THE DIAGNOSIS

Though Dayne grew up going to church with his family, and considered himself a believer, he says he didn’t pursue his relationship with Christ until he started college.  Reading the Bible and praying more, Dayne’s identity in God was growing, and he sensed greater hope, joy, and confidence for a once shy, fearful kid.  As his college years continued, though, Dayne admits to becoming obsessed with personal rather than spiritual growth. Reading as many books on the topic as possible, he read less of the Bible.  Along with that shift in focus came changes in his behavior.  “My speech became faster, and I grew more hyper and enthusiastic about everything.  I started to sense a dark presence in my life that I didn’t quite understand.”  Some of those thoughts were delusions of grandeur, Dayne explains, and spiraled into what he describes as a full-blown manic episode.

One day, he decided to take his sister’s car and drive from Scottsdale, AZ to California.  Dayne sped down the highway, clipping the back fender as he merged.  Barely getting control of the car, he pulled over, caught his breath, then decided to get out and run for California.  “After maybe 50 yards I started walking until I heard the sound of police sirens behind me and loud voices saying, ‘Get down on the ground!’”  Handcuffed and taken by ambulance to a behavioral hospital, Dayne was met by his family, and spent the next two weeks in the facility receiving tests and medications.  The MD who examined Dayne diagnosed him with bipolar 1 disorder.  Once out, Dayne saw a psychologist who confirmed that diagnosis and added ADHD.  “At that moment, I thought I had no choice but to accept this as my new reality,” he says. 

THE HEALING

Dayne’s parents and other believers in his family prayed fervently for his healing.  Two weeks after he left the hospital, medications in hand, he and his family went to church.  The pastor asked for those who would like prayer to come forward, and Dayne’s mother encouraged him to go. “During our prayer, I had a physical reaction; my hands began to shake uncontrollably, and I started making strange noises. As they prayer came to an end, I felt something physically lift off my body, and I knew beyond any shadow of a doubt that I had just been healed in the name of Jesus.” Soon after, Dayne stopped taking all the medication he’d been prescribed. “That was more than ten years ago, and I haven’t needed medication for my mental health since.”  Seven months later, Dayne returned to the doctor who had put him on the meds, and says he was supportive, given his good results.  

While very grateful for the healing God gave him, Dayne acknowledges that everyone’s path is different.  Early on in his book, he states, “At the same time, I know therapy and medication can have positive, even life-changing effects.  So if you’re struggling with your mental health, I know this book will be helpful to you, but please consult a doctor or therapist as well.  Each person’s health journey is unique and follows its own path.”   

IDENTITY 

A critical component of mental health, or the lack thereof, Dayne says, is one’s sense of identity.  “Before we come to know the Lord, we tend to root our identity in things we value at that time – whether it’s based on relationships, accomplishments, the opinions of others, or even our mistakes and struggles.”  Dayne goes on to talk about regrets from the past, and says they are too often interwoven into our identities.  “Maybe you’ve experienced something similar – an incident or season that shaped how you feel about yourself.  But here’s the good news,” he points out.  “God’s Word, and the relationship we have with Him through Christ, brings freedom, security, and a purpose-filled life.  Though the world might influence us to believe certain things about ourselves, the Bible tells us, ‘Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.’”  (Romans 12:2a) Our true identity as believers is found in who we are in Christ, and Scripture is filled with promises to remind us of that.”   A few of those key promises are:

•    You are a child of God.  John 1:12
•    You are a new creation.  2 Corinthians 5:17
•    You are chosen.  1 Peter 2:9
•    You are redeemed.  Ephesians 1:7
•    You are loved.  Romans 8:38-39     

PRAYER AND THE BRAIN

“I know prayer works,” Dayne says, explaining that his conviction is based not only on years of experience, but also on increasing scientific evidence.  “Studies by neuroscientist Andrew Newberg, MD, and echoed by Daniel Amen, MD, demonstrate improvements in blood flow to the prefrontal cortex of the brain among people who meditate and pray regularly.  This increased activity in the prefrontal cortex helps improve mood and reduce anxiety.”  Citing Newberg and Amen once more, Dayne explains that there are tools like the SPECT brain scan which show increases in serotonin and dopamine, two key neurotransmitters (brain chemicals) involved in emotional and physiological regulation.  “These scans allow us to visibly see the areas of the brain active during prayer and meditation.  The amygdala, responsible for the ‘fight or flight’ response linked to fear and anxiety, also shows reduced activation through regular prayer, helping to lower stress and improve emotional stability.”  Further studies Dayne found showed that prayer and meditation also lower cortisol levels, a hormone tied to stress.  Most encouragingly, he learned that prayer has been shown to improve brain neuroplasticity, which can mean new thought patterns, a more positive outlook on life, and greater resilience in coping with stress.   

OVERCOMING LIMITING BELIEFS

Thinking about what we’re thinking about is a worthwhile exercise, Dayne believes.  “How many times have you said things like, ‘This is just how I am,’ ‘Things never work out for me,’ or, ‘I’ll never overcome this’?  These phrases often stem from fear and doubt, blocking us from all that God has for us.  But where do these limiting beliefs come from?  While some arise from personal experiences, they’re also fueled by the enemy, whose goal is to reinforce these doubts and keep us from God’s best.”  The good news is that, just as fear and lies can create limiting beliefs, faith in God’s promises can break these cycles.  Instead of accepting the enemy’s lies, we can choose to believe God’s truth and step forward in faith.  Each time we do, we see new results that help us break free from old, limiting beliefs that seek to hold us back.  With each decision to trust God and take action you create new outcomes that can build a new cycle of faith, confidence, and growth.”   Dayne offers examples to overcome such beliefs and lies:

•    Belief/lie: “I don’t deserve God’s love.”
      Dayne says the enemy would tell us, “Look at all your mistakes.  Do you think     God really loves you?  You’ve failed too many times to be loved by God.” 

Truth:  Romans 8:38-39  “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

•    Belief/ lie: “I’m always going to struggle with anxiety/depression.”
     Dayne suggests what our enemy would say to that thought.  “This is just who you are. You’ll never be free from these feelings, so stop trying.”  

Truth:  Philippians 4:6-7 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
 

For more information on Dayne Kamela and to purchase his book, click the LINK!

CREDITS

Author, Choose Prayer, Not Despair (Charisma House, 2025) / Social Media Content Creator, sharing daily messages of prayer, hope, and encouragement with his more than 1.4M followers / Founder, LitWithPrayer, an online resource, helping individuals develop a strong relationship with Jesus through prayer, and find their God-given potential / married to Kiera 

“I would wake up in the morning and sometimes I could not get out of bed,” Helen Panetti said. “I would start moving, but it was painful. I would have to hold onto the kitchen counter. Sad, disconnected, old beyond my years.”

“It was 2014,” Helen said. “I was making chili at the stove, and I have a rug behind me. I step backwards and tripped on that rug and fell on the kitchen floor. Real pain really started to kick in with my hip.”

“There was kind of a progression of this hip problem,” Helen said. “The pain in my hip was residual. It would go to different parts. It would go down my IT band to my knee. It would affect my balance. There were times I couldn't get up. My whole hip would be like in paralysis. In the lowest moments, I felt like there was a cloud of something over me. I just thought, ‘I know there's more. Lord, if it is your will, I ask you to heal my body. I want to be able to play with my grandkids.’”

“I was dealing with this for ten years,” Helen said. Going to the doctor, I was bone on bone. He said, ‘There's no solution other than a total hip replacement.’ I felt the Lord say to me, ‘Will you trust me? Will you relinquish this so I can be a testimony to your family who has had repeated surgeries, repeated orthopedic problems?’ And I thought, ‘Lord, they need you. They need you in a real practical way.’”

March 15, 2024 – “I had woken up that morning kind of stiff,” Helen said. “I went over and started watching The 700 Club and Ashley Key came on and started praying.”

"I believe there's a woman watching, and you've got something going on with your right hip,” Ashely prayed. “It's almost like the muscles in your hip area are completely deteriorated. There are talks for you getting a complete hip replacement, you're actually very fearful of that, and I just believe God is restoring those muscles. He's restoring strength to that hip. So much so that you will not have to get a hip replacement. Just praise God right now, just receive this healing from your heavenly Father who sees you and who loves you in Jesus’ name." 

“I put up my hand and I said, ‘Father-in-Heaven, if that's me, I'll take it,’” Helen said with tears in her eyes. “I rejoiced. I stood up, I said, ‘I will leap for joy.’ I was jumping, and leaping and praising God, and I was grateful. It was personal. It was confirmation. God said it, I believe it, that settles it. I can totally trust Him and walk through that door. I had the faith to believe that. I felt joyful.”

“It's been a testimony to my doctors,” Helen said. “They don't know what to say. ‘You shouldn't be able to walk.’ And I go, ‘All I know is this, I've got a really big God, and He must have something for me to do.’”

“I do believe that God is The Healer,” Helen said. “I believe He has given me a gift in healing, and having it spoken through Ashley that morning was just a solid confirmation of details that were undeniable. The joy I feel in what God has done, I have a hard time not spilling over. I am so joyful that it has resonated like ripples in a pond to my family. Faith we talk about now. It's become real. I tell the grandkids.”

“I believe in the power of prayer like nothing I've ever believed in,” Helen said. “I believe God will always take you through if you worship and you praise Him in the middle of it. If you will go to Him completely surrendered, not asking for what you want, but what He wants.”

Like many kids Lyda struggled to obey her parents, especially when it was time to clean up or do chores. “My Mom was always busy sewing. She asked me to help her, but I did not do it. I just went outside to play instead.” One Sunday morning, Lyda noticed some kids walking toward a church on the road where she lived in Cambodia. She asked if she could come along. That’s where she first discovered the Bible by watching CBN’s Superbook. Lyda shares, “I learned a lot from Superbook. I love the story of David. He was small but he had courage when he fought with Goliath.”

Lyda said she needed courage when she told her mom about the Bible stories she was learning from Superbook. Her mom, Channa, said, “If you believe in Jesus, they will teach you to disrespect and disobey your parents.” The videos did not teach her to be disrespectful. Instead, they taught her to do good and to obey her parents. After continuing to watch Superbook, Lyda prayed to become a Christian and then began to pray for her mom twice a day. Channa finally agreed to go with Lyda to church. “Day by day I saw her character change. She was doing better in school. She was obeying me. It was because of those changes I went to church and gave my life to Jesus too,” shares Channa.

Lyda says, “Thank God for giving us Superbook. It helped us to know Jesus!”

Give to Superbook

“I wanted to be relentless in my pursuit of success.” Recalls Malissa, “I particularly wanted to prove to my mom, prove to my dad that I could do it on my own.” Feelings of condemnation from her childhood, along with her own ego drove Malissa to do whatever it took to be successful. “People were completely disposable to me, dispensable to me. I didn't find value in relationships. I would get rid of you and kick you outta my life in the same way it was done for me.”

Her ambition to be successful brought opportunities in Atlanta, selling high end watches and jewelry. She says, “I was a million-dollar writer for the company. I was doing great. I had celebrity clients, big clientele, and I would be selling a diamond ring to someone's husband. And at the same time going to Miami with the same man.”

Still she wanted more. She moved to New York for bigger opportunities and got a job selling Rolex and other high end watches on fifth Avenue, but sales were hard to come by – soon, she feared her job was on the line. “Feelings of failure. And also that old familiar feeling of condemnation hit me like a ton of bricks. I felt constant fear that I was gonna lose my job. And I felt this utter panic rush over me that I, in desperation, that I need to do something in order to save my job.” Says Malissa.

Former clients from Atlanta presented an opportunity for Malissa to make a large sale, but there was a catch, She says, “They wanted to buy two watches, and they were gonna do it with fake credit cards. And originally, I was like, ‘oh, no’, but I became, got more desperate and I got more desperate. My sales are not doing that good, I don't want to move back home and say, ‘I’ve failed.’”

She made the deal. A month later police brought her in for questioning regarding her role in the scheme. Malissa was once again overwhelmed with a sense of failure and condemnation. She says, “You're like the worst person. How could you do something like that? Like, look at you. This is ridiculous. You ruined your life’ and those thoughts were tormenting. They were over and over and over, these voices are like just in your head telling you like how you're not valuable and how this is so crazy and just dumb to made a decision what you did, now look at you.”

Eventually Malissa was charged with third degree grand larceny and faced the possibility of up to seven years in prison. Before turning herself in she talked on the phone with her aunt who told her about Jesus. “She starts to talk to me about how he wants to help me, and how he loves me, and how much like he cares for me.” Recalls Malissa, “And I was just like, well, why would he wanna help somebody who's done all these things? My whole life I've been against him. Well, why would he wanna help me? It just didn't make sense.”

While in a holding cell waiting for her bail hearing, Malissa says she had a spiritual encounter that changed her life. She says, “And I don't even know who I'm talking to. I'm just saying like, ‘I'm just so sorry.’ And in the midst of me saying that this bright white light comes and permeates the cell,  and it felt like a force, like a presence. And it like knocked me to the ground. Like, and when I was on the ground, I was next to the feet of Jesus. And I knew that it was Jesus. I knew it was him. Malissa says she then saw a vision of her entire life, every sinful decision and selfish action revealed in front of Jesus. Instead of condemnation she felt his love. “He overwhelmed me with a love that I have never experienced in my life. I didn't have a need in that moment. I didn't have a want in that moment, but I was fully aware of how sinful that I was.”

As she repented from her sins, she says Jesus told her about her future – ministering to women and children, and that she would go free that day. A few hours later, to her lawyer’s surprise she was released without bail. Malissa says, “I've only ever known condemnation. I never even knew what Grace was, and what happened in the courtroom is like what he did on the cross for me, that I was literally guilty, but because of what he did for me, I could go free. And that was where I had the big revelation of just who he is.”

Having experienced the unconditional love of God in such a powerful way, Malissa gave her life to Jesus. “I have never experienced unconditional love. Every piece of love I've known has been transactional and has been conditional. And when you understand the father's love, when you understand Jesus' love for you, it is what endows you to want to obey him. It is what endows you to wanna follow him.” She says. 

The feelings of condemnation she’d always known have been exchanged for the grace of God that set her free and gave her a new purpose. She says, “He chose to love me. And because of that I give my life to him. And I know that he has no respect of person, so what he's done for me, I know that he is willing and able and capable to do for others. To see everything that he said be true and to be working with women and children on behalf of him, it is just an absolute honor. And I'm not turning back.”

CREDITS:

Story lead courtesy of Delafé testimonies, building the world’s largest archive of Jesus testimonies: https://www.missiondelafe.org