"Do you hate someone?" I asked the lady.
"Not now. Before I became a Christian, yes. But now I hate no one."
Then I realized my question was wrong. I changed it and asked, "Has somebody done something in your past that has hurt you and even though you have forgiven them, the injury is still there?"
She could not understand what I meant. I did not blame her. This was the first time I had ever asked that question.
We talked some more and finally the Lord brought the problem to light. She began to cry and said, "The injury is still there. I am wounded."
She told me that when she was a little girl her mother died and her father married again. Her stepmother mistreated her in many ways. Whenever her children did something wrong, this lady was blamed.
Because of that, she was deeply hurt. She didn't fight back, but kept it all inside. The hurt got deeper and deeper. When she was converted, she forgave her stepmother - but she didn't let the Lord bind her broken heart, and the injury remained.
That night I prayed and asked the Lord to bind this broken heart.
In verse three of Isaiah 61, we read about the spirit of heaviness. Many people still have this spirit of heaviness because of experiences of the past - even people who have experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit. They still have it if they haven't brought it to the Lord for his healing.
After we prayed, the lady said, "Praise the Lord, I'm just released. I am free inside. I can't explain it to you, but the joy and peace is just great."
The next morning when she awoke, her asthma was gone. This was an outward symptom of an inward problem.
America's Great Need
I would say that 95 percent of the root of American sickness is spiritual and only 5 percent real physical problems. The nervous breakdowns are mostly caused by spiritual problems because of the tension, doubt, worry, and fear. All over America, I see people caught in this style of life. It is just awful!
People in America need more than salvation; they need the deeper work of Jesus.
America has many who are going to heaven for sure, but the Christian army is very weak. Most are fighting the battle alone without the help of Jesus. When we do that, we really get into trouble because we fight alone.
In America you sing, "Onward, Christian Soldiers," but then you sit and let the pastors do the work. How sad. This, my friend, is America's great need: to come to this place of peace and joy.
This portion in Isaiah also tells us to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.
This, I feel, also is a real root problem in America. There is a demonic influence today, maybe 100,000 times greater than 50 years ago.
Demons in America
The demons are in America today in the