| The purpose of this book is to describe how to receive emotional healing from Christ. Primarily, it focuses on the three main barriers that people have in this regard. For the most part, the book is pretty effective. However, at times it becomes a bit too simplistic and kum-ba-yah. For instance, Ms. Payne chirps, "[Christians] alone have reason never to despair. Faith and hope are ours, and they shine like beacons in the darkest circumstances." Somehow, you doubt she'd be saying that if she lost both legs in an accident, or if one of her grandchildren were brutally murdered. In a section on affirmation, Ms. Payne's account of her Aunt Rhoda goes a little over the top, and isn't in the best of taste. Although no doubt Aunt Rhoda was a fine woman, Ms. Payne basically portrays her idealistically as without fault. Naturally, this account lacks some believability. It does seem ironic that while Ms. Payne focuses on the sin of pride to an almost extreme degree in the book, she seems to show no lack of it herself. For example, when referring to some misguided intercessors, Ms. Payne remarks, "Thinking themselves to be intercessors *extraordinaire*..." This statement, among others, smacks of the very kind of pridefulness and condescension that Ms. Payne speaks out so loudly against. It is also ironic that Ms. Payne seems to contradict her own teaching at one point. Continually she stresses that discernment of spirits be used before determining whether a demonic entity is present. However, when relating a story about a seminarian friend, Ms. Payne states, "[My friend] became very ill and phoned me. As I listened, I realized his physical condition was directly related to demonic warfare..." Even though she does mention that afterward she spent several days praying about the matter, her assertion that demonic warfare was directly involved in her friend's condition (a conclusion reached simply from listening to him over the phone) goes against her own teaching. This might not be such a big deal if she didn't continually reiterate her teaching as much as she does. One notable omission from the book is any mention of the condition "love addiction," or whatever one wants to call it. Since this seems to be one of the most common conditions that people seek help for, it's rather puzzling that Ms. Payne doesn't even touch on the subject. Also, while Ms. Payne frequently emphasizes that feelings of inferiority to other people--like feelings of superiority--are rooted in pride, she never explains exactly why this is the case. Such an explanation would be very helpful. Finally, while Ms. Payne rightly warns Christians about focusing too much on demons, she seems to have no similar qualms about focusing too much on sin. Her statement concerning the dangers of focusing on demons ("In many cases, persons become fearful of others, even paranoid, and the grievous sins of slander and pharisaical pride result, all the evil fruit of fastening one's eyes on darkness rather than on God") can be just as easily applied to focusing too much on sin. Don't get me wrong--sin is serious and needs to be addressed adequately, but at times Ms. Payne seems to derive an almost unhealthy enjoyment from the topic of sin. The issues above aside, the book contains helpful information about how to pray for emotional healing. It also has an insightful concluding section on spiritual warfare. Overall, the book is a pretty good read; one just needs to take things it says with a grain of salt every now and then. |
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