My Back Hurts

After years of praying for people with different physical problems, I began to see a pattern in how their problem related to their sin. For example, when people have problems with their backs, shoulders, legs and other major body parts, each one tells a story of how they have broken a commandment of God. Even doctors know that stomach problems are the result of stress and worry. Stress is like picking up a heavy weight and carrying it around for a while. Add a little churning along with it and the stomach is going to cry out. What is amazing though is most people are blind to their own sin. They often have to be reminded what they are doing wrong before God.

When we sin before God, we will pay a price”

One Sunday after a church service, a lady came forward and asked if I would pray for her back. I asked her how long it had been hurting and what part of her back hurt. She pointed to her shoulders and said they both hurt along with upper back. I asked the Lord while she was standing there why she was hurting. He didn’t answer me so I knew He was leading me somewhere else. Then I heard a single word. “Experiment” I smiled and thought, “Ok. I get to experiment with God.” I knew He was smiling at me.

So I looked at her and said, “The Bible tells us that God is going to place issues in our lives if we sin before Him. And we know God hasn’t changed in the way He upholds His commandments. He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.” She said, “Well, I thought Jesus took all of my sins at the Cross! I keep confessing them to Him and yet I am still hurting.” I knew she was referring to the following scripture.

1 Peter 2:22-25 (NKJV)
22 “Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”;
23 who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously;
24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness–by whose stripes you were healed.
25 For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Jesus has bore all of our sins which means He took them into Him. But that doesn’t mean we can continue to sin and not expect recourse from Heaven. The work of the Cross of Jesus is not completed until we confess our sins and repent. We have to do it His way. Repenting means we do not go back and do it again. When we do, we start all over again with God.

God is a Creator and rules over all of His Creation. He is an active God who is very involved with your life whether you live for Him or not. Just as a King would be over a nation. That king would always be looking at what is best for his kingdom and those in it. God is much more than this, but I am just giving you a better view of who He is.

As she stood there, I wondered what she would reveal to me about her sin

I asked her, “Are you carrying any burdens for others?” She thought about it for a moment and said, “Yes. I have a mother who I am constantly worrying about. She is a big burden to me as she is sick and I don’t think I can do a good job taking car of her.” At hearing this, I knew what her issue was and why her shoulders and back hurt.

Here is what I want to teach you. It’s time for you to begin thinking spiritually. Everything that happens to you in your life is a result of the spiritual realm. Everything. If God decides to bless you, that blessing first comes out of the spiritual realm and manifests in the physical. For this woman, her shoulders hurt along with her upper back. If you were to think about what was unseen in her life, would you be able to imagine chains, weights and burdens being draped across her shoulders? Even though she can’t see them, they are there nonetheless. What about you? What’s hanging on your back?

This lady had broken direct commandments of God.

The Bible tells us many times;

Do not worry
Do not fear
Do not judge others

When we break the commandments of God, know this, God will judge us back. The way He does this is with our flesh, our finances and other ways. Do not think for a moment that God is going to let you get away with your sin. Not for a moment. And to help you understand this, do not think that God is going to get even when you die. By that time it is too late. We are judged in the here and now.

I explained to her what was going on in her life by saying, “You make a lousy god!” She thought about what I said for a moment and then smiled realizing how silly she had been breaking His commandments. She knew she had fretted over things she couldn’t control, yet God could. She was doing all she knew to help her mother, but in reality, she was pushing God out of the way by her actions. I asked her if she was willing to let God lead her in how to take care of her mother and she agreed to do that.

“Why don’t you ask Jesus to forgive you for breaking His commandments. First the fear of what will happen if you don’t do a good job with her. The worry about your mother overall. Lastly, carrying any burdens for her.” The lady thought about those issues in her life and then began to ask Jesus one by one to forgive her of her sin. When she was done, I asked her, how do your shoulders feel now? She moved around and a look of amazement came upon her face. “Where did the pain go?” Jesus just healed you. That is how the Cross of Jesus works.

She was so happy at being healed, but I explained to her how the devil would want to place the burdens back on her shoulders. Make sure you put on the armor of God every day and begin to let Him direct your ways. He will. Be at peace and do not fret anymore about anything. Let God be God. When you blow it, confess it immediately and ask Jesus to forgive you again. He will.

What about you?

If your back is hurting, God is trying to get your attention. He is allowing you to hurt so that you will go to Him and ask why. So here is what I want you to do to get healed. I want you to pull out a piece of paper and begin a homework project. I want you to begin to write down every burden you carry for others. Write down their name and all the things you carry for them.

Then I want you to write down all the things the Holy Spirit shows you that you have carried on your back throughout your life. Write them down.

Lastly, I want you to write down all the people you have wrongly judged throughout your life. This may take a while. There is no hurry. You want to get settled with God once and for all. Know this, every time you have spoken or thought wrongly about anyone, you have taken on chains as an equal measure of judgement from God. If you cast a 1LB weight towards someone, God will lay a 1LB weight on your back. This is why people have lower back problems. They are incredibly judgmental towards others. Yet Jesus Himself said, “As you judge, you will be judged by the same measure”.

If you want a bad back, fret about everything, walk in worry and judge others

Listen to me. God is not a respecter of men. He is not going to change how He rules over your life or anyone else’s. He is God. Wisdom comes when we fear Him over our circumstances. His rules are there to protect us and cause us to trust Him over our own life.

The question is, “Will you trust Him?”

Once you have gotten your list filled out, you need to decide whether you want to live for God in righteousness or ignore Him. If you decide to live in righteousness then go to the Father and present your case. Tell Him all the ways you have been sinning before Him. Just remember God is the Great I AM. Ask Jesus to stand with you as you confess your sin. One by one, declare each one before them and know Jesus will forgive you. The only time I have seen Him not forgive is when we give Him lip service.

When you are done with your list, I want you to pray the following prayer out loud;

“Father in the Name of Jesus I thank You and Jesus for what You both have just done for me. I now bind up all my confessed sin and cast it out of me. Go! Jesus I ask You to cleanse me of my sin now by Your shed Blood. Thank You for what You are doing in my life right now. Help me to stand upright before Your Kingdom.”

At this point, you should be healed. If not or if you pain is less, then there is still unconfessed sin that needs to go. God will reveal it to you out of His love for you.

Our bodies are designed to show us what is wrong with us spiritually. The back is interesting to me because it is designed to bear our weight. Not others.

Be blessed and know God loves you so much. He just doesn’t like your sin.

Pastor Jeff Mauer

Maybe right now you are wondering if you are even saved. Or worse, you have never given your life to Jesus. It’s time. Do not turn from here until you do. Take your hands and open the two doors over your heart and hold them open. Say the following prayer out of your heart…

“Father, I have been a sinner my whole life. I confess it. I ask now that Jesus would come into my heart and take over my life. I declare life over death through Christ Jesus.” You can close your doors. You should notice an immediate change in you. When Jesus comes in, nobody can be the same again.

Let us know what God has done for you by leaving a comment or sending us a contact request.

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If you want to learn more about how sin ruins our lives and our bodies, order Pastor Jeff’s new release, “The Last Penny – The Hidden Truth About Sin”