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My husband, Robert, my dad, Jack Caple and my other dad Jack Oates (thanks for the bail money!) my staff, the ever-faithful EEM Partners and my thousands of Facebook Friends. Thanks to the editor and the editor’s editors, the graphic designers and everyone who busted it to get this thing to print at lightning speed! I owe you pizza!

Thanks to you for reading. I hope it makes a difference in your life!

And, foremost, THANK YOU, JESUS! You knew me before I was born, you protect me and show me unbelievable mercy and patience. You are my ROCK, my STRONG TOWER, my WHEEL in the middle of a WHEEL, my NORTH STAR, my BEGINNING and END. How did I ever think I could live without you?! You are WORTHY OF ALL.......MY......... PRAISE!!!!! Bless this effort and bless everyone who holds a copy in their hand. Please work fervently and effectively in their lives, I pray. Amen.

If you know my story, you know that I spent most of my life learning lessons the hard way. I repeated the same mistakes early and often, expecting better results every time, the classic definition of insanity, they say.

After one of my “adventures” went painfully wrong, landing me in federal prison, I faced a long sentence and a major decision. My way was clearly not working. Was there a better way? The answer came in a book I had never read and, up until that point, had never even been a curiosity for me. But, I had plenty of time, and I had a King James Bible. As I read this ancient tome, I found my life revealed, page by page. It is impossible for me to describe the way that book immediately and forever gripped my heart. I accepted Jesus and my life spun 180 degrees at that very moment. I went from hurting people to hurting for them. I needed desperately to make a difference for God.

The revelations you just read, and the decrees that emanated from them, are the result of untold hours of research and time spent in the presence of God’s Holy Spirit. During those hours, days and weeks, I felt a compelling drive to learn why, though I tried so hard to live righteously, I still suffered in my body, my relationships, my finances and my emotions. Most of the sincere, God-fearing people around me seemed caught in the same cycle. “Why, God?” I cried. “We are your children. We are royalty and joint heirs with Christ! Why are we living beneath your promises? Why do we seek You but so seldom find You?!”

And God, in His infinite wisdom and patience, began to impart to me scripture upon scripture, precept upon precept. “Jesus saves and perfects the spirit immediately, but the soul ... the soul ... that custodian of every experience good and bad throughout the generations. ... the soul takes longer.”

I challenge you to use this little book as a reference tool. Depending on what is happening in your life, some chapters may resonate stronger than others. Bookmark those pages that speak to you and state those decrees every day. You will begin to see a positive difference in your life. And, please don’t despair if it does not happen overnight. It has taken a very long time to get where you are today, so keep working on your soul and rejoice in every victory.

God has done amazing miracles in my life and He, being no respecter of persons, will do the same for you. I am confident of that.

In the Father’s love,

Do you ever feel like your prayers just aren’t getting through? You pray as earnestly and sincerely as you know how, but nothing seems to change.

If you answered yes to any of these questions, here is something you absolutely need to know:

Your soul is wounded.

But I have good news.

Help and healing are available.

That’s exactly why I wrote this book. I want to help you get healed so you can enjoy everything God has in store for you. You can have a vibrant, effective prayer life. You can enjoy the abundant, prosperous life God longs for you to have. You can be right in the middle of the blessings God is pouring out, instead of standing on the sidelines feeling left out.

I’ve learned from my study of the Word and from experience, most believers suffer from soul wounds that keep them from living up to the full potential God has placed within them.

UNDERSTANDING THE SOUL

Some believers make the mistake of thinking that soul and spirit are synonyms. They’re not. Human beings have bodies, spirits and souls, with a crucial difference:

The moment you surrendered to Jesus, you were born again and the Holy Spirit came to live inside you -- which means, your spirit is perfect!

Your soul, unlike your spirit, is sanctified over time as you become more like Jesus.

The Apostle Paul writes, “And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another ...” (2 Corinthians 3:18). In this passage, Paul is not speaking about our spirits being progressively healed from glory to glory. Our spirits are transformed and made perfect in an instant. He is referring to our souls being healed, step by step.

Remember, the same Apostle also urged us, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind...” (Romans 12:2, NIV).

Your mind is part of your soul, so again, Paul isn’t talking about the spirit, which is changed in an instant, but about the soul, which is our mind, will and emotions. The soul is progressively healed throughout the believer’s walk with Christ.

A WOUNDED SOUL IMPACTS EVERYTHING

Wounds of the soul are often responsible for adultery, divorce, church splits and business failures. A wounded soul can cause cancer, viral infections and other countless debilitating diseases! My point is that the health of your soul can affect and control every part of your life.

In Romans 7:20, the Apostle Paul writes, “Now if I do what I do not desire to do, it is no longer I doing it [it is not myself that acts], but the sin [principle] which dwells within me [fixed and operating in my soul]” (EMPHASIS ADDED).

To put it into today’s vernacular, Paul is saying, “I’m doing things I don’t want to do because of the junk that’s in my trunk.” We can’t always control our behavior because our wounded soul takes over and makes us do things we don’t want to do. There’s only so much you can do to control your behavior -- to “suck it up” and do what God wants you to do. You need to be healed!

The Prophet Isaiah writes, “The Lord binds up the hurt of His people, and heals their wound [inflicted by Him because of their sins]” (Isaiah 30:26, EMPHASIS ADDED).

Sin can literally wound you. And, even though you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior -- and His blood has cleansed you of all unrighteousness and brought you into a right relationship with God -- there are still wounds in your soul that need to be healed. Committing adultery wounds the soul. Alcohol and drug use wound the soul. Stealing or being dishonest wounds the soul. So does gossiping about others or being a chronic over-eater. The gravity of the sin really does not matter, in terms of the harm it can do to you. Any sin can leave a scar on your inner man.

Your soul can be wounded when other people sin against you. Someone may have accused you of something you didn’t do, for example, or talked about you behind your back, stolen from you, or abused you in other ways.

Once your soul has been wounded by sin it needs literal healing! That is why the Psalmist said, “Lord, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee” (Psalm 41:4, KJV).

Another thing that wounds your soul is:

A tragic accident. A death in your family. The loss of a job or a financial setback. A divorce. A chronic illness. Your soul may be wounded because you were bullied when you were young or because you are a parent dealing with a rebellious child. You can even be traumatized if one of your loved ones is living through a long or difficult sickness. My family lived through many years of my mom’s chronic illness -- and all of us were wounded by it.

LESSONS FROM A FELLOW NAMED JOB

The Biblical character Job is a good example of someone whose soul was wounded by trauma. Do you remember all the terrible things that happened to this poor guy? Raiders killed all his servants, stole his vast herds of livestock, and all his children were killed at once when a house crashed down on them. As if all that wasn’t horrible enough, Satan then attacked him, putting painful boils on his body from the top of his head to the soles of his feet.

How do I know? Throughout his story, Job mentions the word “soul” twenty-three times. Read through the book that bears Job’s name and you’ll find him saying that he is “vexed in soul,” “mourning in soul,” “bitter in soul,” and also, “my soul is being poured out.” Whenever Job expressed the excruciating pain he felt in his soul, it was in direct connection to the traumas he had suffered.

Job is not alone in his suffering! Everyone on this planet has lived through some type of trauma, which means we are all wounded to some extent. When your soul is wounded, all kinds of trouble can come into your life. This includes physical sickness and demonic oppression.