One of the topics I occasionally write about is the subject of raising the dead according to Jesus’ command found in Matthew 10.   Because it has been treated as a somewhat fringe topic, fairly few people teach in-depth on this subject.  In my own journey to follow Christ, I’ve discovered some lesser-known details regarding the process of pursuing resurrection for those who have passed on.  Today I want us to look at the vicarious trauma and grief associated with praying to raise the dead.

A first question (and a very good question) is “what are vicarious trauma and grief?”

According to the American Counseling Association, Vicarious Trauma (also known as secondary trauma or compassion fatigue) is the “emotional residue of trauma” that people experience as they help others process through their own pain, trauma, and problems.*  While typically associated with counselors, nurses and caregivers, doctors, and emergency personnel/first responders, vicarious trauma can ultimately happen to anyone who is exposed to the pain of others on an ongoing basis.

Grief is a deep level of sorrow associated with loss, usually involving the death of a loved one.  A friend tends to identify grief with “the acceptance that something bad has happened.”

Grief is a normal, accepted part of the process of losing a loved one, and vicarious trauma is typically only associated with picking up and carrying the pain of others that is not your own.  Thus, if dealing with death one will typically either grieve the death of a loved one or experience vicarious trauma from someone else’s pain and loss, but not both.

In chapter 11 of my book Faith To Raise The Dead, I talk about how to stay encouraged while believing for the dead to be raised.  While I don’t address the subject of grief specifically in that chapter, I believe it is a barrier to standing in faith to raise the dead.  However, we are also human and we cannot stuff that grief down forever.  When I involve myself into a resurrection attempt, I invest my heart in it.  I try to save any grieving until after a burial, but if it creeps through along the way, I spend a little time crying and/or getting over it, then I keep pressing through in prayer to see a miracle happen.  It is true as believers that we weep with those who weep and mourn with those who mourn, and I have found this most especially true when dealing with death in situations like these.  The reason I believe ignoring or pushing past grief is important is because we are literally praying so that the problem that causes the grief will disappear.  Thus, it doesn’t make any sense, nor does it seem to be a faith-filled stance, to me, to grieve someone’s death while praying for their return.

Picking up the grief in the situation is, I think, a normal thing to have happen.  However, there comes a point where it goes beyond simply grieving someone else’s loss and moves into the realm of vicarious trauma.  Some view this as the difference between sympathy, which is feeling pain for someone else’s problem, and empathy, which is understanding someone else’s pain in their problem.  I suppose this is true by definition, but when we engage our hearts into something like raising the dead, it is hard not to sympathize, and in some ways, I think it is unhealthy.  If we remain entirely aloof from the process, how engaged can we really be in the outcome?

When it comes to raising the dead, I have found that vicarious trauma is a very real thing, which is something I never considered when I began a serious journey to raise the dead seven to eight years ago.  As we come in contact with the pain, grief, and loss of others, it becomes hard to distance onself, and that pain that we pick up over time can add up.  In the end, it is a heavy weight to carry, and at times it has weighed me down.  In situations like these, the only solution I have is to spend time with God.  The Bible says of Jesus that his yoke is easy and his burden is light, so I spend some time in prayer, often with tears, trading my burdens for His, and releasing my baggage to Him.

Now, considering I want to help people step into the reality of resurrection power and successfully raise the dead, why am I talking about this?  Wouldn’t it be better to leave out the ugly details and emotional pain that comes with it?  Sure, that might be enough to get someone to put their foot in the door, but it isn’t going to make them last.  It certainly won’t help them persevere when things get rough.  The Bible has some advice on the subject that I think is highly relevant and very important for us to consider.  In Luke 14: 28-35 it says:

“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?  For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you,  saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?  If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace.  In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?  It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.

“Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

This passage admonishes us to look at what we are getting ourselves into before we set out to do something.  If we don’t, the reminder is that we are at risk for failure.  It is the scriptural equivalent of “look before you leap.”  As I read the Luke passage, something else stuck out to me that I find poignant and directly related to resurrection.  If we consider that we are the salt of the earth, if we lose our saltiness, how can we “get fixed” again?  When I become too burdened by vicarious trauma, the only way I can “regain my salt” is to lay it all at the feet of Jesus.  I make use of practical earthly tools (such as Good Grief, a flower essence for emotional healing), but in the end, I cast my cares upon Him because He cares for me.

Praying to raise the dead is an emotional process.  There is nothing enjoyable about praying for a dead baby to return to life, and it is even more painful when the baby doesn’t rise and you hand it back to the mother knowing full well that in that moment, you failed to successfully release the power of God to solve the problem.  When those situations happen, we have to know that we are all-in, and we have to know how to lay the grief and trauma at the feet of Jesus so we can heal, get up again, and keep pursuing the abundant, powerful, resurrection life of Jesus Christ to display it to the world.

If you want to learn more about raising the dead I encourage you to do the following:

1. Sign up for our Raise the Dead Initiative mailing list here to receive updates and connect further.

2. Get some books.  I have written two books on the subject:  Practical Keys to Raise the Dead and Faith to Raise the Dead.  Practical Keys is a series of excerpts from Faith To Raise The Dead, all of which give practical advice for when you are actively praying to raise someone at that time.  Faith To Raise The Dead goes more into theology, but has a chapter devoted to resurrection testimonies, an appendix in the back of faith-building scriptures to help you pray for the deceased to return to life, and I answer a lot of common and even difficult questions surrounding the subject.

Tyler Johnson, founder of the Dead Raising Team has written multiple books on the subject as well:  How to Raise the Dead and The Dead Are Raised. Be sure to check out Father Hebert’s encouraging book Saints Who Raised The Dead for pages upon pages of uplifting testimonies about saints in history who have raised the dead in Jesus’ name.

3. Join the Raise the Dead Initiative on Facebook.   The Raise the Dead Initiative is a group I started to help the Body of Christ grow in this area, and I will eventually develop an RDI teaching curriculum to train believers to pray for and raise the dead.  You may also be interested in The Dead Raising Team (DRT) and  Dead Raising Campaign Facebook groups.

4. Look at how you can host or attend a School of Resurrection in your area. Contact Tyler Johnson via his website at http://www.oneglance.org/ to arrange the event.  Tyler is an awesome man of God and good friend who regularly teaches Schools of Resurrection to help transform our understanding on the subject of resurrection life. He has Dead Raising Teams around the world who are ready to mobilize in their area to release the abundant life of Jesus Christ.  You can also head over to Gumroad to buy and download a complete Resurrection School Audio Series.

5. Watch/listen to David Hogan’s YouTube Series on the subject of Raising the Dead: Session 1 —  Session 2 — Session 3 — Session 4

6. Pray for and actively engage opportunities to raise the dead in your area by reaching out to friends when you hear that someone has passed away.

*https://www.counseling.org/docs/trauma-disaster/fact-sheet-9—vicarious-trauma.pdf