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The Catholic Sobriety Podcast
Welcome to The Catholic Sobriety Podcast with your host Christie Walker!
This podcast is dedicated to empowering Catholics to live lives of freedom by providing tips and tools to help them be successful as they reduce or eliminate alcohol consumption. Christie Walker, a compassionate Catholic life and sobriety coach, is here to support you on your journey toward a healthier, more fulfilling life.
Are you questioning whether alcohol has taken control of your life? Do you worry about the impact it may have on your well-being? Many people find themselves in this situation, fearing the loss of pleasure and stress relief associated with alcohol. They assume that giving it up will only bring deprivation and misery. But Christie offers a different and much more positive perspective.
With Christie's expertise, you'll discover the joy and peace that come from embracing a healthier lifestyle rooted in the Catholic faith and tradition.
Ready to get curious? Start listening!
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The Catholic Sobriety Podcast
Ep 125: What if Your Deepest Wounds Could Be Healed? w/ Guest Deanna Bartalini
Freedom isn't just about willpower—it's about healing the deeper wounds that drive us to unhealthy attachments. In this illuminating conversation, certified spiritual director and Unbound prayer minister Deanna Bartalini reveals how spiritual healing can break the chains that keep us bound to alcohol and other dependencies.
"Jesus reveals to heal; the evil one brings shame," shares Deanna as she unpacks the powerful five-key approach of Unbound Prayer Ministry—a Catholic-approved method that addresses the root causes of our struggles rather than just the symptoms. Through repentance, forgiveness, renouncing lies, commanding evil influences to leave, and receiving the Father's blessing, countless people have found freedom from wounds they've carried for decades.
What makes this approach unique? It's not about digging painfully into your past or requiring endless sessions. Instead, trained prayer ministers create a safe space where Jesus himself can reveal what needs healing. Unlike conventional conversations where people minimize our pain or try to "fix" us with advice, Unbound Prayer emphasizes compassionate listening without judgment.
Ready to explore how Unbound Prayer might support your journey toward alcohol freedom? This episode is for you!
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deannabartalini/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiveNotLukewarm
Heart of the Father (Unbound Website): https://heartofthefather.com/
Unbound: A Practical Guide to Healing and Deliverance by Neal Lozano
Break free from alcohol with Christ-centered guidance, community support, and powerful tools. Transform your life with the Sacred Sobriety Lab. Join today at SacredSobrietyLab.com.
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Welcome to the Catholic Sobriety Podcast, the go-to resource for women seeking to have a deeper understanding of the role alcohol plays in their lives, women who are looking to drink less or not at all for any reason. I am your host, christi Walker. I'm a wife, mom and a joy-filled Catholic, and I am the Catholic Sobriety Coach, and I am so glad you're here. Saint Paul tells us in Romans 8-11, if the spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your immortal bodies also. This is exciting news, friends, because it means the Holy Spirit who resides in you has the power, with your permission and willingness, of course, to breathe new life into you and transform you from the inside out. You have spiritual gifts and the Lord's grace that can break chains of all types. Christ died so that you could be free, and believe me when I say that he wants your freedom even more than you do, because he willingly and lovingly suffered for the cost, wants your freedom even more than you do because he willingly and lovingly suffered for the cost of your freedom. Now, breaking these chains and unbinding ourselves doesn't just happen. We have to first admit that we aren't as free as we might like to admit and then humbly seek the help that we need, and I know from my own experience that this is not at all easy or comfortable, but I can tell you that the reward is great. I believe that alcohol misuse or any other disordered attachment is a symptom of deeper wounds that need to be healed, and it's a spiritual battle. That's what my guest, deanna Bartolini, and I will chat about today.
Speaker 1:Deanna is a certified spiritual director, retreat leader, speaker and writer. She has served in parish ministry as a religious education director, youth minister, liturgical coordinator and stewardship director. In addition to her professional work, deanna is an unbound prayer minister. Deanna has been married to Deacon John for over 40 years and they are blessed with four grandchildren. She is also the founder of LiveNotLukewarmcom. She writes for CatholicMomcom, diocesancom and Women in the New Evangelization. Deanna has also written a Bible study. The Stay Connected Journals for Catholic Women, invite the Holy Spirit into your Life, contributed to the Catholic Moms Prayer Companion and digital ministry and leadership in today's church. She is a busy lady. No doubt you can see this from her intro. Deanna, welcome. I am so glad that you're here today.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for inviting me, and I am very happy to be here with you to talk about one of my favorite things.
Speaker 1:Yay, I'm so excited to get into this. Why don't you just go ahead and start by sharing a little bit about your work and how you got started?
Speaker 2:Sure, Christy says I'm busy and I am, but everything is sort of connected so it's not as hectic as it could be. Right, as I've gotten older I've learned if you kind of put things that go together together, it's easier than to work on them because they feed into and off of each other. So right now, really the biggest focus of what I do is personal spiritual direction. I work at a local retreat center doing weekend retreats for parishes and I do unbound healing prayer with people. Those are my main things that I do on a regular basis. And then I do the writing, you know, as it comes up, as is necessary, and I enjoy that as well. So that's really what I do most days, as well as play with my grandchildren when I have the opportunity.
Speaker 1:That's wonderful, that's always fun. How old are your grandchildren? That's wonderful, that's always fun.
Speaker 2:How old are your grandchildren? Seven five, no, seven five and almost two is one family, and then a six-year-old is the other.
Speaker 1:Oh, I love that, so much fun. So you've been actively involved in Unbound Prayer Ministry. I mentioned that in your bio and that's really what I wanted to focus on today. That's why I wanted to have you here. So for those who are unfamiliar with what that is, could you go ahead and explain it and how it helps people find freedom in Christ?
Speaker 2:So Unbound is a method of praying to really get rid of the wounds, the shame, the lies that we carry around because of the world, past trauma, our own, you know beliefs that we carry around that we've gathered from other people that are not correct and really, to sum it up, it's really the lies of the evil one. And so in Unbound Healing Prayer we pray one-on-one with someone who is ready to get rid of all the baggage that they're carrying around they don't want anymore. Really, the guiding verse when I think about, if I were to choose a guiding verse which I did not come up with, unbound, which we'll talk about that in a second but is John 10.10. So it says a thief comes only to steal, slaughter and destroy. I meaning Jesus. I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly. We just celebrated the resurrection. Jesus did not come so we could be okay. So-so he came so that we could have a full, abundant, joyful life, and the world is always ready to take that from us right, to take that from us right. So the unbound prayer process is a way to get rid of the pain that we carry around. I did not form this prayer process.
Speaker 2:This was at Neil Lozano and we'll talk about him probably a little bit later as we go on, but I just want to be clear about that up front. And it is Catholic, it is recognized by the church. Neil Lozano has presented at the Vatican I think it was two summers ago they had a meeting about all the different people who do healing and deliverance ministry and priests who are exorcists. I am not an exorcist, be clear. I am not an exorcist. Only a priest can do that. It is definitely a legitimate, needed and beautiful ministry of the church of the world that I live in.
Speaker 1:I'm really close to Portland, oregon, and there's just so many people seeking, and there's so many people who have gotten mixed up in things that they thought might help them or heal them or you know whatever, but without knowing they actually became bound in things that they now need to be freed of. So I find this type of work so needed and so beneficial, so I'm so glad that you're doing this. So what actually inspired you to be part of Unbound and how has it shaped your ministry and your work as a spiritual director?
Speaker 2:How has it shaped your ministry and your work as a spiritual director. So this was way back in. I looked it up 2016. So almost 10 years now I've been involved with Unbound Ministry and first I had prayer myself because, like everyone, I was wounded right, and if you live in the world, you get wounded again. So, in order to have my own personal healing. A friend of mine said to me, hey, have you ever heard of this Unbound? And I was like no, I've never heard of Unbound. And she was trained. She was in abortion healing ministry and with Project Rachel's Vineyard, excuse me and so she had come to know about it through that ministry and so she was just offering it to me as a friend. And so I went through, I read the first half of Neil's book you only need to read the first half, because the second half is different and I read the first half and I really went through really and made a list of what I wanted to get rid of and he guides you through it. Not that you have to read the book, you do not have to read the book, but it is helpful.
Speaker 2:So we went and we had prayer and now I've known this woman a very long time and when we were done. Maybe a couple of days later she calls me and she's like so how are you doing? I said, great. She said I have something I want to talk to you about. She said did you think the prayer was helpful? And I was, of course it was unbelievably helpful. I feel like, in many ways, a different person now. She said well, how would you like to do that with other people? I thought okay. I thought okay I mean I'm laughing now, but eternally grateful in all honesty and so my diocese put together a group of people and we got together, I'm going to say for at least two months, if not a little bit longer, and I was in the first cohort of people who were trained to be unbound prayer ministers, and then we just started working from there.
Speaker 2:One of the things about being an unbound prayer minister is the ability to listen without judgment. I used to be a youth minister and you also need to be able to do that when you're a youth minister, because teenagers come to you with problems and you're thinking, oh honey, that's really not a problem. And other times they come to you with very serious, very serious problems and you can't react in such a way that makes them think that they are so wounded or damaged or beyond help. Right, you have to react with love and compassion or at least neutrality, right, showing you care without getting emotional about it. I think that's really an important thing. I care about what the person is saying to me, but I'm not breaking down into your hysterical crying. Right, you have to maintain that.
Speaker 2:And so, since I've started doing Unbound and then when you become a spiritual director, in the classes that I took with the program that I was enrolled in listening and I'm sure it's enrolled in all programs listening is a huge focus. We spent hours every day listening. We spent hours every day listening, and it taught me even more so to listen without judgment, but with compassion, with care, with concern, and really the two things. They work well together. Even though I mean I certainly don't pray unbound with every single person who comes to me for spiritual direction. You know we focus on spiritual direction, but it does help you understand the pain that people carry and how God so wants to heal us of all that we are carrying around and wants us to know who he is. And so I think those two things definitely come together in both unbound and in spiritual direction.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I can see how those would go so well together and it kind of goes with the work that I do, because I see, like I said in the beginning in the intro, the misuse of alcohol or really any substance or object or anything. It really isn't that thing. I mean, yes, there are some science things with alcohol and how it affects our brains and all of that, but it comes down oftentimes to just trying to heal ourselves, trying to numb ourselves, trying to cover up that trauma or heal wounds or something. So in your experience, if you've had experience with this, have you been able to help people recognize this, like maybe their misuse of something, whether it's food or alcohol or whatever and how that is related maybe to a wound that needs healed through this unbound prayer?
Speaker 2:So I would say that, in general, by the time people come to Unbound Prayer, mostly they are aware of what they have been doing and what they want to get rid of or to stop doing. And in the conversation then you listen to their story and you hear where something may have been triggered and began, and so then you pray against that lie or against that spirit. Right, like you mentioned, you know people searching for things outside of you know our faith. The occult is very big. When I was a kid, you could buy a Ouija board at Toys R Us. None of us really thought anything about Ouija boards, but they are not of God and depending on you, on your personality, on the openness of what you take in right, then it could be a problem for you. So it's the same way. You know, I can have a glass of wine and I'm fine. I don't need to have 10 glasses of wine. So why is that okay for me and not okay for someone else? What does the wine do for someone who needs to have 10 glasses or who's an addict? Right, it does something. It's escaping, trying to get rid of our wounds in ways that are really only adding to the pain, and then the more you are open to the presence of evil, it can attach itself to you. And I'm not talking about green vomit and spinning heads, we're not talking about that. We're just talking about ordinary people who walk around, unable to function, sometimes in everyday life, to mask their or cover their anxiety with substances.
Speaker 2:All of this and so Unbound. Really, by the time someone, I think, comes, they know what the problem is. And if they don't know what the problem is, often in the conversation of them telling their story, it will come out. Worry, it will come out. One of the things with Unbound is that it is a relatively contained and short process. It's not counseling. You don't go to Unbound like five times in a month. It doesn't mean you can't have Unbound prayer more than once. I've had Unbound prayer more than once because you know life happens and things change and you need to get rid of things. But in general you talk about what is going on in that person's soul that they want to get rid of, what is bringing them to you. So oftentimes they know ahead of time.
Speaker 1:That was really really helpful. Thank you for that. Now know ahead of time, that was really really helpful. Thank you for that. Now I think maybe people might be wondering a little bit about what happens, because that can be another thing, it's like yeah that sounds great, but what exactly does this entail? Can you kind of break that down for us?
Speaker 2:Yes, so typically we will see people and pray with people who have contacted us. So they've either been told by a friend or maybe they've seen Neil's book and they've read it, or they've listened to his podcast and they think, ok, well, I want this and we'll provide those links in the show notes to the website where you can find people who are in your geographic area. Basically, people come because many times they've done lots of things, they've gone to confession numerous times and confessed the same sin. They're in counseling. Sometimes a priest will recommend that they come to us and pray with us.
Speaker 2:The prayer process works like this in general you will pray with two people the main person that you are praying with and then the intercessor. Two people the main person that you are praying with and then the intercessor. The intercessor is there and the intercessor is basically quiet and is praying for the person as they're speaking and then for the prayer process. Okay, so the first part of it is we always open in prayer and then I listen to the person's story. I might jot down some notes. If they have specific incidences that they talk about, write down specific names or things that they really feel strongly that harmed them, that they want to get rid of. So we talk about all of that and then there are five keys. And again, this is I did not make this up and it's important that we don't like freewheel this we are led by the Holy Spirit. I am a conduit. I don't do anything in the name of Deanna, it is all in the name of Jesus. We follow the process because that helps guide us so that we're not off doing whatever people think they should be doing. So the first key is repentance and faith. So the person asks, says they're sorry, they give an assent of faith that they want to enter into this, and then by now we've heard the person's story and we go to the second key, which is forgiveness. So who do we want to forgive? So oftentimes people harm us and they don't know it, or they do know it and don't care. And so we're not saying that we're going to forgive people and then go back to them, but we're going to forgive them this way. That hold that they had on us goes away. Forgive people and then go back to them, but we're going to forgive them this way that hold that they had on us goes away, and then oftentimes we have to forgive ourselves, because we are really good at holding on to things ourselves, even things that we've confessed, things that we didn't do on purpose, whatever it is, so we can forgive ourselves as well.
Speaker 2:Then the next key are the lies, the enemies, to renounce. And again, in the name of Jesus, I renounce the lie that I am not good enough. In the name of Jesus, I renounce the lie that I am not smart enough. Whatever the lie is, whatever that has attached itself to us because of our story, because of our life, that has attached itself to us because of our story, because of our life, our history, whatever has happened to us. We also have some specific things that we do in the case of a cult, just a very specific prayer that we pray, anything that has attached itself through that to us, so from tarot cards, psychics, ouija boards, that kind of thing, thing.
Speaker 2:And then the fourth key is the word of command. And so then, at the word of command, the person who is telling their story is quiet and the person who is praying gives the word of command to take everything that the person has renounced, all the lies, all the spirits, and we send them to jesus and Jesus deals with them, because that's what Jesus does. He deals with all the lies, he stands against the evil one. And then there's like prayers of thanksgiving. We give some thanks and praise to God for what he has done, and then the last key is the Father's blessing. And at that point, oftentimes, depending on where you are, it may look a little differently, but we always ask for permission. I put my hand on the person's shoulder and the intercessor same thing, and we will pray the Father's blessing over the person. And that's the process.
Speaker 2:And every prayer time is a little bit different and for some people there is an immediate sense of relief and for sometimes, for other people, it takes time. God works in his time. Then we also tell people how to hold on to that freedom. And that's the point of the Father's blessing, because we're going to empty out the garbage right, we just empty out everything, and now it has to be filled with something good. You know, it's like when you go to the dentist. He takes out the cavity and then he fills it with whatever he fills it with. And we do the same thing we get rid of the lies of the evil one and we fill it with the Father's blessing. That's the process.
Speaker 1:That's so helpful. Thank you so much for going through that process. It kind of demystifies it a little bit and makes it a little less scary and I really appreciate the fact that it follows you know, like people can't just get all willy nilly and get off on a tangent Like it follows an actual process that is going to help guide the person through that unbound prayer. When you were talking, it reminded me of an image that I had had before when thinking about you know, kind of those strongholds that the evil one has on us as being like little strings on us. You know kind of those strongholds that the evil one has on us as being like little strings on us, you know, and some of them are a little tighter, some of them are a little bigger, some of them are small, like little dental floss or something on that whole dentist line. But you know, and then as you do this unbound prayer, or you break those strongholds, you're just kind of getting rid of those, you're cutting those away and some of them, like you were saying, it may take another session or it just may take. You know, continuing to pray like more Lord, like I am seeking this freedom and just giving him your willingness over and over again.
Speaker 1:So is there a follow up? Like, let's say, somebody goes through an unbound prayer session. They're like I don't feel anything, which I can't imagine would happen, but I'm sure it does. You know, they're like I don't feel anything. Is there follow up, or are there other things that you ask them to continue doing? And is there a certain amount of time? Like, let's say, they go through it and they want to do it again. Like, should they wait a certain amount of time before they go for another session?
Speaker 2:There's no hard and fast rule on the waiting. We've never I mean I don't think we've ever had anyone sort of say okay, well, let's make an appointment now for next week. That's never happened to me, Right, and I think it would depend. And sometimes, if people have a lot of trauma, we might say up front you know, this might take two times and so it might be. We do what comes up today and then you wait and see how you feel, Because when you get rid of things, it can be tiring because it's very, it can be very emotional.
Speaker 2:One of the things is when people come and they tell their story. It's their story. I do not ask a lot of questions. They give the details that they want to give. There's no digging. We don't dig right. I am not a therapist, I am not a counselor. I am a woman who firmly believes that God can heal us. But it's not up to me, it's up, it's him, it's totally him. And so we don't really, we don't really put like constraints on that part of it. When can you come back again? Like you're not going to come back tomorrow. You need to let things settle, you know.
Speaker 2:And then as far as instructions, so we have like some little information that we give people, but also we encourage people in their own prayer they can out loud say, in the name of jesus, I renounce anxiety. In the name of jesus, I renounce fear. In the name of jesus, I renounce the lie that I'm gonna have a fight with my brother when he comes over. You know whatever it is right and then, when you're done, you give the same, the word of command, so you can do that yourself.
Speaker 2:I don't think it's helpful and I would not recommend that you do your whole life by yourself, Because you know we are meant to be with other people, we are meant to help each other and you know if God is Father, Son and Spirit, a trinity, a community, we need to be in community to do that as well, and so that's what we recommend. The other thing we recommend, depending on, again, on the situation. Maybe the person would benefit from confession, Maybe the person would benefit from spending an hour in adoration a couple of times in a month or once a week or something. So it just depends on the situation what we ask or suggest for people to do. It just depends.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because, like you said, everybody's different, everybody's level of trauma or need for healing is going to be different, so I could completely see how that would be the case. So would you be able to share like an example or testimony from your ministry of someone who you witnessed have like a profound transformation through Unbound Prayer? Like a profound transformation through Unbound Prayer?
Speaker 2:So it's hard to say transformation, because oftentimes, most times really people come to us, we pray with them and we rarely see them again, which is interesting, right, because you think, well, how do I know what I did worked, and there's that huge level of trust in the work of God, of the Holy Spirit, to say, okay, I did my part with his help, yes, and now I let there, you go. But I will say that one of the most profound experiences that I had with praying with someone she could have been my mother and she came in and this was at a conference and so we had limited amount of time. It was not normally, when someone makes an appointment, it can go between an hour to an hour and a half. This was going to be short, so people would come and talk about just about one thing that was really bothering them. Whatever happened, we were able to take more time with this woman and she starts going through her story and she's telling us lots of different things and I don't want to give too many details, but she had lived her life for others Nurse, foster mom, had her own children, so forth, so on and we're going through the prayer process and we pause every now and again. How are you feeling? Is anything coming up? And this is good. I feel so much better, I'm glad I let that go, this sorts of thing, right.
Speaker 2:We get to the end and she says this was beautiful, but there's still something. And I said, okay, I'll stop and we're going to ask for the Holy Spirit to just illuminate this situation. So we did. I don't even know how long we were stopped, for it wasn't very long and all of a sudden she says I know what it is. I said okay.
Speaker 2:She said I had an abortion. Not only had she had an abortion, but she had been raped and she did not want to have the abortion. And I'm not going to give the date, but I'm going to tell you that it was before abortion was legal and it was not in America, was not in America. So as I'm listening to her, I'm thinking the absolute horror of all of that. So she was young, all of the things that we imagine right, of the horror of that type of a situation and injustice upon injustice. And so we prayed that and she left that room looking like a different woman. She was a beautiful woman. She had hardly any wrinkles. I was like if I could look like that when I'm that old, oh my gosh. But her whole countenance changed because she'd been carrying that around for a long, long, long time, even though she had children, even though she had foster children she had adopted, like all of those things didn't matter, the evil one kept poking her in that spot.
Speaker 1:He does that, and sometimes we don't even realize it. Or like she probably thought, well, this happened so long ago, it's not even affecting me now because I've already. I've done all of these things. I think that's what happens with, like forgiveness. Sometimes we can think, well, I've already forgiven that person. But you know, sometimes we need to forgive over and over and over again and re-forgive, and we have to do that with ourselves too, right? So it can be something where maybe you don't notice it, like on the forefront of your every day, or that type of thing.
Speaker 1:But that is what is so powerful about prayer ministry, like Unbound is that Jesus is revealing that to the person. Right, jesus brings that to mind, like this needs the hearing, and like for her not to come in and be like, well, this is what it is, but that it was revealed later. That just shows it wasn't preconceived, it wasn't anything. That was such a beautiful testimony, just highlighting the fact that when you go into these sessions, sometimes people will have something in their mind, but then Jesus reveals something else, and I think that that is so powerful because Jesus knows what we need most. And the other thing that you've mentioned and you mentioned it before when we talked, was that it's so important to remember that, even though the evil one gets these permissions or footholds on us, is able to place those little ropes around our wrists and keep us stuck. Jesus is far more powerful and his power can release you, and that's what I love about it as well, and I love that you had mentioned that before when we were talking.
Speaker 2:I think it's really important. I think, too, in school there was this phrase that was used repeatedly, and I think it's really important. I think, too, in school there was this phrase that was used repeatedly, and I think it's so true. Jesus reveals to heal the evil one. He's all about shame. Jesus reveals to heal point of Unbound right is that I don't go in there deciding what you need. You tell me, you tell the prayer ministers and they listen to you, which, again, is such a rare thing in this day and age. We don't do a very good job often of listening to each other.
Speaker 2:You know, I have my thoughts of what you need and let me just tell you what you need. Well, no, you're going to tell me what you need and sometimes, if people have a lot of trauma and oftentimes with trauma, they've tried to talk to people and they get sort of oh well, let me tell you how bad my life was. Right, oh, that doesn't sound so terrible. Oh, come on, don't be such a baby. Oh, my gosh, really, it's like things you never say Right, right, and so you want to have that trust. That that's why we don't dig Right, that's why we listen and we might ask for clarification, but we don't keep going and going to the point that the person you know feels ashamed. We don't want to do that.
Speaker 2:You know you want to heal the. Let the healing happen from whatever is going on in the person's life and it's not our decision. How bad they felt Right, so that all comes into play there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that's absolutely true. I really I love the emphasis on listening because, like you were saying, it's something that we don't receive very often. People, you know, a lot of times we listen to respond, we don't listen to hear, and that's so much of, I'm sure, the work I know the work that you know a lot of times we listen to respond, we don't listen to hear, and that's so much of, I'm sure, the work I know the work that you do as a spiritual director, as a coach. That's what we're trained to do is just to listen and ask questions, because from a spiritual aspect, just like with the unbound prayer, you know things are revealed. The Holy Spirit is working in us, jesus is revealing things, and the same is true like through spiritual direction, coaching, counseling and those types of things like Christian counseling reveal things to us that you know we had that answer all along, or maybe you know the Holy Spirit reveals it to us. And so, like I can't go to a person and say, okay, you want to stop drinking, I need you to do this, I need you to do that. It's not going to work for everybody, it's not a one-size-fits-all approach. I don't know what their life is like I don't know what is going to work for them, but they do, even if they don't at the moment. That's where listening comes in, because not only am I listening to them, but when I say it again to them what they just said, they're like oh yeah, you know, and it's so beautiful, that revelation, and so that's why it's so important. Silence is so important. We don't get enough of that either, and we can see here that prayer is so powerful and so important in our whole healing journey.
Speaker 1:I also loved that you said in your story you needed unbound prayer. You didn't know that you needed it necessarily, but a friend reached out to you and you know, I'm sure with the Holy Spirit's prompting was like, hey, you should ask Deanna about that, but then you can take that and allow Jesus to work through you to heal others. Right, it's that saying like wounded people, wound people, healed people, heal people. And when you've experienced that freedom, it's so exciting because you're so much lighter and you know like maybe every day isn't perfect, every day is not going to be perfect, but you feel so much lighter. The word unbound is it just reminds me of like Lazarus and all of his bandages, and you know you just get unbound, you're free and you have this clarity that you wouldn't have had before, that you wouldn't have had before, and it allows us to do hard things or to do the things that God is asking us to do. I feel like we can hear his voice more clearly right Once we kind of clear away those cobwebs.
Speaker 2:Yeah, when you have this sort of prayer and you have this space, you start to realize how God works and that he is working and that he wants to work with you and through you. I think about God is incredibly merciful. He is incredibly merciful, and who am I to not then share that mercy that he has given me with other people? That is one of the biggest things that I feel like with Unbound Prayer. There's that opportunity to truly show mercy to people who feel oftentimes ashamed or embarrassed, or less than through no fault of their own, and so we are able to be Jesus in that moment.
Speaker 2:I don't think I am Jesus, to be clear, but in that moment we are ministering to those people. Just like Jesus sent the disciples out two by two and he gave them the power to do things. We're in the Easter season now. We're reading Acts, and so we see what the disciples were able to do because they moved in the power of Christ, and when we step out in that truth and in that faith, we are able to help people, and that's so important and so necessary.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and we need more of that. So the more people that can experience this freedom and healing, the more people will be healed through that and it just is like a ripple effect that I think is so needed and it's available for everyone. I think it's such good work and I'm so glad for the work that you're doing. I'm thankful for your yes and for the work that you're doing because I know that you're helping so many. For listeners who might be thinking you know I could probably benefit from an Unbound session, I know you mentioned the book Unbound. I've read it. It's very helpful. I do recommend, or you know, anybody who's interested maybe giving it a quick read. It's a pretty easy read and you've explained a lot of it to some. You know that'll be familiar to them, but if they're kind of thinking, yeah, you know you know that'll be familiar to them, but if they're kind of thinking, yeah, you know Unbound might be really, really helpful for me in my journey toward freedom, how can they go about getting prayed for so?
Speaker 2:the ministry is called Heart of the Father and okay, now I don't remember now if it's com or org, but I did. We'll have that in the show notes. And if you go onto the website, there's tons and tons of information. There's information about what to expect in an Unbound Prayer Session, and then you go onto locations. Right, it's something like I want prayer and then you go. You would look there and there's locations all around, actually not just the country, but all around the world. I was just listening to a podcast and they're going to Sydney, australia and Ireland. I don't remember where they're going in Ireland, but anyway. So this is not just a thing for us here in the States, it is all over the world, and so you can check out the location and then, if, hopefully, there's a location near you and if not, you might be able to find some groups that do it virtually.
Speaker 2:I have prayed virtually with people. I've prayed over the phone with people. It is not the best way to do it. However, if you're somewhere where the nearest place is 500 miles away, then that's a good option, you know, so you could contact your closest place and they would have prayer ministers. What I will say is this Make sure that whomever you're going to pray with is trained. Just make sure that whomever you're going to pray with is trained, and that's the most important thing. And there's also conferences that go on. Again, all of this is on the website. The Five Keys are on the website. There's actually even a video on the website that you don't watch an entire session, but you see snippets of it, so that would give you an idea too. So I would just say go to the website. Heart of the Father. That's going to be the best place to find prayer. And if that is still problematic, you can go to my website and contact me.
Speaker 1:I will do my best to help you as well. Oh great, Thank you so much, Deanna. So how do they know if somebody is trained? Is that just the best place to go is the website, and that will get them to somebody who is definitely trained instead of somebody. That's just like. I've had this done for me and I probably could piecemeal it together.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I once prayed virtually actually more than once with this woman in New Jersey, because she found us on the website and, like our diocese, has a phone number that you can use and you contact and then they'll set you up, either in person or, if it's far away, virtually, so if you start there, that's the best way to do it.
Speaker 1:Okay, perfect. Thank you so much for clarifying that. Well, I could talk to you about this all day long, but you know we have limited time. I'm sure people are wondering where they can learn more about you. I get asked all the time about where can I find a spiritual director, and all kinds of questions like that. So if you could just let people know where they can find you and if you have anything else you want to share. Again, like you were saying, I'll have all of this in the show notes, so just to make it easy for people.
Speaker 2:So I have a website. It's called livenotlookwarmcom, and if you go there, you can sign up for a video series on how to pray with scripture. I have a very brief. Actually, I have to do that. It's Thursday today. Three on Thursday. I send out three little tidbits every Thursday, just things that I find of interest in, of course, related to the spiritual life, spiritual direction, prayer, that kind of thing, and Instagram is also a fun place, and that's it. I feel like I'm gonna be sucked into. Did I just say that Substack because people are following me? I don't have a substack, but people are following me, so now I'm thinking do I need to start writing over there? But time will tell.
Speaker 2:LiveNotLukewarmcom is the best place you can find out about spiritual direction. If you want to have me come and speak in your parish, I would love to do that, so that's the best place you can contact me through there or Instagram. I think I have a Facebook page.
Speaker 1:I gave you all those links, but that's the easiest place. Great, that's awesome. Yeah, I'll have all of that in the show notes. So thank you so much for just all this wealth of information, this hope that I know that you've given to so many people who have felt very burdened by things from their past or not really sure how to kind of untangle themselves from past things and trauma and all of that, and you've just been so, so helpful. So thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 2:You are very welcome and thank you for your ministry and for your work, because it is very much needed and I'm happy to see Catholics moving into this work, because just because you're Catholic doesn't mean you don't have problems. We live in the world. This is evidence, right the work that both of us do is evidence of that. So you know, thank you, and I hope to have another conversation another time, hopefully about something else.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I would love that, right. Thank you so much. You're very welcome. Well, that does it for this episode of the Catholic Sobriety Podcast. I hope you enjoyed this episode and I would invite you to share it with a friend, who might also get value from it as well, and make sure you subscribe so you don't miss a thing. I am the Catholic Sobriety Coach, and if you would like to learn how to work with me or learn more about the coaching that I offer, visit my website, thecatholicsobrietycoachcom. Follow me on Instagram at the Catholic Sobriety Coach. I look forward to speaking to you next time and remember I am here for you. I am praying for you. You are not alone.
