Fear, Guilt and Anxiety Manifesting In Migraines

Don’t let fear, guilt and anxiety weigh down your body and your mind with migraines: 5 steps to being migraine free without medication.

At least a couple times a week, severe migraines would result in me not being able to function. Some of you know the routine, you sense a migraine coming on and you know you better get home quick because before long any light and noise will be unbearable. Perhaps you noticed the first sentence above is written in the past tense and that’s because I have not had a migraine for a dozen years.  You can be free of them, too — and without any medication!

Admittedly, my testimony with regard to migraines is a testimony of a miraculous healing. One evening I was at church and I felt a migraine coming on. We had some guests in town from Texas for a worship and prayer conference and the keyboard player was a man named Rueben. To this day, I don’t know his last name. Rueben noticed I was not feeling well and he came to the back of the sanctuary and asked if he could pray for me.  I had told him I felt another bad migraine headache was coming on.  He gathered a few other people around me to pray.  I really don’t remember what exactly he prayed except I started to feel hot and I started to sob. I’m not one to cry. The fact that I was sobbing quickly caught my wife’s attention, indicating to her and others that something was indeed happening.

At some point in his prayer for me, Rueben hit me hard in the forehead with the heel of his hand while saying in a loud voice, “In Jesus Name… spirit of infirmity, be GONE!”  A couple things about this:

• First, those of you who suffer from migraines know that even your hair hurts and you don’t want to be touched, let alone hit in the head.
• Second, even today we do not allow our prayer team to do such things.  But, that’s what he did to me.

Here’s what I can’t deny: the pain immediately left and I have not had a migraine since.

At that time I was taking Zomig (Zolmitriptan was about $10 a pill at that time) and I was getting free samples from a doctor who attended our church. About two months later, the doctor asked me why I had not come in for more Zomig samples.  I looked both ways and then whispered to him, “Doc, I don’t want to jinx anything but I think I’ve been healed.”  Later that day I felt a very strong impression (that I attribute to God) that if I didn’t start giving Him glory for healing me of migraines, I’d get the migraines back.  Since that day, I’ve been sharing that testimony of God healing me of migraines.  Also since that day, God seems to have given me a grace to successfully pray for and minister to others who suffer from migraines.

In the last 12 years since that all happened, I’ve learned a few things about migraines and how to minister to people with migraines. A migraine is a type of pain known as “psychogenic pain,” which means it is not caused by any known organic reason but is associated instead with psychological factors. In this article, and other articles here in my column on the Spiritual Dimensions of Health and Wellness, I have written from the vantage point that many ailments have spiritual roots, especially those with no other known cause, such as migraines. If migraines are caused by non-organic factors, treating them chemically only treats the symptoms.  In other words, they’ll come back again tomorrow and the next day or as long as the root causes are unidentified and ignored.

The medicines available to treat migraine symptoms do two things simultaneously.

• First, they reduce the secretion of serotonin (serotonin is a vasoconstrictor).
• Second, they increase histamine secretion (histamine is a vasodilator).

It is well-known that the swelling of the blood vessels puts pressure on sensitive nerves causing migraines. It is also well-known that the hypothalamus gland responds to inner turmoil and the secretion of serotonin is lessened.  In his book, A More Excellent Way: Spiritual Roots of Disease, Dr. Henry W. Wright explains how “All migraines are rooted in guilt.” Guilt over spending too much money, guilt over arguments we have with others and any amount of conflict we have within ourselves manifests in anxiety.  Dr. Wright explains how anxiety results in histamine being over-secreted in the cranial region.

In no way do I profess to have expert medical understanding of any of this. However, my own struggle with migraines and the many people I have successfully ministered to with migraines convinces me that these roots of inner guilt, fear and anxiety do directly effect the reduction of the secretion of serotonin and the increase of histamine secretion. In other words, guilt, fear and anxiety manifest in migraines.

Other spiritual factors also come into play. In the Bible we are told that we need to be aware of the “devil’s schemes” against us. That means the devil has a variety of different approaches and strategies he uses to destroy us.  One of those strategies is to “wear down the mind.” Daniel 8:25 says the devil will “oppress the saints.” Literally rendered that means, “to wear down the mind.”  Knowing this is one of his schemes, we can be sure his demonic helpers piggy-back on what would otherwise be normal tensions and stressors in our lives. He is the ancient serpent and coiling around and constricting our life-blood is one of his favorite tricks. Those in our church who do deliverance ministry can explain better than I can how the powers of darkness, like negative energy and black energy, get a foothold in our lives through guilt, fear and anxiety and wear down our minds and bodies.

All that being said, what are the steps we can take to be migraine free?

• First, be sure you have peace with God by asking Jesus to come into your life and forgive you of sin. Confess to him and ask him take away your guilt, anxiety and fear and give you his peace.
• Second, draw a blood-line around your life. By that, I mean praying out loud something like this: Jesus your shed blood on the cross broke the power of death and I plead your blood over my life and my mind.
• Third, find people who believe in healing prayer and ask them to lay hands on you and pray for you with authority.
• Fourth, renew your mind by reading God’s Word. Start with the Psalms as the entire gamut of human emotion is expressed to God in the Psalms. Memorize passages that have to do with casting anxiety on the Lord. You need to build a hedge of protection around your head. Philippians 4:7 talks about the importance of prayer for guarding and protecting the mind. “…And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
• Fifth, call our church office (605-357-8136) and ask for a phone appointment with me, or an individual on our ministry team to pray for migraine relief.

Steve Hickey (Spiritual Dimensions of Wellness) is the founding pastor of a life-giving church with over 700 members, a church planter, a trainer of leaders with John Maxwell’s organization, a police chaplain, and is very active in politics as a national voice for the unborn. He’s written several books, including his latest, Momentum: God’s Ever Increasing Kingdom (www.MomentumHandbook.com). Steve and his wife would like to pray for your specific needs and have a prayer team at the church waiting to hear from you. For more information or to submit a prayer request, visit: www.ChurchAtTheGate.com/prayer.php