, and to stop blaming others. “For each will have to bear his own load” ~Galatians 6:5 (NIV).
The preparation process and the ministry itself help with all of this. But it’s very important for you to count on yourself. Prayer and diligent preparation, your words during the session, and your belief are the most important factors. We provide guidance, resources, experience, trained listening and coaching, prayer and love, but you are ultimately going to need to surrender to the Lord, trust the Lord, open yourself to the Lord, repent, forgive, and renounce, believing that the Lord will do for you what Jesus promised:
“Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing” — healing the sick, driving out demons, and setting free the oppressed —”and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” ~John 14:12.
After your session we’ll talk to you about how to win the continuing battle for your mind. Again, you’ll need to pray and to take responsibility, learning from a talk we recommend and applying the described techniques to Stay Free. This is why we sign our emails with the whole process: Become Free, Live Free, Stay Free, and then we hope you’ll also decide to give back by serving others, which we call Give Free!
by Chris Boersma Smith | Jun 18, 2018 | Deliverance, Freedom, Healing, Holy Spirit, Transformational Breakthroughs, Unbound
I’d like to invite laity and clergy to read this post from Heart of the Father Ministries, which has trained our 5 Keys to Freedom in Christ team and spread the awesome ministry of Unbound across the states, provinces, and nations! Please check out this post and pray for the ministry!
http://www.heartofthefather.com/resources/blog/opportunities-for-new-growth
For an individual Unbound ministry session at St. Dominic’s, please visit our Unbound Ministry page to learn more, and submit your request for a private appointment.
by Chris Boersma Smith | Feb 12, 2018 | 5 Gospel Keys, Book Recommendations, Deliverance, Encouragement and Inspiration, Freedom, Holy Spirit, Individual Prayer Ministry, Unbound
Understanding How We Can Coooperate with God’s Plans
I recently listened to Experiencing God by Henry and Richard Blackaby and Claude King. This inspirational book is about the blessings and miraculous outcomes that come from:
- discovering where the Father is working;
- listening to how we might be called to minister alongside Him;
- confirming our call with the Word of God, the church, godly counsel, and circumstances; and
- acting on it in faith — that is, before all the “proof” lines up.
Interestingly, the authors point out that the call may not align with what we thought were our gifts or charisms! They convinced me of that with so many Biblical examples of people being called to areas where they lacked what seemed needed for the task—so then others seeing what God did through them would know the glory and success belonged to God and not to His servant!
God Is Using UNBOUND in Mighty Ways
It is absolutely clear that the Father is working through UNBOUND Ministry, the simple but powerful deliverance and healing prayer model that uses the 5 Keys to Freedom in Christ described by Neal Lozano in
Unbound: A Practical Guide to Deliverance. Those individuals who’ve been serving in our 5 Keys team’s UNBOUND sessions have seen healing and deliverance over and over again! (For example, see our
Testimonies.) Neal Lozano estimates that over 100,000 people were set free through UNBOUND last year. At St. Dominic’s Catholic Church in San Francisco, we have seen the Holy Spirit grow our team and bring about our priests’ enthusiastic encouragement and participation. They will even present talks at our
Live Free! UNBOUND Seminar on March 17th, 2018 (click to register — it’s free but donations will be requested that day).
Our Team Members Hear the Call to Minister Alongside God
Each one of our prayer team members knows or believes s/he has received the personal call to serve God’s people through this ministry. S/he’s received training and made him- or herself available to pray with those in need. Yesterday’s Gospel was about compassion for the marginalized, those in most need, and when we listen to the stories people bring to their sessions, and guide them through the 5 keys, we know we are serving those in dire need! We are obeying the Gospel! Prayer team members have also experienced receiving UNBOUND prayer themselves. They have read and studied the subject on their own. Five team members traveled to Philadelphia to attend and International UNBOUND Leadership Conference. Most have participated as a small Christian community, too, as we develop as a team and support one another.
Setting the Captives Free Is a Calling that Aligns with the Word!
As for confirming that the calling to serve in UNBOUND Ministry lines up with the Word of God: recent readings (like James 1:5-6) have emphasized asking for wisdom with faith that God will give it to us, because that’s His will and His promise! Openness to the Holy Spirit and the Wisdom the Holy Spirit imparts as we pray with people are essential to our ministry. As a team, we have been amazed at how the Spirit has used team members for great blessings despite our own shortcomings, especially when we acknowledge that it isn’t US that makes anything happen: we are inadequate and weak on our own but strongly used by the Lord as His humble servants! We are only expected to do what we can and leave the rest to God — that’s how the wall of Jericho fell, and that’s how people are set free!
There have been so many healings and deliverances from demons in recent weeks’ Gospels–indeed, in Mark 6, everyone who came and touched Jesus’ cloak was healed! We can’t literally touch His cloak, but we can do better than that — through the Eucharist we have him touch us from the inside, living in us. I am excited to remember that of those who came to Jesus with expectant faith, belief, confidence, and hope — ALL were healed! Psalm 37:5 says “Commit to the Lord your way; trust him, and he will act.”
Is This Ministry One for You to Act On?
Of course, more prayer and time in the Word can clarify whether the call is for you personally. If you need to discern more about your personal calling, please keep doing that; our team’s trainers can meet with you to help you on that (after April 7th).
If You Feel Called to Receive UNBOUND Ministry . . .
Here are your near-term options:
A. Make an individual appointment:
- Submit a Request for Individual Prayer Ministry on our website.
- We will respond and present some preparation guidelines and possible appointment times, usually for a two-hour session within two to four weeks, so you have time to prepare.
- Obtain a copy of Unbound by Neal Lozano (for sale at the St. Dominic’s Parish Office, Heart of the Father, or Amazon), and read the first half.
- Prepare and come see what the Lord will do for you!
B. Take advantage of our March and April events:
- Register for Live Free! UNBOUND Conference, a full-day seminar on March 17, 2018, that will help you understand the prayer model and begin your preparation.
- Sign up at Live Free! for a one-hour individual session on Saturday, April 7, 2018 (or, if those are booked up quickly at the event or you’d like a longer session or a different day, make an individual appointment, as described above).
by Chris Boersma Smith | Jan 18, 2017 | Freedom, Healing, Overcoming Obstacles, Spiritual Direction, Transformational Breakthroughs, Unbound
Free live workshops help God’s people learn how to unlock more peace, joy, healing, understanding, and freedom will be presented twice next week! In a nutshell, here’s what we’ll explore:
- Ever wondered HOW to truly forgive situations where you were hurt and still have lingering bitterness, anger, or grief?
- Do you need help to let go of past wrongs?
- Would you like to learn a valuable process for purifying your heart?
- Do you understand what this means? “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” ~Mt. 5:8.
- Can you identify the numerous “on earth” benefits of forgiveness besides the ultimate benefit of getting into heaven
The 5 Keys to Freedom in Christ are based on Neal Lozano’s Unbound book, the Our Father, and Jesus’ specific teachings. The discussion of why it’s hard to forgive also draws on psychology!
I’ve taught much of this before to parents of young children at 40-minute talk at St. Dominic’s Practical Faith that happens during Children’s Faith Formation on Sunday mornings. But I expanded a shorter PowerPoint presentation into a 90-minute workshop that includes prayer, a creative exercise to help with insights, practical suggestions for putting faith into action, as well as the Scripturally-based PowerPoint presentation. Please pray for this ministry, for those called to attend workshops, to pray for others, and to receive prayer ministry.
In the spirit of Oneness, the parish where I gave the “Forgiveness is Your Key to Healing and Freedom!” talks, Mary Star of the Sea, shares our charming little church building with other denominations, who call it Shepherd of the Sea. It’s nestled in the redwoods with a spectacular setting where you can see the waves through the windows behind the altar! We embraced the unity of all members of the Body of Christ and cordially invited those of all Christian denominations to join us!
5 Keys to Freedom in Christ prayer sessions are offered free, with a requested from-the-heart donation to the church or Heart of the Father Ministries only if you feel afterward that the Lord has done a good work in you!
I’ve personally experienced being set free right after forgiving those I perceived to have trespassed against me (including forgiving myself.) That’s given me a passion to minister using the process and to teach others the applicable divine promises! I present these workshops in partnership with the Holy Spirit as I draw on my experiences as a Catholic spiritual director, a trained UNBOUND team and prayer leader, and as author of Freedom from Hurts, Fears, and Unhealthy Habits: 5 Keys to a Free, Peaceful Life with More Creative Energy, which tells my story of forgiveness and freedom and also sets forth the 5 Keys in the context of the Lord’s Prayer.
For more information about booking me to make a presentation or to learn more about our prayer ministry, please browse our 5keystofreedom website.
by Chris Boersma Smith | Jan 23, 2016 | 5 Gospel Keys, Freedom, Healing, Individual Prayer Ministry, Lies, Life Stories, Mindset, Overcoming Obstacles, Renunciation
Most women lie to themselves, and that awful habit is a stoppable form of self-imprisonment!
They often tell themselves one or more of these (or other) unhealthy thoughts:
- I’m not good enough
- I’ll never amount to anything
- I don’t belong or I don’t fit in
- Nobody cares about me
- I have to do it right or be right
- I’m not seen or heard unless I mess up
- Something’s wrong with me or I’m not normal
- I’m a bad mother/grandmother/daughter/spouse/partner/sister
- What I want doesn’t matter
- I can’t do anything about it
- I have to do everything myself
- God won’t help me or God’s getting back at me
Where do these lies come from?
Typically, false beliefs have their roots in some incident or dynamic that goes way back, perhaps to childhood.
Take my 6th grade report card story, for example. As my fellow 12-year-old classmates and I put on coats to go home one report card day, we showed each other our grades–As, Bs, Cs, and Ds in the main subjects; V for Very Good, S for Satisfactory, or N for Needs Improvement in the behavior category.
Looking at my report card, classmates exclaimed, “Wow, you’re gonna clean up! Do your parents give you a quarter for every A?” I had straight As, and it was in the 60s.
“No,” I said, “I’m going to be in big trouble.”
Sure enough, that night my parents grounded me for weeks, because I got an N in Paying Attention. That day reinforced my belief that nothing I did was good enough, a LIE that kept me stuck in crippling perfectionism for decades. (Of course, the irony is that my paying-attention skills did need improvement — not so much to understand the subject lessons, but simply to be a better listener.)*
Awareness, Improvement, Steps to Overcome, and then Freedom
I became aware of the compulsiveness of my perfectionism through personality assessments, by loved ones pointing it out, and from my spiritual directors. When I was in Spiritual Direction School, I had some Aha’s and started lightening up a bit. In Kaizen-Muse™ Creativity Coaching training, while I was writing my first book, my perfectionism came up again. I began consciously lowering my expectations of myself and realizing what a burden and barrier perfectionism had become. Shortly thereafter, in doing Heart Work and Spiritual Cleansing with Convergence™ and UNBOUND ministries, I renounced and became (mostly) free of the lies that I’m not good enough and that I always have to do things right or be right!
If I were still trapped in perfectionism, I wouldn’t dare to express concepts like this on a blog or to teach the concepts I share in my teleclasses. I’d be waiting until I’d read all I could on each subject and had “perfect” posts and teaching outlines—a day that would never arrive. Instead, I accept that only God is perfect, and that in yielding to the Holy Spirit as I write, teach, or make quilts, God can work through me. My weakness becomes an instrument for God’s grace to flow through. Daring to rely on this is what I call Holy Boldness. And I believe that every day we can all sow Holy Boldness into the art of life, however you interpret that!
Being free of those lies has opened up so much good, and so much creativity, that I can’t wait to help others get freed of their lies, too—whatever form those lies take!
The good news is that, whatever your habitual lies are, they don’t need to plague you any longer! You can break out of the prison of those false beliefs. You CAN get past the lies, forgive whatever hurt or pain that may have led to them, and put on a mindset of new beliefs to replace those lies!
Where You Can Get Help
Read Unbound by Neal Lozano, the book that came out of 30 years of experience in using the 5 Keys approach to healing and deliverance. After you’ve read the book and reflected upon your life’s stories and who or what still breeds hurt, resentment, bitterness, ill will, etc., set up an appointment to receive individual Unbound prayer ministry. You’ll typically meet for 60 to 90 minutes with a prayer leader and an intercessor who will pray with you, listen to your story non-judgmentally, confidentially, and with an ear to you and to the Holy Spirit, so they can guide you through the 3 Keys and help you unlock the door to healing and freedom in Christ. If you’re in Northern California, please visit our ministry page and complete a request form.
Note to Mom:
*My mom reads my newsletter, so to her I say: “Hey, Mom, you know I’ve long ago forgiven everyone involved in that little story, and I ask you to forgive me for telling it again! In fact, I’m grateful it happened, because it demonstrates how seemingly minor and inadvertent things can have unintended consequences and can become some of our best teachers. You’ve also been one of my best teachers! I love you!”
by Chris Boersma Smith | Dec 31, 2014 | Freedom
As a child in my family of origin, we’d find a gift under the Christmas tree each year with the curious label, “From Me to Me.” It would turn out to be something my mom bought for herself. After shopping for 5 kids and all the others on her list, as well as doing all the decorating, cooking, hosting of in-laws, and making sure we all had special outfits to wear to church, she felt she’d earned the right to get herself one gift that she really wanted. I picked up the tradition when my kids were young and holiday preparations fell largely on my shoulders. In today’s blog post, I mention what I got myself . . . something I both “needed” and wanted.
This year, the holiday greeting my husband and I sent out was an acrostic, each line beginning with the letters that say, “EACH DAY IS A GIFT.” We reflected on gifts that were a part of our 2014 — some opportunities, fortunate choices, blessings, or gifts that grew out of making the most of challenges. I also reflected on what to me is the greatest gift of all, and the reason for the season we’ve just celebrated: the coming of Emmanuel, God with us . . . a gift God sent out of love, to teach, heal, and set us free!
Freedom is an awesome gift! And it’s one we can all give and receive any time, without even leaving home and hitting the mall! It’s also a great guiding word for 2015.
To embrace Freedom in the New Year, here are 25 ideas of things you might try:
- Doing what you love, being true to yourself and helping others. They will respond and the rewards will follow.
- Taming your gremlins – those annoying negative thoughts and beliefs that don’t serve you any good but keep on talking inside your head. This includes Letting go of seeking approval from others, including your spouse, partner, parents, children, friends, neighbors, and even strangers or the world at large.
- Learning to say No so that you have room and energy for the best kinds of Yeses in your life.
- Getting outside your comfort zone, freed of a limit that’s holding you back from the best version of yourself—perhaps by turning your doubt into a dare . . . or just imagining what you might do without your doubt.
- Elevating quality over quantity—such as the quality of time, conversations, what you’re offering to others, material possessions, and food. You might start with just one thing a day, like upgrading one part of your morning ritual. Or you might limit the quantity of something that consumes too much of your energy.
- Creating spaciousness in your life by carving out more free time, honoring your preference to sometimes go with the flow instead of sticking to a schedule or To Do List, allowing for spontaneity or what we’ve talked about in this blog as “Divine Timing.”
- Moving yourself to the front burner, knowing you can’t continue to serve others if you yourself are neglected, broken, and not nurtured enough to be good for ongoing service to those you’re called to serve. You might start by listing 10 ways to fill your well and marking time on your calendar to practice them as sacred self-care. (This year’s Me-to-Me Christmas present was a mani-pedi and an eyebrow shaping at a spa – and a decision to do that more often, including sitting long enough afterwards to not mar the manicure before it’s completely dry! It’s not about the look but about the message it sends myself and the permission to do nothing but be pampered for a couple of hours here and there!)
- Identifying your individual gifts, talents, life purpose, and sacred calling, which will help you master your time, make good choices, set priorities, and replace unwarranted guilt as you hone in on where you’re headed and why.
- Seeking greater authenticity, clarity, and ease by being open to grace and playing with your creativity, your art, your heart’s desire, or just playing with children and trying to absorb some childlikeness.
- Learning the difference between shame and guilt and between appropriate and inappropriate guilt and then getting rid of shame and inappropriate guilt, with spiritual or psychological help, if needed.
- Learning the language of emotions so that they can be a barometer for what’s in your heart, signals of what needs to be addressed such as a fear, boundary issue, a need for action, grieving, a need to be alert and aware.
- Opening up to your full potential by going where the Love is, to the freedom that comes from releasing all unforgiveness with supernatural help.
- Beginning to identify all the areas where your heart still feels wounded, resentful, or disrespected or angry. This is the first step in the process of inner healing and forgiveness—not to condone or forget wrongs but to set you free of the other person or situation. Forgiveness is the ultimate freedom, both in this world and eternally. Galatians 5:1 says that it is precisely for freedom that Christ set us free!
- Receiving prayer or counseling for inner healing.
- Paying attention to your dreams, keeping a dream journal, joining a dream group, and working to understand their messages.
- Repeating often, “I am a unique and precious human being ever doing my best within my present level of awareness,” and remembering that this applies to everyone else as well.
- Persevering and remembering that what is impossible for human beings is totally possible for God, and asking for God’s help in accordance with God’s perfect plan.
- Closing doors through which drama habitually enters your life.
- Thinking failure is okay. Give yourself the freedom of imperfection – which, after all, is also reality —appreciating that making mistakes helps you learn and grow and may even make others around you feel better about themselves.
- Accepting that God has a freedom story waiting for each of us to tell (Psalm 107), whether that might come in areas of physical health, attitudes, relationships, or the ending of addiction or bad habits. To receive this gift, you could commit or recommit to Christ—because the greatest freedom is in knowing the One who defeated sin and died so that we might have complete forgiveness for all the ways we fall short.
- Turning to a creative craft or art in times of pressing problems and focusing for a time on the repetitive tasks like cutting, stitching, mixing colors, preparing your mis-en-place, or knitting, for example, while leaving the problem out of focus for a while; surprisingly, the solution will often come to you during or after an activity like this.
- De-cluttering for freedom’s sake – which might apply to possessions, commitments, email inboxes, or any number of things!
- Nurturing or forming an intimate and confidential circle of kindred souls intended to provide support and encouragement on a regular basis.
- Noticing something beautiful every day!
- Finding your guiding word for 2015, which has a way of freeing you to achieve it!
These are some of the topics this blog and Heart-to-Heart client coaching and ministry will address this year. Please stay tuned for more and/or submit a comment or email to share suggestions, thoughts, questions, and preferences as to which topics interest you most.
By the way, we’re thrilled to share the honor of the Heart-to-Heart blog being named as one of 75 blogs that matter most for creative people!
Here’s to greater and greater Freedom to be our true creative selves in 2015! Wishing you a joyful, healthy, and sparkly fun New Year!
