Episode Overview

Podcast: Dufresne Ministries Podcast
Episode Title: Freedom From Mental Torment | Nancy Dufresne | Jesus the Healer Broadcast
Date: May 9, 2019
Main Theme:
Pastor Nancy Dufresne offers guidance and spiritual strategies for overcoming mental torment, particularly the types of thoughts and feelings that lead to hopelessness and even suicidal ideation. With a compassionate tone, she addresses the shame and isolation often felt by those under mental attack and shares concrete, Bible-based steps for walking in freedom. The episode includes prayer, personal anecdotes, and practical teachings rooted in Scripture.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Experience of Mental Torment and Its Source

• Nancy Dufresne describes receiving a spiritual impression of someone facing suicidal thoughts before a service ([00:17]). She clarifies:
  • “There is no shame for you being tempted this way because it didn't originate with you. It originated with the devil. And it's not your thoughts...there's no shame because they're not yours.” ([02:59])
• She explains how the devil misuses Scripture, referencing Jesus’ temptation in Luke 4, and notes that Jesus was also tempted with suicide when Satan told Him to throw Himself off the temple ([01:17–02:45]).

Spiritual Dynamics of Temptation

• Nancy explains that when the enemy brings tormenting thoughts, he “also sends an influence that can be felt to try to persuade them to believe what he says to them.” ([05:13])
  • Example: “If he's tempting someone with fear, then he sends that feeling of fear to try to get you to accept what he's threatening you with.” ([05:33])
• She stresses that intense negative feelings (fear, failure, hopelessness, sexual temptation) do not mean those thoughts are true or representative of a person’s nature ([06:55–07:51]).

The Crucial Role of Choice

• “Doesn't matter what you feel. It matters what you choose to cooperate with. Just because you feel it does not make it true.” ([07:37])
• The repeated point: feelings are not facts, and spiritual attack uses repetition to try to break down resistance, but “repetition does not equal truth.” ([09:40])

Three Steps to Freedom from Mental Torment

Pastor Nancy lays out a three-step process, anchored in Jesus’ example:

1. Answer the Thought with Scripture ([11:52])

• Directly counter every specific threat or lie with an applicable verse.
  • eg. If the thought is “you're going to lose your marriage,” answer: “That’s a lie. What God has joined together, no man will put asunder.” ([12:41])
• “Don’t sit and go to bed with that thing cycling through your thought life. You answer it. Take charge of your mind. It is your mind. God’s given you the spirit of a sound mind. It's your mind.” ([13:06])

2. Command the Spirit to Leave ([13:49])

• After answering the thought, speak directly: “Tell the spirit that was talking to you to leave.”
  • Referencing Jesus: “He said, get thee behind me, Satan.” ([14:00])

3. Worship and Praise ([14:15])

• Shift attention to praising God, regardless of feelings: “Worship brings the anointing, and the anointing destroys the yoke.”
• Live in worship as a lifestyle—“Number one won’t take but a moment, number two won’t take but a moment, but all day to do number three.” ([15:15])

Prayer and Ministry for Freedom

• Prayers of deliverance: “Be free in Jesus name. Be free in Jesus name. Father, we thank you that as we lay hands on these...we say that anointing destroys the yoke. And if there's a presence of an evil spirit, it'll drive it out.” ([16:15–18:25])

Memorable Illustrations & Teachings

• Testimonies & Stories:

  • Dr. Sumrall’s teaching: “At some point in life, everyone will be tempted with the thoughts of suicide...because Jesus himself was tempted with that.” ([02:35])
  • Amy Semple McPherson’s tent crusade threatened by a mob: She asked God what to do. He replied, “Praise me.” She responded that was hard, but He said, “You're not praising me because of the position you’re in. You're praising me because of the position I’m in.” ([20:20–22:00])
  • “There’s nothing you can’t praise your way out of.” (Sister Lillian B. Yeoman, quoted at [18:47] and [25:13])

• Powerful Metaphor:

  • Spiritual “jumper cables”: “Tonight, if I could say it this way—jumper cables right here transmitting power to help drive that thing back. But whenever you have your car jumped, they always say, keep the engine running. Don’t turn off the engine, you’ll lose the charge. How do you keep the engine running? Walk out of here, Praise God, I’m free.” ([24:28])

Empowerment and Responsibility

• Nancy strongly emphasizes personal responsibility and capacity:
  • “No one can guard your mind for you...I can't get [the devil] to leave you alone. But my job is to tell you what to do when he shows up.” ([23:35])
  • “Your mind is your mind. The devil wants to hold you in the mental arena, getting you to try to figure out your help. You don’t have to figure it out. Praise it out.” ([24:10])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Shame and Temptation:
  “There is no shame for you being tempted this way because it didn't originate with you. It originated with the devil. And it's not your thoughts, so there's no shame because they're not yours.”
  — Nancy Dufresne ([02:59])

• On Jesus’ Temptation & Imitation by the Devil:
  “Jesus himself was tempted with words of suicide in the wilderness...and he showed us how to answer it.”
  ([01:40–02:20])

• On the Influence of Feelings:
  “Just because you feel it does not make it true. Just because you feel a sense of hopelessness does not mean it's hopeless. Doesn't mean it's true.”
  ([07:45])

• The Threefold Assignment:
  “Number one is what? Answer it. Number two, tell the devil that’s troubling you to leave...usually it’s a spirit of fear. And number three, worship. Now that’s going to be the bulk of your activity. Worship, worship, worship.”
  ([15:52, 20:10])

• On Maintaining Freedom:
  “How do you keep the engine running? Walk out of here. Praise God, I'm free. Thank God, I'm free...And if you go to bed at night tonight, and the devil says nothing’s changed, oh, everything changed. Everything has changed. And I'm free. I'm free. Well, you don't feel free. It's not about what I feel, it's about what I know.”
  ([24:40])

• On Worship as the Key:
  “There’s nothing you can’t praise your way out of. And the devil will say, praising is not enough for your situation. Praising is more than enough for your situation.”
  ([25:13])

Important Timestamps

• 00:17 — Nancy Dufresne discusses her spiritual impression and the reality of mental torment.
• 02:20 — Explanation of no shame in being tempted and biblical examples.
• 05:13 — Analysis of the enemy's tactic to send feelings with thoughts.
• 11:52 — Instruction on how to answer tormenting thoughts specifically with Scripture.
• 13:49 — Direct command to tell tormenting spirits to leave.
• 14:15 — The role and importance of worship to maintain freedom.
• 18:47 — “Nothing you can’t praise your way out of.”
• 20:10 — Amy Semple McPherson tent story and application of praise.
• 23:35 — Personal responsibility for the mind and practical advice likened to jumper cables.
• 24:40 — Keeping freedom with ongoing praise and faith.

Structured Summary: The Threefold Path to Freedom

1. Answer Tempting Thoughts with the Word

• Identify the specific threat.
• Respond with a relevant Bible verse out loud.

2. Command the Spirit (Source of Torment) to Leave

• Address the spirit directly.
• Use the authority Jesus modeled (“Get behind me, Satan”).

3. Focus on Worship

• Make worship a continual practice.
• Use praise to drown out negative thoughts and feelings, remembering it’s about God’s position, not yours.

Closing Encouragement

• Victory begins with understanding the enemy’s tactics, separating feelings from truth, and choosing your response.
• Worship is your weapon—there truly is “nothing you can’t praise your way out of.”
• Even if freedom doesn’t feel immediate, your faith and spoken agreement with the Word are what matter.
• Final declaration from Nancy ([26:55]):
  “Everyone just lift your hands and say, it’s so good to be free. Thank you, Father, that I’m free. Jesus, thank you for making me free. And he whom the son sets free is free indeed. Amen. I’m free. I’m free. Well, it doesn’t feel any different. No, no, no. That doesn’t matter...Don’t believe the feeling. Believe what God says.”

This summary encapsulates the episode's compassionate, empowering message for anyone facing mental torment, suicide, or related spiritual battles—equipping listeners with clear, biblically-rooted steps to embrace and maintain their freedom.