What is Inner Healing?

March 9th, 2026
by Terence Smith

What is inner healing? Is it in the Bible?

Consider this… “Physical healing” is not a Bible phrase, but it describes the love and power of God healing our bodies, the outward part of us, and as such it is found all throughout the Bible. It is very important to the Father, for the Bible teaches that it is he who provides healing and invites us to be healed. The Bible teaches that the Father freely and lavishly expressed his nature as Healer through the ministry of his Son:

You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. Acts 10:38

And when evening had come, after the sun had set, they began bringing to him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed. And the whole city had gathered at his door. And he healed many who were ill with various diseases and cast out many demons. Mark 1:32-34

Just as the phrase “physical healing” is not found in the Bible, neither are the words “inner healing” found there. Inner healing is a term we use to describe the healing work and love of the Father that is inward, or inner; that is, he opens our hearts to heal and deliver us from being stuck in negative beliefs and emotions. And this also is a very important aspect of Christ’s ministry. The following is a prophecy of Christ from Isaiah 61:1 that was quoted by Jesus of himself in Luke 4:18:

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the afflicted; he has sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and freedom to prisoners.

Any believer can receive healing for his body and heart through the promises of the word and his own Spirit-led relationship with the Lord. But it is very wise to fellowship with other believers where the scriptures on healing are taught and practiced, and where God is moving and healing hearts and bodies. We are to walk together in the light of God’s word concerning healing, both physical and inner, and pray for each other:

If we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another… pray for one another that you may be healed. 1 John 1:7 & James 5:16

Using Biblical language, inner healing would probably best be described as an aspect of sanctification. Sanctification has two aspects to it. It means:

1.) To set apart from something common or even unclean, and
2.) To cleanse and set apart to God as his own and for his delight and purposes.

Other words and phrases from the Bible that involve what we call inner healing would include:

• The renewal of the mind, or being renewed in the spirit of the mind (Romans 12:2 & Ephesians 4:23). This happens when the Spirit of Truth exposes our deepest heart level false beliefs and then transforms us by leading us into the truth. This is one of the main things that happens in inner healing.

• Restoring the soul and saving the soul (Psalm 23:3 & James 1:21). Man is spirit, soul, and body. As believers and followers of the Lord Jesus, our personal spirits are made alive and created in Christ as a new creations when we are born again, but for ongoing transformation our souls we must continue to draw near to God, believe him and obey him.

• Healing the brokenhearted and binding up their wounds (Psalm 147:3 & Isaiah 61.1). On the cross Jesus bore not only our sins, but also our sorrows and pains, and our sickness and diseases (Isaiah 53:4,5). He is the Lord our Healer (Exodus 15:26), healing both the physical and mental/emotional. The phrase “brokenhearted” can be illustrated by a beautiful mirror that was dropped, and the force of impact shattered the glass in many pieces. This can happen to the heart, and then restoration and healing are needed.

• Laying aside the old self and putting on the new (Ephesians 4:20-24). In this section of scripture, we have a clear description of what God does in inner healing. We read that:

1.) Jesus himself, as the one who is the Truth, encounters us,

2.) He speaks to us to lay aside the old with its specific strong lusts and overwhelming emotions that are generated by lies and deception,

3.) He speaks truth to us that enables us to change the way we think at the deepest level (renews us in the spirit of our minds),

4.) Which enables us to put on the new man, that is, to think and live as a healed, sanctified new creation in Christ.

Through Christ, the Father has made provision for us to be healed, whole, and holy. You don’t have to be broken! You, child of God, don’t have to be broken! This is the Father’s will:

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he who calls you, and he also will bring it to pass… For this is the will of God, your sanctification. 1 Thessalonians 5:23,24 & 4:3

To many people, and even to many Christians, the term inner healing, and the deliverance from demons that often accompanies it, can sound and feel foreign. This booklet will give the Biblical basis and teaching for inner healing, and also of deliverance from demons in the context of inner healing. The focus of this booklet will be on your heart connecting by faith with the heart of Jesus and receiving the freedom that he has for you.

Our hearts can have broken, painful areas that contain lies planted there by the enemy about our worth, our identity, about who God is, about relationships, and life. If we truly believe the lies it will determine, at a deep heart level, what we feel and do. All of this can create an inner prison, small or large, that Jesus wants to bring us out of. It’s common for evil spirits to work with these prisons to amplify the fear, pain, anxiety, guilt, shame, etc. Jesus does heart-focused healing and freedom!

It’s about him answering the prayer of Psalm 139:23,24:

Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my anxious thoughts and see if there be any hurtful way in me (way of pain – Literal Hebrew) and lead me in the everlasting way. NASB