Kelly's Story - Anorexia and Bulimia
A Testimony by Kelly
Introduction (written by Beverly, the woman who prayed with Kelly)
Kelly, a 14 year old girl was suffering greatly from anorexia. She lives with her grandmother because her mother is a drug addict and prostitute. Kelly very seldom sees her mother and has been raised by her grandmother and father who has her come every other. After I attended the intercessory prayer training, Kelly’s grandmother came to me with great concern for her granddaughter and asked if I could meet to pray with Kelly. One of my church friends, who had also been through the training came with me as an intercessor. This friend had also battled with anorexia years before and had been set free.
Kelly suffered from eating disorders since she was about twelve (she was 14 at the time). The problems surfaced with the changes in her body when she began going through puberty.
At the beginning of our prayer time we asked the Lord to reveal to Kelly the lie that was the source of her eating disorders and replace it with His presence, His truth.
Jesus led Kelly from the “fruit” of anorexia/bulimia through:
- Anger at family members who teased her with a nickname
- Believing she was ugly and fat because of the nickname
- Trying to get them to stop teasing her by slimming down
- Vomiting to lose weight to get them to stop teasing her
-
Anger at her family because they were teasing her to:
- Christ releasing her anger towards family members
- Christ releasing her from the lie she was fat
- Christ setting her free from anorexia and bulimia
Kelly’s Story
The Lord showed me that my belief that I was fat and ugly was a lie and it was quickly revealed when it began. As a very young child I was given the nick name Kelly-Belly by my family. They thought it was cute and definitely didn’t mean any harm by it. But I grew up thinking that I must be fat and ugly, otherwise they wouldn’t call me that.
“My anger was weighing me down”
At twelve years old my body started to change. I decided I had to slim down so they would quit calling me that name. I started by skipping meals as often as I could. When I still felt like I wasn’t losing enough weight I would make myself vomit when I ate something I was afraid would make me fat. This went on for two years until I was unable to look at food without wanting to throw up.
“Belief that I was fat and ugly was a lie”
As they were praying for me, I felt the anger I had toward all those in my family who had teased me and called me Kelly Belly. I saw how my anger was weighing me down, keeping me stuck and feeling bad about myself. With the help of the women praying with me, I asked God to release me from all the anger and negative feelings I was carrying inside of me, weighing me down, so I could forgive my family. I also asked God to forgive me for believing the lie that I was ugly and fat.
“I made you the way you are and you are beautiful to Me”
We then asked the Lord to reveal the truth about how He sees me. After being released from my anger, I felt the Lord’s love like a warm blanket wrapped around me. One of the ladies shared with me that the Lord impressed her to tell me that God knew me from before the foundation of the earth and that He had chosen me to be His daughter. He said “I made you the way you are and you are beautiful to me.”
God’s written word, that He would “place truth in my innermost being, purging me, purging Kelly, and I would be clean,” (Psalm 51:6-7), became His Personal Word, His Living Word in my heart.
“I felt so loved by the Lord”
We asked the Lord to seal what He had done through this prayer time and the “still, small voice” of the Holy Spirit, thanking Him for setting me free! I felt so loved by the Lord.
“I never had any more trouble with anorexia or bulimia!”
At the conclusion of our time together we went food shopping. Food was appealing to me again but I had to be careful to eat things that would be easy on my stomach. I never had any more trouble with anorexia or bulimia! Praise the Lord for He is faithful!