What is a root? It is the first offense taken in a particular situation that plants a seed of "error" that begins manifestations to appear with or without you knowing it. They are planted in us as we go through life and if we go too long without reconciliation, the latter can destroy our lives, both mentally and physically. By identifying these roots, we are well on our way to deliverance! Once we have identified these roots, we may still need to look at any blocks that may also be preventing us from becoming well. Blocks are covered in the next session.

Below lists a number of scriptures that will help us to identify any roots. You’ll need to ask the Holy Spirit for deep insight and guidance as we look at each one because when I first started discovering these "healing" scriptures, revelation comes when we become diligent in our study.

Proverbs 20:16 – "Whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he." (If we don't trust God, we won't ever have peace. In order to trust God you first must "know" Him. "Seek First the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." We are out seeking healing, provision, prosperity, a mate, stuff, but forget to seek the one who will give it to us. That is where some of our roots are... not trusting God to provide and take care of you.)

Proverbs 13:12 - "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes it is as a tree of life." Many diseases and character defects are rooted in hopelessness. Hopelessness comes from not having our desires fulfilled, not seeing blessings come so we lose hope. God says, "Hope in Him" and things will begin to change. There are a number of issues that result in hopelessness, a few are depression, lazyness, diseases like parkinsons, or disease that affect the heart.

Nehemiah 1:6-7 "Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee; both I and my fathers house have sinned. We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses." Even though this was spoken in times of old, it is still true today. If we do not attend to the Word of God in obedience, we will reap what we have sown. And the result of lack of obedience is disease. (Leviticus 26, Deuteronomy 28)

Jeremiah 3:25 "We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us; for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God." (Again, disobedience to the Word of God will cause us grief and suffering)

Proverbs 26:2 "A bird by wondering and a swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come." For every curse - defined as a disease - there has to be a cause, no exception, whether it is spiritual or natural.

Thess. 5:23 "I pray God sanctify you wholly, in body soul and spirit." God cares about your whole being.

Psalm 103:3 "Who forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases" (A connection of sin and health)

Jesus told the lady at the well; "Go and sin no more less a worse thing come upon you." What is sin? We need to understand and acknowledge it before God to stay clean. It doesn't mean we will be sinless, but when we do sin we take it to Him and receive forgiveness, immediately. Do not wait! That only brings guilt and condemnation.

Obedience is Health! Genesis 18:19: Do what God says so that God can do what He said He will do for you! We prevent God from working in our lives because of the blocks we have allowed. When we do what God has commanded in His word, he will break open his promises upon us, and one of them is health and long life!

A personal testimony from Linda:

Proverbs 17:22 "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine but a broken spirit drieth up the bones"

This scripture was one of the most important scriptures that led me to mental and physical healing. There is a disease called Candida. There are so many symptoms associated with it such as, bloating, constipation, depression, diarrhea, fatigue, Hay fever-allergies, insomnia, loss of sexual desire, mental confusion, migraine headaches, vaginal yeast infection, bronchitis, blurred vision, drowsiness, fungus infection, gas, heartburn, indigestion, numbness, poor memory, sinusitis, tingling, and the list goes on. I saw that I had many of these symptoms in my body so I took a deeper look at this scripture. It was obvious my heart wasn’t as merry as it should be or I wouldn’t have many of these problems, because it says a "merry heart works like a medicine." Not only that, but a "broken spirit" drieth up the bones. Drying of the bones in medical research indicates a broken immune system. So then I asked myself this question. Who hurt me? Who broke my heart to the point it broke my spirit? Who caused so much pain in my life that it has been with me for years? I couldn’t think of anyone who hurt me off the top of my to a degree as this, so I asked God. "God, who hurt me?" Within seconds a name of a man I dated years ago came to mind. As I thought of that situation I cried with a deep pain-stricken cry. I thought I forgave him years ago, but it appears I didn’t. There was still pain and junk in my soul. As I wrote the pains down, I could feel the release of those pains leaving me, one at a time.

My list went something like this:

• He lied to me, stole from me
• He stole me from my son’s father, stole my son’s love from me
• He abandoned me
• He deserted me
• He humiliated me
• He deceived me
• He used me
• He broke my heart to the point of wanting to commit suicide
• He made me feel worthless.

After I wrote these down amidst the pain in my heart that accompanied them, the crying stopped. I went out into my living room, lifted my eyes to God and said with this mans face in mind, "I forgive you." I couldn’t forgive him before even if I wanted to because I was still full of junk. I had to do a root canal on that relationship. I cannot tell you how my life changed again for the better. This was another layer being peeled off. I was feeling lighter. The heaviness was lifting one layer at a time! I liken us as to an onion. As we bring our layers to God, He peels them off. Soon the real "me" will pop forth, not someone who has been fabricated from past experiences.

In my study, I have observed that the main root is the "Spirit of Offense". In the latter days many will be offended and people’s love will grow cold. (Matthew 24:12) See if it isn’t true for yourself. Some where along the way, someone may have offended or hurt you in some way. If it isn’t dealt with right away that root is planted and grows into: rejection, anger, hate, bitterness, prejudice, rebellion, unforgiveness, malice, jealousy, envy strife, fear and the list goes on, which causes separation from God because of our sins because of that original offense.

Question: Who offended you or hurt you? Have you hurt or offended yourself? Have you felt unjustified by God? This is where you start, then let the healing begin!

To view an example of "Spiritual Roots" click this link.