Matt Williams - Overcoming: Encountering Jesus in the Gospel of John and Today

A Guide to Overcoming through Healing Prayer

Experiencing Jesus in the Gospel of John and Today

Dr. Matt Williams

How can we overcome our pain, woundedness and struggles in order to find hope, joy, peace and purpose?

This book, which is completely finished, contains nineteen engaging, relevant, authentic stories about people who have overcome anger, eating disorders, unforgiveness, shame, bitterness, sexual sin, low self-esteem, divorce, alcohol and drug addiction, abuse, physical disabilities, and consuming guilt through healing prayer. These powerful, engaging prayer encounters will serve as a guide to show us how we can also overcome our hurts, habits and hang-ups.

Dr. Matt Williams first explains the Gospel of John from a first century perspective, showing how Jesus encounters various people in his day, and then describes nineteen true prayer stories of his university students. These stories are powerful. They invite us in and ask us to encounter Jesus as we listen to others experiences with Him. Just as Jesus spoke to and healed people in biblical times, he is still doing the same today through prayer. As you read these stories of encounters with Jesus, you can overcome the issues that you are facing in order to find the abundant life that Jesus offers, a life of peace, joy, forgiveness, hope, freedom, love, removal of shame, restoration, and purpose.

Thank you for your book. I was depressed and desperate. I was thinking about suicide several times every day. I would not commit suicide; it was the feeling of being dead. I was lucky to have friends who encouraged me to go to therapy. Then I realized that I have been depressed for 5 years or longer. I didn't even know I was depressed, experiencing PTSD, or being abused when I was young. Besides the mental health, the spiritual part helps too. I was deceived by a "Christian" who opened himself to the evil one before. The stories in your book helped me find a way out from the puzzle.

A Biola student, Spring, 2020

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction: The Power of Healing Prayer Stories

The power of stories

Overcoming through Jesus

Issues, issues, everywhere

Jesus is the Word that speaks

What is healing prayer?

Biblical principles of healing prayer

Jesuss mission

Inaugurated eschatology

My story

Helping others to overcome

To avoid misunderstandings

Reflection questions

2. Overcoming the shame of eating disorders and sexual immorality John 2:1-11

3. Overcoming anger and bitterness John 2:13-20

4. Failing to overcome John 3:1-16

5. Overcoming rejection, alcohol and sexual sin John 4:4-26

6. Overcoming discontentedness in Gods gifts John 4:43-54

7. Overcoming addictions John 5:1-15

8. Overcoming the problem of pain and suffering John 6:1-15

9. Overcoming unforgiveness and low self-image John 7:37-38

10. Overcoming abuse John 8:12

11. Overcoming the darkness of the occult John 9

12. Overcoming pornography and exhaustion John 10

Addendum: Hearing the Good Shepherds voice?

13. Overcoming death John 11

14. Overcoming guilt John 13

Conclusion: Overcoming your own issues

Helping others to Overcome

A Brief Bibliography

Books Cited

Introduction

The Power of Healing Prayer Stories

When my son, Jordan, was six years old, we were visiting his Aunt Sandy in Ohio. Jordan threw a ball, and it hit and broke one of Aunt Sandys glass ornaments that were hanging in the back yard. Jordan was scared; he did not want to tell Aunt Sandy because he thought that she would get mad and yell at him. I assured him that Sandy was not like that; that she was kind, loving, understanding and compassionate. But Jordan would not approach her to apologize. He hid behind a twelve-foot-tall wall of bushes. All of a sudden, Aunt Sandy walked around the corner of the house and saw Jordan crying. She ran over, hugged him, and asked, Whats wrong, Jordan? Through his tears, he mumbled, I broke your glass ornament. Aunt Sandy compassionately replied, I dont care about that ornament; I love you!

Stories are powerful, and this is one of my favorite stories that shows the difference between words and experience . I told Jordan the right words. I assured him that Aunt Sandy was loving, kind and forgiving. But, until he experienced her hug and saw her face, he did not fully believe me. He was not able to overcome his fear until he experienced Aunt Sandys love.

Sometimes I see this same difficulty in my students. They have had bad experienceseither they have committed sin, or others have abused them. I can tell them that God is good, but sometimes words are not enough. This is a book about overcoming difficulties through encounters with Jesus, with both words and experiential stories.

This book is a reminder that the same Jesus who walked with the disciples in the first century also walks with us today. Even though Jesus is not physically present with us, he is present through the Spirit (John 14:16). The stories in this book, which talk about overcoming through healing prayer, remind us that Jesus deeply loves us. I dont know about you, but I need that reminderoften.

The Power of Stories

Stories are powerful. All nineteen of the stories in this book are true stories: first from the Gospel of John, and then from my university students who have encountered the Living Word of God. Stories are powerful because they invite us in and ask us to encounter Jesus as we listen to his voice:

I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice , and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.

John 10:16

Let me give you a quick example to whet your appetite for what is to follow. In John chapter 4, we will examine the first century context of the Samaritan woman at the well with Jesus, and then will examine the story of a twenty-first century woman named Sophia, whose husband left her, leaving her to feel like she is outside of the boundaries of Gods love.

We will learn that the Samaritan woman has three strikes against her. She is a foreigner, a woman, and a sinner. For Jewish people of Jesuss day, Samaritans were seen as unclean. A Jewish person would never associate with a Samaritan, but Jesus did. She was also a woman, a person seen as second class in that time period. Jewish men would never talk to a woman in public places, but Jesus spoke to her. And, the Samaritan woman was a sinner. Five husbands had divorced her, and she was now living with a sixth man, unmarriedsinful. A Jewish person should never associate with a sinner, because their uncleanness could transfer to them, making them unclean. But Jesus spoke to this sinner.

In the same way, Jesus spoke to Sophia, one of my university students, who was already divorced in her early twenties. She, like the Samaritan woman, was rejected by her church and her family. In an attempt to ease her pain, she began to drink and have sex with men. Eventually, she decided to return to Jesus, and found a forgiving, loving Lord. She later told me what she saw in her minds eye during a healing prayer time with the Lord:

As I was sitting there on the beach in my minds eye, I didnt want Jesus to come any closer. I couldnt ask Him to forgive me. The turning point for me was when I began to visualize my sin. I could see all the things I had done all around me; it was like it was surrounding me and putting up a shield distancing me from Him. He kept walking towards me and I kept stepping away. I kept saying, "This is who I am, all these things around me, thats ME , I want your forgiveness but only if you WANT to forgive me. This is who I am." He didnt say anything. I just stood there with my arms at my side, and Jesus started pushing away the sinful things surrounding me. One by one he pushed each sin away until he was standing right in front of me. Finally, I said, Im so, so sorry. And He put His hands on my shoulders and said, I love You. I didnt feel any longer that I was the person surrounded by all my sins. I felt that it was just me, a girl standing there who is broken by all the things that have happened in my life. And with that, for the first time in a long time, I felt like I was really forgiven. I felt like I was sitting there with a clean slate.